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In many ways, Roch Carrier's Le chandail de Hockey (which is a condensed picture book version of a Carrier short story that originally was called Une abominable feuille d'érable sur la glace, An Abominable Maple Leaf on the Ice and has been translated by Sheila Fishman under the English language title of The Hockey Sweater) is not only an account regarding hockey and how much hockey as a sport defines Canada, but The Hockey Sweater is also a bit of a political allegory about the tensions between English and French Canadians (represented by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens as symbols of this) as well as showing the cultural/political clout and power the Catholic Church used to wield like a pretty heavy duty mallet in Quebec (not anymore, of course, but yes, actually until quite annoyingly recently). And in The Hockey Sweater, Roch Carrier has a young Quebecois boy (basically Carrier himself, since The Hockey Sweater is partially autobiographical) enduring the horrid indignity (at least for a young hockey loving Quebec boy) of having to wear a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey sweater (the clothes of the enemy so to speak, since the rivalry between the Maple Leafs and Les Canadiens is major, is palpable and also represents the all encompassing animosities between English and French Canada).

For when in The Hockey Sweater our young narrator's Montreal Canadiens jersey (with the same number as his idol, as Montreal hockey legend Maurice Richard on the back) becomes too small for him, his mother sends away for a new one from the Eaton's catalogue, but what arrives is not a Montreal Canadiens hockey sweater, but instead a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. And when the young boy (even though he tries repeatedly to explain to his mother that he simply cannot wear a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater) is still forced to wear that "wrong" jersey during his hockey games, this leads to trouble on the ice (where the poor boy is considered by both his teammates and by the local priest and referee as a symbol of English Canadian power and oppression) and then a visit to church for enforced repentance and prayer. But well, instead of that at the end of The Hockey Sweater the young boy is praying (like is expected of him) for forgiveness regarding his angry outbursts on the ice (and that he learn to control his temper), he instead (and understandably) actually asks God to send swathes of moths to ruin and eat through his Toronto Maple Leaf hockey sweater (a bit of an abrupt ending with some loose strings perhaps, but a conclusion for The Hockey Sweater I personally have found both majorly amusing and in my opinion also spot on regarding how a young mid 20th century Quebec boy upset regarding his hockey sweater being a Toronto Maple Leafs one would likely be reacting).

Set in 1946, The Hockey Sweater is engagingly penned by Rock Carrier and also with much textual humour (but that beneath that sense of hilarity, there exists in The Hockey Sweater also much that is thought-provoking and should make readers/listeners realise that the even in 2022 existing resentments between French and English Canada are not something to consider as insignificant, but something that not so long ago in fact penetrated every single part of Quebecois life, including of course hockey and hockey teams). And yes, this combination of both humour and seriousness in The Hockey, it does not only show itself in Roch Carrier's printed words (and of course also in Sheila Fishman's translation), no, this is also demonstrated by and with Sheldon Cohen's accompanying artwork, which might feel at times a bit gaudy and garish, but absolutely does a totally wonderful job providing not only much visual detail but also showing a superb mirror to and of the featured text, aesthetically demonstrating what Carrier (and Fishman) achieve verbally in The Hockey Sweater.