Canadien Crisis of Identity

Canada has been perpetualized as second tier to the U.S.  We have a great relationship together by trading and being neighboring countries.  Although we are great trading partners and neighboring countries, the U.S. has been seen as superior because of our capitalist economy and outstanding sports teams.  Hockey is the most popular sport in Canada and players like Wayne Gretzky put hockey on a pedestal for Canadians.  The Edmonton Oilers became the best team in hockey and Gretzky became "The Great One".  Gretzky led Edmonton to a Stanley Cup and Canada viewed him as a saint.  It was a sad day for Canadians when Wayne Gretzky got traded to the L.A. Kings a couple days after Edmonton won the Stanley Cup.  This was a devastating blow to Canadian hockey fans.  It also led to a crisis of identity.  Wayne Gretzky was the one thing that put Canada on the global market.  He brought people to Canada single handily and then he came to L.A.  Another event that led to the Canadian identity crisis was the marriage of Gretzky and an American woman.  This was a sign that Gretzky was losing all connections to Canada.  Canada also began losing global attention because they lost the best hockey player in the world.  If Wayne Gretzky would have stayed in Canada with the Oilers then Canada would have been a global sport power. The fact is Gretzky came to the U.S. and caused a major identity problem for Canada.  Maybe there will be another phenom to rise up for Canada some day.  Right now it looks like Sidney Crosby could be it, at least for the Olympic team.