This Is Vancouver

It's officially summer now, so technically we should stop talking about hockey. Well, technically what I have to say is not just about the game. I've already alluded to the fact that I am not sorry the NHL season is over. Like most, I think I'd rather just forget about it. Unfortunately, the post-game riots on the streets of Vancouver make that rather difficult.

There are many in the city of Vancouver that are beyond disheartened that their team failed to win the famed Stanley Cup, but to have suffered an international shaming at the hands of thieves, thugs and those driven by the mob mentality of the day is a much crueler fate.

What has upset me most is the level of public disdain for the city and its team which seemed to surface even before the rioters took to the streets. Listening to local sports radio during the Stanley Cup final, I was disturbed to hear the voices of many callers expressing their outright dislike for the Canucks. This has, and continues, to baffle me.

Living in the east and being exposed mostly to Eastern Conference hockey, it's hard to imagine that anyone could even really get to know the team, let alone develop a hatred. The few games that I watched during the regular season were fairly entertaining. After all, Western Conference hockey has a long established reputation for its wide open, end-to-end, barnstorming style.

Long before the league put the kibosh on clutch-and-grab hockey, the Edmonton Oilers were the most exciting and entertaining team to watch. The games were often high scoring affairs with plenty of action, and of course the Great One putting on a goal-scoring clinic. It was a far cry from the Eastern Conference (known then as the Wales Conference) where it felt as if the game was being played in a phone booth. The Bruins, Flyers, Whalers and even the Habs, all pulling and tugging at one another, with only inches to spare. Boring.

In the new NHL, the Western Conference continues to entertain in much the same way, and this year the Canucks were undeniably one of the most exciting teams to watch. So why the hate?

A more perplexing mystery is the way in which the country has turned against a city that hosted what is without question the most inspiring and unforgettable Olympic games in Canadian history. With apologies to Calgary and my home town of Montreal, the Vancouver Olympics not only showcased awe-inspiring performances by Canadian athletes, it did so against the backdrop of Vancouver's stunning natural beauty and was further complemented by the warmth, grace and hospitality of its citizens.

Were the Olympics perfect? No, there were some serious setbacks and issues that plagued the games. The lack of snow on Cypress Mountain, a mechanical failure during the torch-lighting ceremony to say nothing the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. Yet, somehow the Vancouver games, and the city, rose above failure and tragedy to unite a nation in hope, determination, ambition and pride.

This was Vancouver. This is Vancouver.

Some have regarded the post-game riot in Vancouver as an impetus to attack the city and its population. One local journalist even went as far as to claim the riot was exactly the reason Vancouver did not deserve the cup. Attempting to smear an entire fan-base and its city because of a mixed mob of crooks, vandals and those caught up in the insanity of the moment is a distasteful combination of hubris and callowness.

To suggest that the vast majority of Vancouver fans are just like those who chose to express their disappointment by smashing windows, looting stores and setting cars ablaze, is an irresponsible and gross distortion of fact that borders on contempt. Particularly from anyone who takes up residence in a city that has something of a reputation for hockey-related riots. This glass house has quite a history.

The necessity to label the rioters as fans seems to be another media obsession. I consider myself a fan of more than one sports team and I know hundreds of others like myself. But none of us have ever once felt compelled to express our anger in anything more violent than slamming our fists into the arm of a sofa. You can choose to label the rioters anything you want, but they are not fans. Not by any definition I know. Unless of course you feel the defamation of an entire population is a small price to pay for generating controversy to satisfy a narcissistic need for attention. Don Cherry has to retire eventually.

I am not an apologist as has been suggested. Those involved in the riots should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and perhaps a new law ought to be written to see justice done. The unspoken truth however, is that sports-related riots have become an all-too familiar blight on modern society. Montreal, Boston, Los Angeles and many other cities have all experienced this disturbing trend. Dig deep enough and you will find that every city has its darker side, a powder-keg of pent-up emotion looking for some spark to explode. I don't justify it, but to deny this reality is tantamount to burying our heads in the shores of the St. Lawrence.

The latest salvo launched in this pile-on trash-fest was the suggestion that the Canucks were not Canadian enough because they didn't have as many Canadian players on their roster as the Bruins. I guess once one is done slamming the fans and the city, might as well move on to the team and the organization.

The audacity to suggest that the people of Vancouver, who are no different than ourselves, somehow deserve this fate is wrong. Plain and simple.

I feel Vancouver's shame, as it is Canada's shame. I never believed the city was somehow entitled to the cup, but they certainly deserved a more graceful end to this story. My pride in Vancouver will not be shaken by this event, as my pride in Montreal remains strong despite its own long and often spotty history.

I have visited Vancouver a handful of times in my life, and each time was memorable. The last visit took me to Vancouver Island and the city of Victoria. It was during the intial deployment of Canadian troops to Afghanistan. Soldiers boarded transport ships to set sail from the harbour for a long journey into the unknown. As the ships passed the shoreline, a small crowd began to gather. It grew steadily until it swelled into the streets. Quietly, and without prompting, the crowd began to sing O'Canada. Like many, I was moved to tears. It was one of the most unforgettable moments in my life.

This was Vancouver. This is Vancouver.

The NHL’s Annus Horribilis

At a time when fans of the NHL should be celebrating an exciting championship final, I have a sense that the vast majority would rather just forget the whole thing.

The 2010-2011 season seemed to kick off with great promise. An original six champion set to defend its title, a rejuvenated Sidney Crosby exploding out of the gate and a ray of light for Habs fans, Carey Price earning back some respect from a cynical and bitter fanbase.

On paper it looked good, but all was not well in NHL land.

Just as the season began, a hit by Chicago Blackhawk Niklas Hjalmarsson on Buffalo Sabres' Jason Pominville cooled the early momentum. This was the first test of the NHL’s new Rule 48. Hjalmarsson received a two-game suspension, and it seemed the league was serious about how it applied the rule. But things did not change. Repeat offender Matt Cooke continued to target the heads of fellow players, despite repeated warnings and suspensions. Then the league lost arguably its most talented player in Sidney Crosby due to a concussion sustained in a head shot delivered at the Winter Classic. He did not return for the rest of the season.

Instead of stepping up its efforts, the league began to flip flop on its definition of an illegal head shot. This culminated in the most notorious decision of the season, the non-suspension of Zdeno Chara for his near career-ending hit on Max Pacioretty. This would unleash a firestorm of controversy, and the hit itself became a PR nightmare. The major news organizations jumped on the story and the NHL’s reputation as a league of abject violence was further cemented in the minds of the casual observer. For many of us, this became the turning point of the season, and the hockey was never quite the same.

The league’s disciplinary committee, which consisted mostly of Colin Campbell, whose son Gregory plays for the Bruins, and Mike Murphy, spent the better part of the season developing inexplicable, and at times indefensible, interpretations of Rule 48. The net result was a policy that was often inconsistent in its interpretation and confusing to many. Even as the league claimed it was concerned about change, mid-season meetings among owners, led by commissioner Gary Bettman, concluded there was no need to change the rule or apply it any differently.

The league’s inaction prompted Hall-of-Famer and Pittsburg Penguin owner Mario Lemieux to take the league to task after a penalty-riddled, cheap-shot affair against the New York Islanders. Lemieux also signs Matt Cooke’s paycheque. The statement resulted in a lot of name-calling and some of the most spectacular displays of hypocrisy and ignorance from coaches, league officials, hockey commentators and players. Meanwhile, the cheap shots and concussions continued unabated.

As the league lost control on the ice, the ownership situation of the Phoenix Coyotes went from bad to worse. The team, now owned by the league, was bleeding cash and a potential deal to sell the team to Chicago investor Matthew Hulsizer was circling the bowl. Hulsizer was demanding the city of Glendale pony up some of the $170 million purchase price in the form of parking revenues. Conservative think tank The Goldwater Institute, who adamantly opposes public money being used to support private ventures, threatened to go to court to block the move. In the end, the city of Glendale agreed to pay the league $25 million to support the team for one more year.

As this scenario played out, the league was forced to deal with the Atlanta Thrashers ownership situation, which was disintegrating even faster. With Winnipeg on speed dial, the league tried its best to spin the situation with a fictional ruse that it could somehow find a way to keep the team in Atlanta. Even as the story broke of a deal being reached between Thrashers ownership and Winnipeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment, the league (read Commissioner Bettman) continued to deliver denial after denial. When it was finally announced that Winnipeg was indeed the beneficiary of Atlanta's (and the league's) failure, Bettman felt absolutely no reason to celebrate the return of hockey to a hockey market, in a hockey-crazed country. His press conference in Winnipeg was a combination of Droopy Dog and a scolding first grade teacher. He warned that Winnipeg would have to sell out every game just to survive. Winnipeg's MTS Centre's capacity is just over 15, 000. Average attendance at Thrashers games this season was around 13, 500.

As if the NHL’s season of epic fails were not enough to drag professional hockey through the manure, we have to add the deplorable actions of a mass of meatheads tearing apart the streets of downtown Vancouver after Wednesday's game seven final. This sad scene was enough to prompt some in the media to suggest Vancouver, who had arguably the most talented and skilled team in the league, somehow did not deserve the Stanley Cup. Apparently the lack of intelligence and insight in the league’s head office is contagious. The goons win again.

As the streets of Vancouver descended into anarchy, a chorus of boos descended upon Bettman as he presented the Stanley Cup to Zdeno Chara, whose 2010-2011 highlight reel features an attempted decapitation of a fellow player. Chara then handed the cup to his colleague Mark Recchi whose Mensa-inspired statements this year included accusing the victim of faking. Class all the way.

One can only hope that next season will see some positive change. That the game’s integrity can be restored.

Are you listening Brendan Shannahan?