[BRIEF NOTE] Two solitudes, yet again

[rfmcdonald]

A non-trivial amount of noise has been made in English Canada about the disappearance of the iconic theme song The Hockey Theme from the CBC's NHL-licensed Hockey Night in Canada program and its transfer to the private CTV television network. What has gotten much less attention in English Canada, as Peter Cheney wrote in Wednesday's The Globe and Mail ("Iconic song to return to French Canada"), is that Francophone viewers will get to hear The Hockey Theme when they're watching official NHL-licensed French-language hockey broadcasts for the first time in four years.

Dominique Perazzino's barbershop on Montreal's Rue Masson is a shrine to the sport of hockey, Quebec-style: the floor is painted like a rink, the talk is about the latest game, and the walls are lined with portraits of the Montreal Canadiens pantheon - Jean Beliveau, Saku Koivu and, of course, "Rocket" Richard.

Yesterday, Mr. Perazzino got some of the best news he's heard since Mr. Koivu's cancer went into remission: The Hockey Night in Canada theme song will play again on French-language hockey telecasts.

"We welcome it back," he said, taking a break between haircuts. "We all grew up with it, and it's in our hearts."

The return of the song to the airwaves of French Canada is the latest wrinkle in a long, twisted battle that has transferred the theme music from the CBC, which has used it on Hockey Night in Canada since 1968, to the rival CTV network. The deal, which closed on Monday, means that the tune is now available to Montreal-based RDS, a CTV affiliate some call "the French TSN."

For the past four years, the theme has been off the air for French-language hockey broadcasts. CBC had the rights to use the music, but RDS had the NHL broadcasting licence. Bottom line: anglophone viewers heard the famous "dunt-da-DUNT-da-dunt" chords every Saturday night, and francophone viewers didn't.

In the view of many, the loss of the song to French Canada created two hockey solitudes - and its return is hailed as a small victory for the forces of national unity. "We all need to be on the same page," says Mario Brisebois, a sports media reporter for Le Journal de Montréal. "Hockey without that song is like Christmas without Bing Crosby."

Gerry Frappier, president and general manager of RDS, says adding the music to his company's hockey coverage will "complete the experience" for French-speaking fans. "This song is a piece of history," he said. "It's the sound of hockey. People grew up hearing it, and it reaches deep into their experience. Putting it on our show will be magic."