In honor of the gamer six of the Stanley Cup finals tonight. Coach Claude Julien said in the post game conference last week that “we played like a blue color team”. What is a “blue color team”? I guess it means more physical, perhaps more determined in spite of being less skilled. The opponent, the Vancouver Knacks, having more finesse presumably.
First of all there are plenty of players on the Boston Bruins team who have the puck skill and the finesse. They are the teenager Tyler Segan, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and others. But there is another aspect of “blue color” that is more descriptive. A blue color work is often less creative and repetitive. And here is where Claude Julien is projecting on his team. It is Claude Julien’s stubborn refusal to sideline the less productive veterans like Mark Recchi, respecting the blue color seniority, it is Claude Julien’s stubborn refusal to change the mix of the lineup and give any minutes to Tyler Segan on the power play, that all is repetitive and blue color. The team is still Black and Gold, the coach is repetitive, stubborn and less creative.
The entire stereotype of blue color versus white color is the industrial relic, it underestimates the creative aspect of working with tools and machines and grossly overestimates the creative component of the white color work. Claude Julien himself is a blue color relic.
Further reading:
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Blue COLLAR (not color) — yes?