Hockey player fired for not signing flag for troops:

A junior hockey player has been ousted from the Saint John Sea Dogs after he did not sign a Canadian flag that the team was sending to troops in Afghanistan.

Dave Bouchard — a 20-year-old from Jonquière, Que., who played left wing on the Quebec Major Junior team — said he thought someone else had already signed his name.

But Sea Dogs coach Jacques Beaulieu said he did not accept that explanation and cut him from the team after Saturday’s game. […]
Beaulieu said he believes in freedom of expression but added that any player who refused to sign would have been kicked off the team.

I have no idea whether Bouchard had in fact thought someone else had signed his name, and whether the coach’s claim that Bouchard had been about to be cut anyway (despite, according to the CBC, being tied for top scorer on the team so far in the season) holds water.

What I do know is that Coach Beaulieu may have accidentally cheapened the team’s gesture. When the choice is to sign or be fired, those signatures carry a lot less weight.

Canadian soldiers are doing a dangerous job in extremely difficult circumstances, and it’s understandable that people want to voice their support. But those voices only mean something when they’re raised out of solidarity – and not out of a fear of being fired.