Some Canuck Fans Are Awful Human Beings

Canuck fans, upon hearing negative opinions regarding their team.

In the past few weeks, Kyle Wellwood, Mike Babcock, and Theo Fleury have all come under fire for some pretty offensive comments. Yes, unforgivable utterances, these. The things they said were so vile that it apparently became acceptable to forgo proper human decency and, instead, return their brutal statements with the worst slander, bigotry, and hatespeech Canucks fans could muster.

Just what did they say? Well, brace yourself. You see, each of them expressed skepticism that the Canucks' regular season dominance would extend into the playoffs.

Wellwood suggested the Canucks were too immature to handle playoff adversity. Babcock suggested Luongo might not have what it takes to lead the team to a Cup. Fleury suggested that, after coasting through the regular season, the Canucks were ripe for a first-round playoff upset. In truth, it was pretty harmless stuff, but the response from many Canuck fans was much less so.

Please Do Not Flip the Pool

Sports fans go nuts when things don't make sense to them.

Have you looked at the Western Conference standings recently? If you're a Vancouver fan, you probably haven't, you smug bastard, so let me fill you in: there are 2 points separating the 5th-place team and the 10th-place team. This is where you gasp, or maybe here: of those six very good teams, only four will be making the playoffs.

If you didn't gasp, you obviously don't live in Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Anaheim, Dallas, or Calgary. For fans and players of those teams, it's a stressful time; every game in the Conference has meaning, even the ones in which your team doesn't play.

However, for the time being, Canucks fans are taking it easy. It's a pleasant feeling, this--a rare feeling. When it comes to these late-season clusters, the Canucks are regularly in the thick of things. This year, however, where Vancouver is nine points clear of second-place Detroit, and seventeen points clear of the aforementioned thick.

Enjoy it while it lasts, Canuck nation. In ten games, everyone starts back at zero.

A Road Canuck Fan's Guide on How Not to Be a Jerk*

Video from outside Staples Center after the Kings game. Looks like a lot of fun. Fun is good.

Wow, it was exhilarating to go to the Ducks game. I met Daniel and Harrison, and their wives, and that was pretty amazing. We were also surrounded by Canucks fans. Living in California, I only see the Canucks when they're on the road against the Ducks or the Kings. I cheer loud, but I'm usually shouted down. Not last night.

Still, there were moments where I was a little embarrassed. The Canucks fans I saw were passionate, yes, but also -- dare I say? -- impolite at times. I don't want Canucks fans to be hated league-wide. That would suck. What would suck even more, though, is if the Canucks were hated for good reason. For that reason, let's discuss what is and is not good form.

The Anthem

Good Form: Singing along with the Canadian anthem. Your patriotism is an inspiration. After the Canadian anthem comes the American one, and you'll often hear the Americans around you singing along with it. A friend once took me to a Ducks-Thrashers game. There was no singing along of any kind. It's a nice thought that Canadian fans on the road inspire locals to be more patriotic. And no one can really fault you for it. (Note: The poor Americans. O Canada is a song pretty much anyone can sing. The Star Spangled Banner, on the other hand, is usually better left to the professionals.)

Bad Form: Booing the American anthem, sitting down for it, putting your hat on for it, etc. Come on. You hate when Philly fans boo the Canadian anthem. And for good reason -- it's a jerk thing to do. I bet their Canadian players don't like it, either. Come to think of it, Kesler probably doesn't like hearing HIS national anthem boo'd. But then, he hates Canada either way. Don't do this.

What Do You Want, Canucks Fans?

After Wednesday's loss against the Anaheim Ducks, the prevailing opinion amongst Canuck fandom was that the Canucks got outmuscled. This opinion could be heard from callers on the Team 1040, read on threads posted on Canucks.com, and absorbed by osmosis from articles written by Brad Ziemer (you wouldn't want to actually read them). This sudden outcry was simultaneously baffling and expected. Baffling, because the goals scored against the Canucks were largely due to breakdowns in defensive coverage and not being outmuscled along the boards or in front of the net. Expected, as Dan Hamhuis left the game after a borderline hit from Ryan Getzlaf and no one stepped up to fight him.

Never mind that none of the Canucks actually saw the hit happen. Never mind that it looks like a perfectly innocent hit until Hamhuis crumples to the ice. Never mind that there honestly wouldn't have been any point in fighting Getzlaf. The lack of response from the Canucks in that moment is apparently indicative of a team-wide lack of toughness.

Fine. Let's say I agree.

This Is Not a Story: Roberto Luongo Edition

On Wednesday night, the Canucks continued their stellar streak, winning their 7th game in a row. They are 16-1-2 in their last 19 games. Daniel Sedin scored the 10,000th goal in franchise history. Luongo put up 43 saves and was named the 1st star of the game. And, oh yeah, he didn't come out onto the ice after being named the 1st star like he normally does.

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong. One of these things is not a story.

And yet, the coverage immediately following the game from both the Vancouver Sun and Province hockey blogs would seem to indicate that the biggest story of the entire night was Luongo not skating out for the first star. And Jason Botchford for the Province devoted an entire article to this complete non-story.