Canada’s Not-So-Secret Religion—Hockey

A fan carries a sign bearing the likeness of Jesus Christ into the hockey arena. Wait, that’s not the Savior—that’s Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, garbed in robes with hair and beard in the biblical style, courtesy of AI.

What’s going on here? Have sports fans gotten religion?

Um. Sure!

Canadian novelist Leslie McFarlane once observed that for Canadians, “hockey is more than a game; it is almost a religion.” 

A good percentage of Canadians would dispute that. For them, hockey IS a religion—a religion with rites, rituals and customs. Protestant Theologian Olivier Bauer, a former hockey goaltender who wrote the book Hockey as a Religion: The Montreal Canadiens, takes those traditions seriously, specifically those surrounding the Canadiens (lovingly dubbed the Habs by the faithful), the winningest team in Canadian hockey.

In 2014, the team made a serious run for the Cup, during which time, something that can only be called a tempest of religious fervor swept through our northern neighbor.

“First sign is everything … uses a religious metaphor to talk about the Canadiens,” Bauer said at the time. “The flannel is the ‘holy jersey.’ [Star goalie Cary] Price is “Jesus Price.” The Stanley Cup is the ‘Holy Grail.’”

Bauer has seen people pray to God to redirect the puck and believe the Deity will do that. 

The Catholic Church, not wanting to miss an opportunity, jumped on the bandwagon. For a dollar, one could go to the church website, light a virtual candle for the team and leave a message. Typical example: “Game 7…the prayers of every Habs fan and the angels of past victories are with you. Now the third period…you can do it.”

Father Robert J. Gendreau of the Catholic Church of Montreal, unabashed and unashamed, proudly wore his Canadiens button on his clerical garb: “We’re watching the games, too,” he grinned, hurriedly adding, “after work.” 

But now it’s the Oilers’ turn. The Edmonton team dramatically lost in 2024, but is in this year’s final best-of-seven run at this writing. 

The Edmonton faithful have their traditions and ceremonies, just as their predecessors did a decade ago. Though these sacraments vary from believer to believer, some have wide agreement: Of 1,000 Edmonton Oiler fans surveyed across Canada, 35.7 percent wear certain colors. For 21.4 percent, it was a special article of clothing, such as a holy jersey, hat or underwear. 14.5 percent have a daily athletic routine that must be done exactly right, while 14.1 percent have a lucky song that must be listened to again and again. Penalty-watching is verboten for 7.3 percent, while seven percent know that if they watch a game with “certain people”—no matter that they’re family or friends—the team is sure to lose.

Have these talismans and traditions worked?

Well, it depends on whether you believe religion is grounded in faith or results. At this writing, no Canadian team has won since 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings in five games. A Canadian team has reached the Final eight times since then, including the Oilers three times. The Oilers are tied with the Panthers at one game apiece as of June 8.

Canadian James Naismith, the inventor of basketball and an ardent believer in the Muscular Christianity movement of the nineteenth century, believed that sports in general and his game in particular would help develop religious character.

Of course, Chaplain Naismith was referring to those who played sports. It is not known whether he felt that those who watch sports would also feel a quickening of the spirit and an awakening of the sacred essence within.

Well, do they?

Ask a Canadian.

Photo credits: Edmonton Oilers fans celebrating on Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue by fatal Cleopatra from Southern Alberta via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.5.