Win Friends or Make Enemies: Team Canada’s 1978 Diplomatic Mission to Czechoslovakia

The Canadian government's role in funding and managing amateur sports increased dramatically as part of the expansion of the postwar social welfare state. A case study of the government's involvement in Team Canada's participation at the 1978 World Hockey Championship reveals the deliberate attempt by Canadian hockey players, government officials, diplomats, and embassies, to improve Canada's image abroad after it had been damaged by the team's unsportsmanlike behaviour at the same championship the previous year. Ottawa v portrayal of this 1978 "charm offensive " as successful helped it justify its role in operating the Canadian national team. This article situates the government's role in the 1978 World Championship in the context of trends that began in the 1960s, when the government became more involved in sports, and charts a growing awareness of the potential for sport--and especially hockey in the case of Canada--to function not only as an important component of collective identity, but also as an integral part of the nation's foreign relations strategy.