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'f gat paid for doing a fob'
Jewish hockey star doesn't
want tag as 'Jewish athlete'
B«rni« Wolfe is a bit of a
novelty among American Jewry,
He is the only Jewish player in
major league hockey. And as
such, his interviews with the
Jewish press usually include
questions such as, “Have you en
countered any anti-Semitism in
sports?” "What is your involve
ment in Jewish affairs?” and
“How often do you attend syn
agogue?”
Wolfe answers them with dis
arming honesty.
“I don’t think of myself as a
Jewish hockey player,” says the
goalie for the National Hockey
League’s Washington Capitals.
“What’s the difference? I have
two hands, two legs. I find the
question (about him as a 'Jewish
athlete’) strange. I only get ask
ed it by Jewish newspapers.”
The 25-year-old Montreal
native told the Jewish Chronicle
of Pittsburgh, “I don’t get paid
any more or any less because I’m
Jewish. I get paid for doing a job
playing goal. The only people
that ever really consider me a
Jewish hockey player are
reporters. I consider myself a
hockey player.”
But Wolfe is aware of his pop
ularity among Jewish sports
fans, and like most professional
athletes, he enjoys the recogni
tion.
“Everybody knows I’m
Jewish, and I get lots of my fan
mail from young Jewish kids.
I’m sure they identify with me,”
he said.
According to Wolfe, he is pop
ular among Jewish fans in-
Washington because he is the
only Jewish athlete there.
He makes frequent public
appearances “in temples, in
churches, in other community
centers.” About 50 per cent of
his fan mail is from Jewish fans,
he estimated; he is invited to
area Jewish homes for the
holidays, and he is asked fre
quently to speak at Jewish func
tions. "They think it’s great that
I’m Jewish.”
But among most fans, he said,
“If I’m considered a hero, it’s not
because of my religion.”
During a game between the
Capitals and the Los Angeles
Kings shortly after Wolfe joined
the team in 1975, he was given
several standing ovations. After
the game, according to the
Washington Post, “hundreds of
fans gathered around the
Telescreen interview area,
cheering interviewee Wolfe so
loudly that announcer Marv
Brooks was forced to request
quiet.”
In his two seasons with the ,
NHL, Wolfe has set team
records for goals-against-
average, consecutive scoreless
minutes and shots-stopped
percentage.
Wolfe started playing hockey
at the age of seven in “park
leagues" in Montreal. “I always
wanted to play goal.” His father
had played goaltender on a
Canadian Army team.
Wolfe’s parents encouraged
him to play sports, he said. (He
played football, baseball and
golf in high school.) But few ,
other Jewish boys played in his
park ''l^W'Thg' ‘MttMTfWr-
Beraie Wolfe (inset) and in action.
that, he said, is “the way Jewish
people are brought up.”
“Jewish parents try to keep
their kids away from contact
sports. A mother doesn’t want
her son to go out and get knock
ed around. My parents let me do
as 1 pleased.”
Wolfe played four years for
Montreal’s Sir George Williams
University which he led to the
collegiate hockey championship
of Canada in 1974. He received a
Bachelor of Commerce degree;
he has considered studying for a
Master’s of Business Ad
ministration degree at the
University of Maryland during
the off season, but has “hardly
any free time.” '
Wolfe told the Washington
Jewish Week he and his wife
have little opportunity to attend
synagogue. Because of the play
ing schedule, he said, it would be
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“very, hard” for an observant
Jew to be a hockey player. “If
you’re going to be religious, you
can’t do it halfway.” He and bis
wife “acknowledge the
holidays.”
The Jewish presa often asks
Wolfe if he encounters anti-
Semitism in sports.
“No,” he told the Pittsburgh
Jewish newspaper, “there’s no
problem.” He said professional
athletes only have winning on
their minds.”
The only other Jews who have
played in the NHL recently are
Ross Brooks and Mike Veisor;
both are retired.
Wolfe may not outrightly
identify himself as a “Jewish
hockey player,” but out of con
sideration to his Jewish fans, he
wouldn’t argue otherwise.
IntertnounUin Jewish News
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Page 21 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 15. 1977