s. campbell's perspective
NHL President Clarence Campbell, shown in 1957 with the Stanley Cup.
I, as Clarence S. Campbell believe that the decision to suspend Maurice Richard was the appropriate step to take. Richard clearly broke the rules as he hit Laycoe, Boston player, with his hockey stick on the face and the shoulder. And then later on mistook the linesman for another Boston player and struck him too. There was no racism involved and I’m sure the same decision would be taken for any English Canadian too. Richard could be thrown in jail too for assault charges but the minimum punishment given to him was suspension. He was instead sent to the hospital by team doctors after complaining of headaches and stomach pains. Richard had led the Canadians to three Stanley Cups and had scored 50 goals in 50 games, and there is no reason why the Canadian NHL would be interfering French-English relations with someone who has brought success to the team. Also, several offences done by Richard have been gone ignored too so this is not the first time he had been convicted with penalty. Throughout his career, Richard was fined several times for retaliatory assaults on players and officials and yet, was never suspended. Furthermore, he was warned about not repeating the same mistakes. In my perspective the feud with Richard was an eligible decision and wasn't worth the riot that caused $100,000 in property damage, 37 injuries, and 100 arrests. If this offence would've been committed in football or baseball, the automatic response would have been lifetime suspension. The least punishment Richard got was suspension from the remainder of the season and the play-offs. It was the second time Richard has hit an official in the season, and there is nothing ‘racist’ about suspending someone who breaks the rules. Richard violated and disrespected the rules which only lead him to being suspended for the season and there is nothing discriminating about this decision.
The French perspective
Protests against Campbell's decision
As French Canadians we have always been criticized and discriminated against by the English Canadians. This was shown in the hockey game too when Richard was ordered suspension from the season and play-offs. This was a too-severe punishment and if it was an English Canadian in Richard's place then he wouldn't have been suspended. We feel that the English minority are trying to conquer the French majority as an attempt to humiliate the French Canadians by punishing their favorite player. Maurice Richard is our idol and his victory is our victory and his loss are our loss. He is the only French Canadian in Canada's hockey team and well represents us by his outstanding accomplishments. He only decided to hit Laycoe because Laycoe high-sticked Richard and that caused him 5 stitches in the head but still did not stop as he bravely played for the pride of his nation. As a result the referee announced a delayed penalty but allowed Laycoe to play in the game. Whereas Richard was immediately taken from the ground and suspended for the rest of the season. This is discrimination because Laycoe didn't deserve the punishment he was supposed to and was let off easily just because he was the 'English' Canadian and as for Richard, he was suspended for the same crime as Laycoe. Richard just punished Laycoe as the officials were supposed to do. This wasn't the first time we've been provoked keeping events like the conscription crisis and the Manitoba School crisis in mind.
In the conscription crisis, our people were forced to go to war even though we had no relations tied to Britain and has no responsibility to it anyways because we were French and not English. At first, when we tried signing up for the war, the terms set and the rules applied weren't compatible with us at all. It was like the English Commissioners hiring didn't want any French Canadians playing a part in the military role. We felt alienated and isolated when we couldn't join the war but then we found out about the horrors of what happens in the battlefield. Yet, we were still forced to join, only because the English felt they need more people. The English are really selfish, when they didn't need us, they didn't care but when their own men died, they suddenly decided to turn to us. This didn't take place just once but also later in 1942 during the World War 2. ITS LIKE THE ENGLISH CANADIANS ARE ASKING FOR IT! Also, in the Manitoba School crisis in 1890, the act was introduced to eliminate French as the official language in the province. This was followed by another act introduced in Ontario where the government refused to provide funding for French Public schools. The English has always had this alienation attitude towards the French and then aren't we supposed to react to how we're being treated? We've been made to feel alienated and like we didn't belong with the English. So you can't blame us for breaking through this time as we refuse to stand with the English always trying to oppress us. This is not just about a hockey game but the existence of our culture and values living with the English's and them always trying to feel more powerful than the French. In this riot, we were trying to show the English Canadians that they can't always get their way around us and that we can stand up for ourselves when injustice to us is being served.
In the conscription crisis, our people were forced to go to war even though we had no relations tied to Britain and has no responsibility to it anyways because we were French and not English. At first, when we tried signing up for the war, the terms set and the rules applied weren't compatible with us at all. It was like the English Commissioners hiring didn't want any French Canadians playing a part in the military role. We felt alienated and isolated when we couldn't join the war but then we found out about the horrors of what happens in the battlefield. Yet, we were still forced to join, only because the English felt they need more people. The English are really selfish, when they didn't need us, they didn't care but when their own men died, they suddenly decided to turn to us. This didn't take place just once but also later in 1942 during the World War 2. ITS LIKE THE ENGLISH CANADIANS ARE ASKING FOR IT! Also, in the Manitoba School crisis in 1890, the act was introduced to eliminate French as the official language in the province. This was followed by another act introduced in Ontario where the government refused to provide funding for French Public schools. The English has always had this alienation attitude towards the French and then aren't we supposed to react to how we're being treated? We've been made to feel alienated and like we didn't belong with the English. So you can't blame us for breaking through this time as we refuse to stand with the English always trying to oppress us. This is not just about a hockey game but the existence of our culture and values living with the English's and them always trying to feel more powerful than the French. In this riot, we were trying to show the English Canadians that they can't always get their way around us and that we can stand up for ourselves when injustice to us is being served.