A Terrible Night after A Terrible Hockey Defeat
VANCOUVER--All that was gained, lost.
What sport did for Vancouver last year, it did to Vancouver last night. And if this gorgeous, wealthy city was more than happy to benefit from the goodwill, joy and prosperity delivered by the Olympics last year, it has to now accept that the rioting and widespread lawlessness that struck the city core in the wake of the Canucks' Game 7 loss to Boston cannot be completely disassociated from sport, either.
The temptation will be to say this was a small group of people causing trouble, and that it had nothing to do with hockey.
Well, yes and no.
First, it wasn't a small group. We're talking hundreds, probably thousands, of citizens involved in the ugliness that erupted even as Gary Bettman was handing the Stanley Cup to Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. Having been around other sport "riots," I can tell you this was a whole other level.
Vancouver was an ugly, dangerous city last night, and people got hurt. Frightening. Not just police cars on fire. Not just looting and tear gas. Stabbings. Vicious, fights. Wanton violence accompanied by the joyful whoops and hollering of young people who apparently believed they were part of something exciting and were having a great time.
The game ended at about 7:45 local time, and by midnight weary riot police were still trying to disperse crowds. As I watched from my hotel balcony on Burrard St., a line of riot cops walked up the street, police dogs barking, police sirens wailing, a police helicopter overhead shining a light down on the street.
When Montreal "fans" went wild two years ago after a first round playoff victory over Boston, it was contained to a small area of the downtown. Passersby watched it almost as a surreal sport unfolding, but unless you were in the middle of it, there seemed to be nothing to fear. It was over quickly.
Not this last night in Vancouver. It went on for hours. At one point, there were four separate areas where police were trying to stop violence and looting. People were left lying on the street covering in blood. Crazed young men smashed windows of stores and business, ignoring police commands to disperse, seemingly uncaring that they were being videotaped and photographed, as if they believed they were untouchable.
It was like the city had lost its mind. Over a bloody hockey game.
It was anarchy, and somehow, it was not just about Vancouver, a place where fans are encouraged by local media to believe there is a conspiracy to deny them ultimate success, but also about the Canucks. Everywhere you looked those who were committing crimes did so while wearing Canucks jerseys with Kesler, Sedin and even Bure across the back of the shoulders. Cop cars on fire with goons wearing Canuck sweaters dancing nearby. Just as Oakland Raider garb was once the choice clothing for California gangstas, now Canucks jerseys will be associated with this terrible night, a night which locals insist was much worse than what occurred 17 years earlier after Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final against the New York Rangers.
Last year after the Olympics, many of us felt the peaceful, joyful crowds that assembled every night in the downtown streets were the real story of the Games. I'll always remember the long yet happy lines outside The Bay, people waiting for hours just to get a chance to buy a piece of Olympic memorabilia. Last night, that same store was under siege, left with smashed windows, as if it had become a target rather than a peaceful gathering place.
There will be many questions to be answered about the police presence and how this was handled, or mishandled. It will be the big story, bigger than the shocking collapse of the Canucks, a team that sat atop the NHL all year and then was flattened in the Cup final by a determined Boston team. City officials promised they were ready and in control, but reports suggested the police presence was too light, and that police were simply overwhelmed by fast-moving mobs as they started fires and looted Sears, Chapters and London Drugs stores. How could they have been caught by surprise - again?
But more important will be what this, the riots and the ugliness, says not just about Vancouver, but about the Canucks' place in it. You can hardly blame the hockey team for what happened, yet at the same time its the Canucks who seem to be the match that lights the civic lawlessness in this city.
There's a strange mentality here that the NHL is out to get the Canucks, to deny them their rightful victories, and it's propagated by some very prominent media voices. There's always booing when Bettman tries to present the Cup, but it was deafening at Rogers Arena last night, an apparent expression of a belief that the NHL screwed the Canucks, that suspending defenceman Aaron Rome, for example, was unfair and unjust and part of some grand conspiracy.
People really believe this stuff. Even after the game, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault bitterly talked about a Boston "plan" to defeat the Canucks that was based on illegal hits after the whistle, implying the league had done nothing to keep the games fair.
It goes back to the hysterical reaction to the Steve Moore hit on Markus Naslund that precipitated the Todd Bertuzzi attack on Moore, one of the ugliest pieces of violence in NHL history. There's this suspicion that everything isn't above board, that Canuck players are treated more harshly. Even last night, there were wild rumours that Boston's Nathan Horton, injured by Rome's headshot earlier in the series, was going to play in the game, thus proving that his injury had simply been a pretence to deprive Vancouver of its chance to win the Cup.
There are many here who also fervently believe Toronto, and the rest of Canada, hates Vancouver and wants the Canucks to lose, which again fuels this bizarre sense of paranoia that permeates the hockey atmosphere in this town.
Did that paranoia create last night's riots? No. But its part of the story here, part of the anger and bitterness here, part of why a local reporter, angered that they were still blaring the music inside the arena last night long after the teams had left the ice, remarked, "Bloody Bettman" when he was told the music had to continue under orders from arena management.
Idiots and criminals created last night's ugliness. But hockey and this town's hockey atmosphere were part of it as well. You cannot pretend otherwise.
It's just total insanity. I live in Victoria, and this is why I LOATHE Canucks fans. (I've been cheering Boston on for years)
I feel badly for the Vancouver Canucks as a team. Not because they lost, but because their fans are such losers. Like it's their right as fans to win the cup just because they haven't. That's how my facebook has read the weeks upcoming to this game. Their fans LOVE them when they win. But oh how they hate them when they lose, more so than any other North American team and sport I've seen. Like Luongo is to blame for the entire failing of the team to win the cup. There was equal opportunity tonight and they just didn't score points.
I didn't think the Canucks would beat Boston, and not because I'm a die hard Bruins fan but because Boston is a better team overall. I think Canuck fans place unrealistic expectations and then act like an angry girlfriend when dissapointment confronts them.
Just gross, and shameful.
Posted by: Lindsay | June 16, 2011 at 04:15 AM
Best article ever. I was born in Toronto, lived in Halifax, then moved to Vancouver. The paranoia about people trying to screw them is ridiculous. There are always unprovoked media attacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qDJ7_pGqQ
Posted by: Gord | June 16, 2011 at 04:49 AM
Just remember Damian...whenever you talk talk about NHL Stanley Cup finals...you have to mention Vancouver..and its riots.
This is a black eye, not only on Vancouver, but the whole NHL..all the teams suffer...especially with the new TV deal.
Maybe...just maybe it would make more sense to chat about individuals instead of organizations and cities.
Posted by: Jeff Perrey | June 16, 2011 at 04:56 AM
Wow a Toronto guy talking shit about a city he doesn't live in. Thousands of people were rioting? Were you at the game? If you were you heard the fans cheer for everyone but Bettman. Total respect was given to the Bruins and their fans for the achievement of winning the Cup. As every great Toronto reporter does you over exaggerate everything, like the amount of people involved in the riot. I am embarrassed with what went on after the game but i guarantee you that it wasn't THOUSANDS of people rioting. Just like in '94 it was people that probably aren't even Canuck fans that were the problem. Lighting cars on fire would take more than a lighter or a cigarette, the people that were involved came to Vancouver to cause trouble, they had accselerants in advance and were here for one reason only, to cause trouble.
Also for a guy that hasn't seen the Canucks all year I understand you would think it is an excuse that they were injured. I have been a season ticket holder for 11 years and i am telling you they were injured and the team is not making an excuse. Not one Canuck player interviewed used any excuse what so ever in the interviews after the game for why they lost.
So please stay in Toronto and talk about things you know about like the Leafs.
I am proud of my Canucks they left it all out there on the the ice.
Posted by: Peter Ettinger | June 16, 2011 at 05:16 AM
For all the sore loser/hooligans in Vancouver:
You’ve embarrassed the game of hockey.
You’ve embarrassed Vancouver.
You’ve embarrassed Canada.
What does the rest of world think of us? I’m ashamed to imagine.
Posted by: David | June 16, 2011 at 06:52 AM
So much hostility in this column. First of all, the Canucks were hardly "flattened" in the series. They weren't swept in four straight - they won the first two, and the series went to seven games. They had plenty of opportunity to win this series, but came out flat when they needed to fly. Second - do you remember Montreal after their last Cup win? There was some pretty serious violence there. Or Denver after their first (or second) Super Bowl win? Riotin because of sports is stupid, but unfortunately it's nothing new.
Boston was certainly the more consistent team on the finals, and were deserving winners last night, but I don't think the City of Vancouver has done anything to deserve the virtiol you've just written.
Posted by: GP | June 16, 2011 at 06:53 AM
I am glad that the Canucks lost. Under normal circumstances, I would surely have cheered for the Canadian team, but Vancouver, and primarily their fans, makes it hard to do so. When you get over the "we're the most beautiful, livable city in the world" syndrome you realize quickly that Vancouver has a dark side not seen in other Canadian centers. There is no doubt that they like to "brood", and just as the case in grade school, many wanted to see these people fall. The Olympics came off so well as the city was infiltrated by decent, honest and responsible citizens from other places on the globe. When left to their own "devices" however, it quickly deteriorates. The Canucks lost to a better team, and Vancouver was lucky it went seven games. As for the next Canadian team to hoist the cup, I`d rather see that reserved for a team and their fans, who have the talent and decency to represent it. Sad to say, but in Canada that is everyone except Vancouver.
Posted by: Byron Collins | June 16, 2011 at 07:09 AM
you and media are to blame for this with your constant negativity. you feed off this and promote this. look at yourself for the cause.
Posted by: frank | June 16, 2011 at 07:13 AM
Only one solution exists: move the team out of Vancouver- possibly to Winnipeg or better yet - P.E.I.. Thugs and thuggy cities should not be tolerated. Since the team is a perpetual source of bad behaviour - remove the source - at once!
Posted by: Quentin Crisp | June 16, 2011 at 07:20 AM
The Canucks hockey team are not the losers. The so called fans are the biggest losers.
Posted by: Mark Gordon | June 16, 2011 at 07:27 AM
What for it.....here it comes..."Police turned on crowd, hurt innocent people in the declared "Fan Zone". The wail of a public inquiry into police actions. Such barbaric actions, the police fired tear gas, oh here comes the lawsuit for excessive force on the poor guy who only lite a car on fire....."
Oh hold on ...This is in B.C., oh thats right they have no idiot SIU or local rag whining for their union buddies( the Star).
The thugs will be held accountable and the police praised for dealing with thousands of trouble makers using incredible restraint.
I'm sure the Star will be printing some G20 thing, for fear their readers actually have a mind and agree with the police actions now and last June.
Posted by: Communist Toronto | June 16, 2011 at 07:31 AM
A very well-reasoned article.
I'm not a native Canadian. I've been here for 6 years now, and I've lived around the world. I've seen city rivalries. NY vs. LA. Tokyo vs. Osaka. I frankly find the rivalries amongst Canadian cities to be far more childish. Some in Vancouver believe that Torontonians want the Canucks to fail? Yup, I buy that. Just more evidence to add to my mountain of silly Canadian rivalries.
Back to the subject of the riots in particular, yes, it does seem that police assertions that the riots were being caused by a small group of people are quite false. I sincerely hope that every single person who looted, destroyed property, and otherwise aided in turning their peaceful city into a nightmare are prosecuted to the fullest extent. And to those who did not participate in these things but encouraged those who did, shame on you. This is not the way civilized human beings behave. May you not have a good night's sleep out of guilt for a long, long time.
Posted by: Shuichi | June 16, 2011 at 07:33 AM
Its in the DNA of many sports fans, particularly hockey and CFL football fans, that neither victory nor defeat deters them from doing what they really want to do at the end of a season which is to spread mayhem and destruction. When the Toronto Argos won the Grey Cup in the mid-1980s in Toronto, it did not deter the drunken fans from wandering around the streets of downtown Toronto like drunken troglodytes muttering "Argos, Argos, Argos", while smashing in storefront windows, turning over cars, assaulting the occasional passerby and fighting with police. I agree with many of my fellow observers that the violent and destructive Canuck's fans of last night in Vancouver would have acted precisely in the same way if the Canuck's had won the Stanley Cup. Perhaps even more so. Nothing but tear gas, rubber bullets, or a billy-club upside the head seems to deter thugs and morons from acting like, well, thugs and morons.
Posted by: Stephens Crawford | June 16, 2011 at 07:33 AM
For shame. Rioting over a SPORTS GAME.
You've got all the rights in the world in Canada. Nobody throws you in jail because you write a blog criticizing the government. No one forces you into genital mutilation because you're a woman. Nobody tortures and kills you because you're the wrong religion.
Get a grip. And some perspective on what's truly worth protesting.
Posted by: Ann | June 16, 2011 at 07:40 AM
Your article is right on. I can't believe that this stuff happens in Canada. More than that, I can't believe that we as a species have not evolved enough to leave this kind of lowlife behaviour behind. There are so many things that need our time and attention on this planet. Although I live in Toronto, I believe that Vancouver is a gem of a city, and so unworthy of this kind of blight. Over -- as you said -- a hockey game. Sad, sad, sad, and so very pathetic. I hope the instigators and other participants all go to jail. Maybe start with those arrogantly posing for photos in front of police trying to quell the violence. What a waste of valuable resources, and what a blight on a beautiful city. Hope the store owners with broken windows and other damage get restitution quickly, unlike what happened after the G8 in Toronto.
Posted by: MJ | June 16, 2011 at 07:44 AM
Disgraceful behavior Vancouverites! I am glad you lost!
Posted by: Ex-Vancouverite | June 16, 2011 at 07:55 AM
Class act Vancouver.When the Senators lost the Cup final in 2007 I don't remember anyone burning and looting the city.
Posted by: Rob in Ottawa | June 16, 2011 at 08:23 AM
Cox I can not believe you would comment on the shame of the local media complaining about the conspiracy theory that the NHL is out to get the Canuck's when the rest of the media in Canada has been berating them for their classless play all series. Nobody takes issue with the slashes and crosschecks that Boston got away with, only that a Vancouver player dived. Then there were the punches to the head that were just part of a tough team playing hard and what was the Sedin's thinking just taking them. The issue that Vigneault was referring to was the fact that for 82 regular season games their was a standard to be played to. Then the playoffs come around, specifically game 7 in any series and all of a sudden the game gets called by a new standard. My favorite media moment of the playoffs however is the classic out of context quote that everyone in the media just couldn't resist and that was the Luongo comment after game 5. If this was truly what fired up Boston for the final two games as everyone again in the media wants to believe then congratulations to you and your peers for being part of a Stanley Cup team. Keep it classy Cox.
Posted by: joelnoela | June 16, 2011 at 08:28 AM
Absolutely disgusting - city officials should hang for letting this happen. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.
As to the paranoia - grow up! I'm ashamed to be a Canadian and a hockey fan based on the behavior of both the Canucks players and fans in the series. I don't know who is fanning the flames on this defeatest mindset - but the Canucks won't win anything until they start behaving like leaders and winners.
I'm no Bettman fan but the booing of him was ridiculous - do you really think he cares?
Kesler, somebody, anybody on this team - needs to man up and publicly tell fans that Canucks were beaten by a better team and let go of the paranoia - end of story
Posted by: Dan Lawson | June 16, 2011 at 08:32 AM
What a bunch of goons. The Vancouver players are cheap, gutless, undisciplined, and a bunch of whiners, including the coach, and the behaviour of their fans after the game is a reflection of the team.
Posted by: Jeff Prince | June 16, 2011 at 08:38 AM
My goodness what sore losers....pathetic...and over a blasted hockey game...all I can do is shake my head..way to go Vancouver!
Posted by: Ingrid Morris | June 16, 2011 at 08:46 AM
I realize this will never happen, but after seeing the video of the riots, I think Vancouver should be forced to become a "dry" city. No alcohol allowed. Anywhere. Add to this that the damage caused is going to be in the millions of dollars, I think the Canucks should raise ticket prices to cover the cost of repairing the damage so that the insurance companies don't have to swallow the cost.
People may say this isn't fair...after all, not all the rioters were Canucks fans. True...but I didn't see many Canucks fans walking away from the violence.
I hate to wonder what would have happened if they had won.
Posted by: the devil | June 16, 2011 at 08:54 AM
There are many good hockey fans in Canada, and having had the chance to see games in all 6 Canadian cities, I would have to say that the bad Vancouver fans are the worst of the bunch. The bad fans are the most violent, and least respectful of other teams and other fans that I have ever seen. The ratio of bad to good is higher too. The good Vancouver fans are just like other good Canadian fans, but they need to exert some pressure on their idiot brethren. This riot doesn't surprise me at all. The behaviour of the Vancouver players was disappointing too, with the cheap shots and the whining and the nasty comments.
Posted by: Escaped Vancouverite | June 16, 2011 at 08:57 AM
How can you call the rioters "fans", if they used their own Canucks jerseys to keep the fire (literally) going? No true fan of any team takes off their own jersey and burns, then smashes a few windows, beats an innocent person up, flips a cop car, etc.
I'm a huge Manchester United fan and when they lost the Champions league final weeks ago to Barcelona of Spain, did they turn the city of London upside down? Yet soccer has a bad rap for hooliganism...
Posted by: Micky Hare | June 16, 2011 at 09:06 AM
I'm an American who lives in western NY State, and my wife and I have visited Canada many times over the years. We've loved every place we've been in your beautiful country -- Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Peterborough (for last year's Mann Cup) -- and we've always found Canadians to be exactly the kind of people one would want for neighbors, whether that's the house next door or our neighbor to the north.
This is why it breaks my heart to see these reports of riots and violence after a hockey game. When this kind of thing happens in the US, I shake my head and consider it just one more sign of trends I care not to think about in my country of birth. But to see it happen in Canada is deeply puzzling and very sad.
I urge Canadians to read/watch the media coverage of the riots, think about what happened, and learn from this terrible experience. To do otherwise would only compound the tragedy by not finding at least something positive in this event.
Posted by: Lou Grinzo | June 16, 2011 at 09:08 AM