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12. Fans love to boo him, players have criticized him: How much of that do you think has to do with the fact hockey, at the highest level, still racially homogenous?

DC: No, no. I don’t believe that at all. I don’t believe that, at all. Even when Crosby started out, and he was acting like that, I criticized Crosby. So I don’t believe that, at all. When you get 20,000 people out, you’re going to have a couple of jerks, in anything. And the guys that do that are a couple of jerks. I don’t care if it was in ballet or whatever it was, you’re always going to get a couple of jerks.

13. Michael Sam has returned to the Montreal Alouettes. Why is the NHL is still waiting for its first openly gay player?

DC: I’m going to be truthful: I admire that guy and his guts. But make no mistake about it, that’s going to disrupt the club a little bit. I could be on here and be milquetoast. But there’s a point it’s going to disrupt the club — I don’t know how, but it will for a while, anyhow. And in the National Hockey League, I really don’t know. Maybe there is, and I just don’t know of him, that’s all.

14. What would Don Cherry, hockey coach, tell his players if a teammate came out?

DC: (smiles) Well, it’d depend on how good he is.

15. With all the U.S.-born players taken high in the draft last month, how worried should Canadians be about the Americans taking over the game?

DC: If you take a look at the top six, four of the top six were Canadians. And the top three were from the GTHL, in Toronto. We don’t have to worry. As long as we keep over that 50 percent, we’re alright. If you take a look at the Stanley Cup champions, there are always more Canadians. And the MVP is usually Canadian.