It's soul searching time in Montreal. Nos Glorieux are out of the playoffs this year and to many this has become too much of a comfortable habit.

Many fans and journalists on the French-language side of the equation openly talk about needing more local content - specifically French-Canadian talent - on the Montreal Canadiens. Their English-speaking counterparts simply want the best available players to represent the club. The merit principle should prevail.

Such a conundrum. French Quebec does usually tend to romanticize and politicize about its hockey club. They hark back to a more pristine time when native sons entered the realm of Quebecois folklore for their dominance of the hockey universe.

From a marketing standpoint this only makes sense. From a hockey operations perspective it can make things a little sticky. There is a legitimate argument to be made to bring in more French players, but at what cost? The Canadiens' drafting machine that once allowed them free reign in the province through the territorial draft is gone. More importantly, other clubs in the NHL have been more successful at getting their hands on Quebec's best talent.

Simply put, too many factors conspire against turning the Canadiens into mini-Team Quebec a reality.

This idea of mixing culture, politics and sports is nothing new in sports. It happens in soccer all the time.

Hailing from the autonomous Basque region, Athletic Bilbao is a soccer team in Spain's top soccer league La Liga and offer interesting parallels to what Habs fans are debating.

Basques have a strange place in Spanish soccer. It has on one side contributed many great players to Spanish soccer but it has also had to share its resources with France (there is a French section on the Western side of the Pyrenees).

It is also a place with divided loyalties. While many Basques will openly say they want Spain to lose they are too invested in the success of the country - After all, their own wear the colors of Spain at international tournaments.

Quebec nationalists will also, though to smaller degrees, speak like they don't care about Team Canada choosing instead to support the Quebec players within the team. In the end, they realize that Canadian victory is a victory for Quebec as well. After all, as I said above, their sons wear the colors of Canada. It would make little sense to do otherwise.