Journalists from the sports team answer your questions.
NHL immigration status
The procedure for obtaining a temporary permit to work in Quebec is lengthy. What about professional athletes who are traded from a US club to a Canadian club? Is there a special expedited procedure for them?
Roger Garant, Luck Megantic
Reply from Guillaume Lefrancois
MH Patrice Brunet is a lawyer specializing in sports and immigration law. So your question falls squarely within his area of expertise. Generally, to get a work permit, you have to prove a labor shortage. But there are many exceptions, and professional athletes are subject to the C-20 exemption, he explains. This exemption is based on the principle of reciprocity of employment opportunities for Canadians abroad. In this case, it is well known that Canadians play hockey in the USA, and Americans in Canada. “If we can prove it, it is very simple. The player presents himself at the port of entry and the officer is entitled to immediately grant the work permit.”
Golf gloves
PHOTO CHARLES KRUPA, linked press archives
Rory McIlroy
Why do professional golfers take off their glove after each shot and put it back on a few minutes later for the next shot?
Marcel Rivest
Reply from Nicholas Richard
Actually, there are two very simple reasons. On the other hand, there is the idea that if the players are on the court between four and seven hours a day during a tournament (including the warm-up period), then wearing a glove, which is rather tight, becomes unpleasant in the long run. Due to heat and sweat, the longer the glove is worn, the more sweaty the hand becomes. On the other hand, the vast majority of players remove it once on the green, in order to shoot it. Some players, like Tiger Woods, remove it on the approach shot. Just so, since accurate shots require a certain feel on the pole and a certain comfort in the placement of the hands, the glove does not impede that sense of control and balance. There is also the fact that for many, it has become a matter of habit.
Money for junior teams
PHOTO ABBIE PARR, Associate Press Archives
Conor Bedard
Does a junior club that sees one of its players drafted by an NHL team get ownership?
Gaetan Quenneville
Reply from Guillaume Lefrancois
Teams actually get a fee. The NHL sends payment to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), an entity that oversees the country’s three junior rings. Then the amounts are distributed to the teams “according to the rounds [de repêchage] This amount may vary from year to year, said a spokesperson for QMJHL. It is impossible to know precisely this amount, but a speaker in the middle states a “four digit” amount for each player. Special clauses may apply to certain special cases, for example European players.
Flag of Quebec in CFL
PHOTO PETER POWER, Canadian Press Archive
Austin Mac
All CFL teams display the Canadian flag and league crest behind their helmet, but the Alouettes are the only team that also displays the provincial flag. Is it sponsored by the Quebec government?
Martin Roy
Reply from Guillaume Lefrancois
It is not sponsorship, but merely a decision of the organization. The Alouettes began displaying the fleur-de-lis flag starting in the 2011 season.
the lives of the roommates
Photo by Bernard Brault, Press Archives
Connor McDavid
Do major league players need space on the road? Do some players get preferential treatment? Should a star like Conor McDavid ever accommodate with a supporting player?
Jean-Philippe Dechenis-Gilbert
Reply from Guillaume Lefrancois
In the NHL, Rule 16.9 specifies that “Any player who does not hold an entry-level contract is entitled to one room of occupancy”. In other words, teams can only ask players who are on their first contract to share a room. Single rooms are provided in the NBA, while in the NFL and Major League Baseball the choice seems to be up to the teams.
“Evil thinker. Music scholar. Hipster-friendly communicator. Bacon geek. Amateur internet enthusiast. Introvert.”