On hockey’s tenuous future in Canada:

Although Canada’s small markets are fighting seemingly unwinnable economic wars and its kids want to grow up to be Russian Rockets like [Pavel] Bure, in some ways Canadian hockey never has been stronger. Find a Canadian-based Ken Burns to pan black-and-white still photos of Jacques Plante and present 98 different versions of Stompin’ Tom Connors’ The Hockey Song over 18½ hours, and the hosers would feel better.