Vancouver Canucks: Canadian team, not Canada’s team
No Canadian team has lifted Lord Stanley’s mug since the Montreal Canadiens accomplished the feat in 1993, defeating Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. A few teams have made the Final since then — the Canucks in 1994; the Flames in 2004; the Oilers in 2006; and the Senators in 2007 — but none have succeeded.
This year, the Vancouver Canucks have the opportunity to make amends for the 1994 squad that fell to the Mark Messier-led Rangers in seven games.
Now that the Canucks are in the Stanley Cup Final, it has become fashionable to label them as “Canada’s team”. For a country so obviously hockey mad, there’s a willingness to assume that everyone north of the border must be on board the Canucks’ bandwagon.
However, this logic isn’t exactly sound.
Anointing the Canucks the sticker of “Canada’s team” ignores the divisional rivalries Vancouver has developed with both the Oilers and the Flames.
Kent Wilson, managing editor of Flames Nation, said that he personally doesn’t know of any Calgary fans supporting the Canucks for the postseason.
[php snippet=1]
“Flames fans tend to hate everything Canucks (and vice versa),” said Wilson. “If/when the Canucks win the Cup, they’ll be met with boos and hisses from these quarters.”
One only has to look at the recent history of the Stanley Cup to find further evidence of this trend. The Flames did not receive any support from Oilers fans in 2004, nor did the Oilers receive support from Calgarians in 2006; in 2007 Ottawa did not receive a boost in popularity from either Toronto or Montreal.
Die-hard fans are extremely loyal to their team, a devotion which supersedes their allegiance to their country. Interestingly, this is actually why the Canucks are receiving increased support in one area of the country.
The Canucks are experiencing a rise in popularity in Quebec, but this is due largely to the intense hatred the Boston Bruins evoke in Montreal Canadiens’ fans. These fans aren’t necessarily cheering for Vancouver, but rather they are cheering against Boston.
From discussions with various Habs fans, it’s become apparent that the Bruins are actually more hated than the Maple Leafs – at least at this moment. In Montreal, finding someone cheering for the Bruins is a difficult task.
The mood in Toronto is much less decided. Leafs fans are spewing mixed responses. Some are cheering for the Bruins out of residual feelings for long-time Leaf Tomas Kaberle, whereas others are fully supporting the Canucks. A larger percentage of Leaf fans have responded with apathy.
If the Canucks are Canada’s team, the verdict is certainly not decisive.
Plus, suggesting Vancouver has become Canada’s team also disregards their roster composition.
The Canucks currently have 16 Canadians on their roster. Both the Bruins and Lightning have 17 Canadians, while San Jose has 18. This means that not only are the Bruins more Canadian than the Canucks, but Vancouver is actually the least Canadian of all the teams who made the Conference Finals.
This is especially true when you consider that their Big Three — the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler — are all non-Canadians.
Is being named “Canada’s team” even relevant? Does it truly matter to the country as a whole if a Canadian team wins a Stanley Cup?
Wilson acknowledges that while a Cup victory would be important for Vancouver, it’s not actually as significant to Canada as one would think.
“Hockey will always be strong in the Great White North, so it’s not like a Canadian market needs a cup win to re-affirm the sport in this country,” added Wilson, who also writes for Hockey Prospectus.
Even if the Canucks are receiving an increased amount of support from the casual observer, that doesn’t mean the title of “Canada’s team” is completely appropriate. The rivalries the Canucks have built with other fan bases still exist and don’t evaporate just because Vancouver is close to winning the Stanley Cup.
Besides, in a few weeks’ time the only name the Vancouver Canucks will want to be called is Stanley Cup champions.
[php snippet=1]
