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Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan is accustomed to being hacked, slashed and taunted while playing in the National Hockey League. But as captain of Canada's team at the 2007 world hockey championships, he's taking a different kind of beating.
Mr. Doan's appointment as captain of the Canadian national team competing in Russia has been called into question by opposition leaders who noted that he has been accused of uttering a derogatory remark to a French-Canadian referee.
NDP Leader Jack Layton went so far as to say that Mr. Doan's captaincy "cast a shadow" on the Canadian team. Now, officials from Hockey Canada, the group that oversees national hockey programs, have been asked to appear before the House of Commons official languages committee tomorrow morning to explain why they chose Mr. Doan to serve as captain.
"I'd rather you call me the worst hockey player in the world and say that I don't deserve to be on the team," Mr. Doan told reporters after practice Tuesday.
He has repeatedly denied he uttered a slur in a game played Dec. 13, 2005, and handled by a French-Canadian officiating crew. The NHL investigated the incident and cleared him.
But several Montreal news media outlets reported last month that NHL linesman Michel Cormier had gone on record as saying he heard Mr. Doan grumble, "Fucking French did a good job." Mr. Cormier's statement has become part of a civil suit filed by Liberal MP Denis Coderre.
Mr. Coderre questioned Mr. Doan's selection to the Canadian team that competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Mr. Doan sued Mr. Coderre and Mr. Coderre filed a countersuit. The case may not be settled until 2010.
"I don't understand how people can attack somebody when I was cleared by the NHL," Mr. Doan said. "Anybody that does any type of investigation into it would realize I never said it. And yet, they can just throw it out in the House of Commons? Those are our leaders. Those are the people that we're supposed to look to."
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is one of those questioning the choice of Mr. Doan as captain. Asked Tuesday why he was interested in taking up an issue that the NHL investigated in 2005 and found to be nothing, Mr. Duceppe said the NHL is not a tribunal.
"I mean, it's not the first time that words like that are used against French players," Mr. Duceppe said. "That was almost a tradition, and we should accept that? Never."
Mr. Layton said the choice of Mr. Doan as captain has caused a storm of controversy that's diminishing people's enthusiasm for the game.
Tuesday, Mr. Coderre was doing his best to keep from commenting on the issue.
"I know that you, you would wish for me to talk," he said, "but the fact is that I'm in court right now."
During Tuesday's Question Period, while Mr. Coderre was asking a question, Conservative MP Kevin Sorenson heckled him, saying: "Shane Doan scored the winner last night!"
Mr. Doan, from Halkirk, Alta., a small community northeast of Calgary, has a reputation as an honest, hard-working athlete with a strong religious background.
His parents, Bernie and Bernice, run the Circle Square Christian ranch for children and teach the importance of treating people with respect.
Leighann Reimer, Shane's sister, spoke to her brother Tuesday and shared his concern over being criticized by those who don't know him or the facts.
"It's frustrating," said Ms. Reimer, a former national team basketball player who represented Canada internationally. "One of the biggest and proudest moments you can have as an athlete is playing for your country. When something that seems so simple comes along and people who don't know you are questioning your character, I'm sure it's messing with Shane's mind to an extent."
"I feel sorry for Hockey Canada," said Bernice Doan, Shane's mother. "I know Shane doesn't want to be a distraction and I would think the government would have more important things to deal with."
Canada's team at the worlds has only one Quebecker in its lineup — Calgary Flames forward Matthew Lombardi, who hails from the predominantly English enclave of Hudson near Montreal. Every spring, Hockey Canada assembles its world championship team based on players who are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This year's team is entirely supportive of its captain.
"Anybody that knows Shane will tell you that it's a very hard thing for any of us to believe that he said something like that," said Mike Cammalleri of the Los Angeles Kings. "He's pretty much the perfect leader when you think of a guy you want for Team Canada. I'm astonished. It just seems like the shoe doesn't fit."
With a report from Omar El Akkad
