Mennonites ‘more puzzled’ than put off by OHL on-ice chirp: Expert

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A five-game Ontario Hockey League suspension given a London Knights player for calling an opponent a Mennonite is causing a stir in hockey and Mennonite circles.  Ryan Pyette breaks down the fallout.

THE BACKSTORY

Landon Sim of the Knights was tossed out of the game and assessed a game misconduct early in London’s 5-1 win at Sault Ste. Marie on Nov. 6. The Ontario Hockey League suspended Sim indefinitely as it began an investigation, and this week made it a five-game suspension. The OHL found Sim “intended to provoke an opposing player that was marginalizing on both religious and cultural grounds,” violating its code of conduct. Sim’s agent, Andrew Maloney, said Sim had been insulted by an opponent, in the regular back-and-forth on ice, and “he used the word ‘Mennonite.’” He said he believes Sim said it “without much knowledge behind it,” but “it’s wrong and inappropriate” and “a teachable moment and something he’s not going to repeat now that he’s totally aware of it.” The Soo Greyhounds said Wednesday they have nothing to add, saying “this is a league matter that has been dealt with and neither the Soo Greyhounds nor its members will be making any comment on the situation.”

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THE CONTEXT

A significant faith community, there are at least 175,000 Mennonites in Canada, more than a third of whom live in Ontario and many in its southwest. Like many religious communities, they vary widely in the practice of their faith – from the most conservative, who dress modestly and eschew modern conveniences (many rely on horse-drawn buggies, for example), making them noticeable, to more liberal groups who blend into everyday life around them while sharing the basic beliefs about about baptism, community and non-violence.

A MENNONITE EXPERT’S VIEW

“It’s classic – Mennonites get in the news for something odd and suddenly, everyone pays attention,” said Troy Osborne, a Mennonite historian and the dean of Conrad Grebel University College, a school affiliated with both the University of Waterloo and the Mennonite Church. “You wonder what the heck is going on because we’re pretty well known in (Southwestern Ontario) and you see (Mennonites) in the farmers’ market in St. Jacobs and places like that. We’ve been talking about that (OHL penalty) story and I don’t want to speak for the player involved, but it seems like Mennonites are more puzzled than offended by it.”

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Troy Osborne Q+A

Q: Would being called a Mennonite be considered a slur in the communities?

A: I’ve never heard of that as a slur. We think it’s pretty funny here and were trying to come up with jokes about it. There’s a local, low-German slang term in the St. Jacobs area for Mennonite, but I can’t believe (Sim, who is from Nova Scotia) would know that or is referring to that. Maybe, we can think of historical times when it can be a slur, but these days, it would never be used as one.

Q: Will this unique incident be the topic of class discussions and church sermons this Sunday?

A: I might discuss it, but in more of a ‘isn’t this kind of funny thing?’ The Mennonites I work with are pretty much acculturated and assimilated. I’m assuming the OHL player (at the receiving end of Sim’s insult) is, too. It was fascinating to us. The joke is, the roughest hockey you’re ever going to play is in the Mennonite Church League. It’s an ongoing joke. I went to seminary for awhile and there were all these Mennonite pastors there. The hockey was intense, but that it’s always rough is kind of a stereotype you hear a lot.

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Q: Have you ever heard of anything like this before?

A: I’ve got to say, I used to work in an Amish and Mennonite information centre in Indiana. I was there for three years and we got all kinds of questions about who they were. Like someone asked, ‘Did they believe in Santa Claus?’ But this would be at the top of the list for strange things said about Mennonites.

Q: Some Mennonites have reached out to say instead of an on-ice punishment, the league should attempt to fix the problem. One mentioned Sim should live with a Mennonite family on a farm for a week during the ban and learn the true meaning behind the word. What do you make of that?

A: I can see it. There are a lot of Mennonites who worked with restorative justice. When someone breaks the law or an infraction against you, there are ways to restore that relationship without going to court or trial and things like that. So, there’s an instinct for people to say that. Old Order Mennonites, I don’t know if they would say that.

Q: Do Mennonites consider this suspension to be heavy-handed?

A: I don’t think the Mennonites themselves would push for that penalty. Given their history, (you have) older Mennonites from Kansas, where I’m from, and their churches were burnt and they were literally tarred and feathered. Canadian Mennonites had to deal with that, too. So, being yelled at as a Mennonite in ice hockey doesn’t seem that bad. But that’s not what this is. This is just someone not understanding. You used to hear in the (United) States. David Letterman would make jokes about the Amish and Mennonites, about butter-churning and stuff like that. Someone here at the college wondered if this guy had watched Letterkenny and thought Mennonite was an insult. Most people would shrug it off, but I don’t want to speak for the (Soo) player.

rpyette@postmedia.com

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