John Lennon and the Montreal Canadiens hockey sweater
My wife, Patrycja, and I recently watched One to One: John & Yoko at the cinema. Newly released, the documentary uses unseen footage and recordings to stitch together a sepia-tinged tapestry of 1970s arcana. The concept takes some getting used to, and the artistic tangents occasionally rely too much on symbolism – taking for granted a prerequisite level of audience knowledge – but it was an enthralling watch, nevertheless. It provoked thought, and brought context to our current surging fatalism.
Such is my quirky mind, full of pop culture tchotchkes and tidbits, I spent most of the movie thinking about the Montreal Canadiens. Why? Well, I recall stumbling across a photo of Lennon holding a Habs jersey many years ago, and the image has lurked in my subconscious ever since as a scribble worth exploring. In recent days, I have done just that, attempting to learn more about that iconic yet under-appreciated photo.
Surprisingly, little is known about the Lennon-Canadiens backstory. The jersey was gifted to John on 22 December 1969, at the Château Champlain hotel in Montreal, Quebec, during a press conference for the latest peace campaign endorsed by the former Beatle and his wife. The power couple stopped in Montreal en route to Ottawa, where they subsequently met Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister.
Lennon and Ono displayed great affection for Canada, having staged one of their famous anti-war ‘bed-ins’ in Montreal during the summer of ‘69. They returned in the winter to declare ‘war is over,’ with Trudeau becoming the first world leader to meet the popular pacifists for diplomatic talks. An impromptu press conference was arranged in Montreal during their journey from Toronto to Ottawa, and someone gave Lennon a Habs sweater, bearing the #5 of beloved winger Gilles Tremblay.
Only a few photos exist of Lennon holding the jersey aloft – one captured by George Bird of the Montreal Star, and another archived by Bettmann. Jean-Bernard Hebey of RTL received one of the few bylines on an article from the press briefing, but deciphering other attendees is difficult – as is unearthing any comment from John or Yoko about the jersey.
Ever intrigued, I tried to track down further information, reaching out to Lennon historians and the Canadiens organisation itself, but a clear origin story resisted triangulation. A marketing manager for the Château Champlain said they knew nothing about the jersey, which is understandable, given it rose to prominence 56 years ago. Anyone who worked at the hotel then will probably be in their eighties by now – if they are even still alive.
And so, understanding why and how John Lennon came to possess a Montreal Canadiens jersey is likely lost to the passage of time – as is any inkling where the sweater currently resides. But still, the entire silhouette fascinates me, as a poetic melding of iconic institutions, and I have been thinking a lot about it over the last week or so.
Of course, the Canadiens’ jersey is the most revered in hockey, lionised in The Hockey Sweater, a 1979 short story by Roch Carrier, translated by Sheila Fischman, in which a young French-Canadian boy mistakenly receives a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey in a neighbourhood of Habs aficionados. Later animated by the National Film Board of Canada, The Hockey Sweater is a treasured Canadian heirloom, with literary types keen to explain its microcosmic significance as an allegory of cultural tensions in bilingual communities.
Indeed, the Canadiens jersey itself is considered sacred by particularly passionate believers. La Sainte-Flanelle, or The Holy Sweater, is worshiped by Habs fans – even if it has been besmirched in recent years by an advertising patch for the Royal Bank of Canada. That is akin to putting a Goldman Sachs logo on Vatican-blessed rosary beads, and the controversial move has been lamented throughout the hockey heartlands.
In closing, I recommend another phenomenal documentary, in complement to the latest John and Yoko biopic. A product of journalism students at Concordia University, Habsology: In the Habs We Trust is an independent masterpiece with an evocative premise and authentic execution. It ambitiously sketches synergies between Canadiens fandom and religiosity, presenting La Sainte-Flanelle as an article of faith. I stumbled upon the film around a decade ago, and it influenced my hockey appreciation like little else. Lennon would have enjoyed it, too, I’m sure, gleaming fresh insight into an esoteric gift.