When the series first started Duncan eyed me suspiciously and said "Are you sure you are going to cheer for the Flames?"
The only reason he felt it neccessary to enquire is that I grew up on the coast. Technically, the Vancouver Canucks should enjoy some amount of loyalty from myself by the very geographical nature of my birth place. But truth be told, as a kid my love of hockey was fulfilled outside of the province, as I looked towards Montreal, Detroit, Edmonton and others to find some satisfaction that matched my love of the game. The Canucks tend to be a bunch of whiny losers, but it is actually the Vancouver Fans that damn it all.
I always dreamed of living in a hockey town. A real honest hockey town, where love for the game runs deep and team loyalty is not the "surface only" variety. If you are lucky enough to live in one of these places, then you know what I mean. Whenever I think of true hockey towns my mind turns easily to Detroit, where I have seen some of the most touching hockey moments (both on the part of the team and the fans) - I am reminded of Yzerman presenting the Stanley Cup to Vladimir Konstantinov in 1998, who was confined to a wheelchair after the horrid accident following Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup win; And in a subsequent series, where the Wings were eliminated in four straight, the fans didn't abandon them - No, they stood on their feet for the last three minutes of the last period, with full knowledge their team was about to be eliminated (in a sweep no less), and cheered "GO WINGS GO" for the remainder of the game, applauding their team's effort. It's in those moments that my love of hockey swells.
The fans are an important, even integral, part of the game. If no one came to watch a game, then who would play hockey... and why? The team plays for the fans and the fans cheer for their team, taunt the other team, and at times tip the scales. They certainly provide the atmosphere, the energy needed for the game to be good. It is a symbiotic relationship. That's what makes hockey so good.
I was reading in the paper this morning that Vancouver has already abandoned their team. Even before their last game, where their team enjoyed the so called "home ice advantage," the fans sucked. (Home ice is only considered an advantage because the fans cheering/support is an added incentive to victory). This is so typically a Vancouver response that it sickens me to have to recall all the times it has happened this way in the past.
In all of it's collective sulking, Vancouver does not deserve another playoff game. Let it end in Calgary tonight, with the fans cheering, and everyone appreciating the privelege of competing in the Stanley Cup finals. Calgary has fought hard and they deserve the chance to advance.
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Why I hate the Vancouver Canucks
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You need to really look at other arenas man. Canuck fans do not turn on each other, who's got the most consecutive sellouts in the league? Vancouver. Who had the candle vigils when news came of Luc Bourdon's tragedy? the Canucks fans, why because it mattered to them cause they love the team and they love the players on the team no matter what, do they sometimes get frustrated and criticize the team, yes but name me one fan base that does not do that, their isnt one because those types of fans do not exist. You want to look at people who turn on their team and want their team to lose look at Edmonton, fans constantly sit their and wait for the team to fail just so they can say I told you so, what kind of a fan is that wanting your team to fail? Canuck fans do not do that. Like the team Canuck fans wear their heart on their sleeves but if they legimately abandoned the team they would not still be getting sellouts, point blank. They would not have had those moving ceremonies for Luc Bourdon or Taylor Pyatt's fiancee and such because if they abandoned the team they wouldnt have cared about those things or paid attention to them, but that wasnt the case. Canucks fans will allways be with the team and supporting them night in and night out, you want to look at real crappy fans look at Edmonton where no lie many fans claim that booing the team actually motivates them, I mean what kind of crap is that? You seriously need to do some more research and go around the league to see where the crappy fans and the whiny fans are, if you do that I promise you you'll discover those fans are not in Vancouver. For you to say that about Vancouver fans shows a lack of intelligence and integrity on your part and is an unnecessary cheap shot at a team that has been constantly striving to be great and is truly a family weather it's the fans the players, management coaches or whatever they consider themselves a family and when something goes well or not so well they all feel it because they care, you need to get your facts straight and brush up on your knowledge cause for you to make those types of comments to the Canucks and their fans is absolutely ridiculous!
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