As I sat down to watch Game 1 between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins last Thursday night, I couldn't help but feel the nervous excitement of my roommate, a diehard Montreal fan if there ever was one.
I have vague memories of experiencing those same emotions before the start of every Toronto Maple Leafs playoff game. The memories are vague because I haven't been able to experience them for four years now.
Frankly, I miss that feeling, and I was extremely jealous that my friend got to experience the rush of playoff hockey while I did not. There is something extremely magical about the playoffs. The nervous anxiety every time the opposition crosses the blueline; the nervous excitement when your team registers a shot on goal. Power plays, either way, are an increase in blood pressure and heart rate.
Most fans have secondary teams to cheer for in the playoffs if there team doesn't qualify or is eliminated early. My group of friends, whether it is the influence of living with the Habs' diehard, have decided to jump on the bandwagon of this year's Eastern Conference Champions, even though we all bleed blue and white.
Most Canadian hockey fans will do this in the post-season. Many claim they want to see the Stanley Cup "come home, where it belongs" and the nation has been in a frenzy for the last three post-seasons while riding the momentum of Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. Is this year Montreal's turn?
I've always had some trouble falling immediately into the category of cheering for a Canadian team just because of where they play their home games. To me, the true Canadian teams are the ones stocked up with tons of Canadian players, like the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning, and the 2007 Anaheim Ducks.
In 2006, I cheered against Edmonton because I had picked Carolina to win the Cup at the beginning of the playoffs, and wanted to see myself appear insightful, for once. The Ducks are my second favourite team in the league, so it was a no-brainer to cheer for them against the hated Ottawa Senators last year. Many of my friends who are Leafs' fans have admitted that they cheered on the Senators last year for the sake of the Canadian team, but I can guarantee that after a year of living in Ottawa, behind enemy lines, their tune would not be the same.
What I am curious, however, is to see why Canadian fans immidiately jump onto the bandwagon of other Canadian teams. I enjoy watching and cheering for the Calgary Flames on a regular basis, and am pretty neutral in terms of cheering for Vancouver and Edmonton. If any of those three made it to the Cup Final, I would probably jump on board as well, provided they are not playing the Ducks of course. The Flames are another team my friends and I have gotten on board with this spring (in addition to any team opposing the Senators).
I could never cheer for Ottawa success, they have too much history of hatred with Toronto for me to do that. Montreal is different, as I said, probably because I live with someone who eats, sleeps and breathes Habs. I feel just as much involved with the team this year as a regular Canadiens fan. If they advance to the Final, I will probably cheer them on, but be forever jealous of my friend for witnessing the jubilation that accompanies playoff success.
Another of my friends has told me that nationalism does not rank high with him in the playoffs. He cheers for his one or two favourite teams, followed by whichever team(s) of the year that are exciting. For instance, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche this season. He also says that his fanship goes to the teams of which he has the most players in his playoff pool.
So I am asking you, the readers: If your team is out of the playoffs, do you automatically jump to another Canadian team for the sake of seeing the Cup come to Canada, and why? Your thoughts and comments are welcome.
comments (14) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
I think the fact that a Canadian team has not won the Cup since 93 tends to get Canadian fans a little tired of seeing American teams bring home the Cup to places where hockey doesn't matter. So they bandwagon onto whichever Canadian team is going deep into the playoffs.
It's more a matter, at least for myself, of spite against American teams because they've won it every year since 94. Granted, all the players on the teams are mostly Canadians, yet it's the fact that Canadians should be winning it in Canada and the Cup should come home to its origins.
Good read!
3 months ago
I think the fact that a Canadian team has not won the Cup since 93 tends to get Canadian fans a little tired of seeing American teams bring home the Cup to places where hockey doesn't matter. So they bandwagon onto whichever Canadian team is going deep into the playoffs.
It's more a matter, at least for myself, of spite against American teams because they've won it every year since 94. Granted, all the players on the teams are mostly Canadians, yet it's the fact that Canadians should be winning it in Canada and the Cup should come home to its origins.
Good read!
3 months ago
Great topic for an article, it's not tackled enough.
I have lots of problems with nationalism taking the stand in sports (yes, I'm the aforementioned friend!). There are teams that people will hate for 82 games, then what? Everything is turned everything inside-out because of mere geography?
Not to burst anyone's bubble, but where people live and are born is just dumb luck. Being Canadian or American or Somali isn't an achievement, it's randomness. And the only thing you inherently have in common with the other people in your country is that they were in the lottery of life as well. Sure, you can choose to share a culture that you're all hopefully proud of, but the only thing that differentiates Calgary from Minnesota are abstract political borders. Major league sports are built upon locality, you're defeating the purpose if it suddenly becomes a war of countries.
Besides, you haven't even met the players on these teams. When you meet a person who is a jerk you don't think, "Oh but he's Canadian, I should like him." Let teams earn your respect and fanship, whether it's Ottawa or Dallas, but also respect rivalry and untouchables -- if you hate the Habs in January nothing should stop you from hating them in June. Otherwise you're just the slut at the party who sleeps with a guy for superficial reasons.
There's no reward for jumping ships. These teams don't invite you to their cup parade, you didn't endure the ups and downs of their season. If one of your favourite teams isn't in the playoffs, they mean nothing to you. Sure you can be happy for a certain team, as opposed to being miserable if another certain team wins, but the other team's fans couldn't care less about you. All that matters to them and to you is the home team.
In an ideal world, there would be a way for teams to eliminate each other simultaneously so that no one wins the Cup. This would happen every year, decade and millennium that the Leafs aren't winning it. Being a die-hard is being a die-hard 24/7.
But we have to be realistic and hope certain teams go far to stay interested. Simply, I want to see good hockey, make a few bucks in my pool and have my team's rivals get pissed on. It seems illogical that anyone would want something different, but nationalism undermines all of it.
Save it for the Olympics.
3 months ago
First off, great article!
If you can't tell from the microscopic avatar of mine, I'm a Wings fan, even though I'm Canadian. I live 45 minutes from Detroit and grew up watching Steve Yzerman carve the NHL apart. As far as decisions go as to which team would earn my allegiance, this was an easy one.
Furthermore even though I'm Canadian I almost never jump on a Canadian teams bandwagon just because of where they reside.
In fact, I find that I root against other Canadian teams because of how obnoxious some of their fans can be. Let's admit it; every Canadian knows another fan that feels we are entitled to the Cup simply because we feel we 'own' the game.
I'm as proud as any other Canuck but I loathe fans like this. Especially since it appears they come out of the wood work only after their team tastes even the smallest of successes.
I had no idea the town I live in had so many Oilers and Flames fans until just recently. Suddenly you can't walk the streets without someone getting in your face about how awesome 'their' team is and how I MUST cheer for them because they live in a province and not a state.
But because I am a hockey loving Canuck and I love my country I do root for teams that have some of my favourite Canadian players. It's why I'll root for Pittsburgh (Crosby), San Jose (Marleau, Thornton), Boston (Lucic - who can't like this kid?) and Dallas (Richards, Modano - played junior in CHL. He's an honourary Canuck in my book).
I can't root for Colorado even though I'm a big Sakic fan. The wing fan in me won't allow it.
I certainly can't root for Montreal because my dad is a Habs fan and he never watches a game until the playoffs roll around. After that, it's all he talks about and won't stop reminding me of the 24 Cups they've won.
I'll wrap this novel up, but in short, I root for Canadians, not necessarily Canadian Teams. When the Wings won the Cup in '97 a lot of my Leaf buddies questioned my loyalty repeating how Detroit is a US team while Toronto is in Canada. I had to remind them that even though one has a ZIP code and the other a Postal Code the Wings had, far-and-away, more Canadians on their roster than the Leafs. Including Captain Canada himself, Steve Yzerman.
3 months ago
Nice article, man. A good read.
I don't necessarily jump on a Canadian team to win if (of late - when) the Leafs are out of the playoffs. It all depends. My second favourite team is the Canucks, so if they're around I'm all for them. I can't cheer for the Habs - I simply don't like them much (I hate Komisarek, what a douche bag). For the same reasons as you, I can't cheer for the Sens. I enjoy their struggles and failures and bust out the brooms because they are finished tonight.
I did hop aboard the Calgary Flames bandwagon when they went all the way to the final, but didn't when the Oilers went on their magical run.
This year, I'd like to see Pittsburgh win it all. They're just an exciting as hell team, and to see Crosby, Malkin and Fleury reach the pinnacle so soon would be pretty sweet.
I'm also a bit of a closet Rangers fan. I loved Kovalev in his New York days, and Mike Richter too. So go Rangers.
All i want to see is good hockey. Or the Leafs. If the Leafs aren't winning, it doesn't really matter to me who is. Nationalism doesn't really come into play. This notion of "the Cup coming back to Canada" is overblown in my opinion. Canadians make up the majority of hockey players so it doesn't matter which city wins the Cup, because the majority of the players will be bringing it home anyways.
Bottom line: as long as the hockey is good, I'm cool.
Cheers,
Navin
3 months ago
I would have to agree, TSN ran a similar story last year during Ottawa's run about the 'Anyone but Ottawa' mentality, and I think that there's merit to all points raised by the writer of this and the TSN article, as well as the comments posted, however, there is another dimension.
Canadians are obsessed with 'all-canadian boys' like American football fans are obsessed with 'all-american boys'. Hockey fans are very astute at players/teams lacks of humility and want to see guys who they would let date their daughter win a Stanley Cup cos they're 'just so darn nice.'
In the same respect, they cheer against teams/players who they perceive as arrogant, regardless of geography. Ottawa is easily the most arrogant team in the league, and to top it off are loaded with Euro/American players, and Canadian players with bad attitudes (ie Chris Neil, Ray Emery and occasionally Heatley by some accounts). Calgary received so much support in their trip to the finals because they were viewed as the 'blue collar' pick.
This is why Sidney Crosby is a media darling, is cos he's the guy every dad wants to come pick up his daughter, and Ovechkin is the 'bad boy' who most dads would dread showing up on a motorcycle with a greaseball moustache (that applies to you too Afredsson), teams like Calgary and Montreal will receive love from Canadian fans, while the Sens may as well play in their AHL affiliates hometown of Binghamton, NY as far as Canadian fans are concerned.
3 months ago
I like the piece, but being a Chicagoan, I don't have much of a rooting interest in this year's playoffs, Canadian or American team notwithstanding. I'm kinda hoping the Sharks win though, since (a) I picked them to win and Evgeni Nabokov is my pick to win the Conn Smythe (and if that happens, I get a free t-shirt) and (b) long-time Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick plays for them. He also happens to be American, but the Hawks fan in me has me pulling for JR. I'm secretly hoping that he'll come back to Chicago for one last hurrah and retire as a Hawk.
But I do find it interesting that the nationalistic aspect of hockey fans is more prevalent north of the border than it is down here. That said, fans in Minnesota are probably just as rabid fans of their club as fans residing in Toronto are about the Leafs, or Montreal fans about their Canadiens. I know from experience that when the Hawks are playing well (like this season), they will enthusiasticly support the team.
I think the nationalistic aspect of Canadian fans is due to the fact that there's fewer Canadian teams, and hockey is perceived to be Canada's game, like baseball is America's game. But, unless the Hawks are involved, I won't root for one team or another, just because of which side of the U.S.-Canada border they play their home games.
3 months ago
I can't remember being anything but a Leafs fan, and I just can't bring myself to cheer for the Senators or the Canadiens. The thought of Alfredsson lifting the Cup makes me shudder (I'm hoping to watch their elimination with glee very soon).
When I was nine, the Calgary Flames won the Cup, and I jumped ship with my brother to cheer for them. Now living out west, I cheer for them more often than not.
However, I find that I cheer for teams that have the players I like and admire, not because they are Canadian. Somewhere in my closet is an ancient Nordiques hat that I pull out for special occasions (though I stopped cheering for the Avs when Patrick Roy arrived).
I've been known to throw my post season support behind the Avs, the Bruins, the Wild, and the Ducks. For me, it's all about the better game.
So yes, I will jump on a bandwagon, but not just because the team is Canadian. They have to earn my support.
3 months ago
I used to be a Winnipeg Jets fan and I remember vividly as the community tried to support the team only to use it to Phoenix of all places....
My other "team" when I was growing up was the Minnesota North Stars, who went to Dallas....
Inevitably I became a Toronto Maple Leafs fan for the sheer fact that it was a team that would NEVER move. But the other thing that happened with the transplantation of my two favorite teams is that I developed a very anti-Southern stance with regards to hockey. I don't understand why the game that I grew up playing should be relocated to new "non-traditional" markets, only to see a fraction of the fan support that these teams had in Canada, or in other Northern States.
It made me want to support Canadian teams because their success would reflect upon the rest of the Canadian teams. It was an us against them idea and watching Tampa Bay, Carolina and Anaheim win the Cup in the last couple years has absolutely killed me because those are teams that don't belong there... and aren't fully appreciated there...
Tampa Bay needed to play in the Stanley Cup finals in order to break even on the season. Carolina has had its share of financial difficulties, and Anaheim is in freaking Anaheim....
This year I am throwing my support behind not only Canadian teams but teams that belong where they are, your Penguins, Wild, Red Wings, etc. hoping that the Cup can be won by fans that actually appreciate the game for what it is.
3 months ago
I live in Montreal so I'm a Habs supporter but that doesn't mean I want a Calgary/Montreal final. Give me an original six match up like Detroit/Habs for a final. I'd even take San Jose and Montreal. Both would be great finals!
3 months ago
I think about it this way:
Who do you think will enjoy a Stanley Cup more? The people of Calgary, or the people of Nashville? I really want the passionate fans to win it. Fans who don't just use hockey as something to do after the football season, but use football as something to do before the hockey season. I cheer not necessarily for the teams, but for the fans, who happen to be fellow totally awesome Canadians who want nothing more in the world than to see the Stanley Cup in their home province.
3 months ago
i don't see why Canadians get so up in arms over American teams which make up 7/8ths of the league win the cup its just the law of averages evening out all those Montreal Cups.
3 months ago
I've been an off an on Leaf fan all my life. Growing up as a Leaf fan then switching to the Sabres during the glory years with the "Dominator". Then back to the Leaf, but recently caring about the team as much as MLSE cares about their fans and putting together a winning product. Still I would love to see my hometown team win the Cup.
Since they can't even qualify for the playoffs I have cheered for teams that I enjoy watching or have cheered for at some point in my life, usually based on a player or two. That being San Jose (played minor hockey for a team called the Sharks so I followed them), Colorado from the glory days with Roy, Anahiem (thank you Disney for the Ducks series). Even though I have lost faith in my Leafs I still can't bring myself to consistently cheer for a rival in the playoff and until recently, excluding my little affair with the Sabres, couldn't cheer for a team in the same Conference. Now with the talent that the Pens have it is hard not to like them.
In the end where the team is located or where they players are from makes no difference. What makes me cheer for a team in the playoff comes down to teams I have enjoyed as a child and the product they put on the ice. I'll even cheer for team that I have a bunch of players in my pool from because honestly who doesn't want to win a few bucks. Josh put it best when he said regarding nationalism in hockey, "Save it for the Olympics".
3 months ago
Great article
I have to say that I fall into the category of cheering for a Canadian team because their home games get the Canadian National Anthem last. My team of choice is the Canucks. And love the Sens too. I only cheer Canadian teams and Canadian teams only, regular season or playoffs. When I want to cheer the Great Canadian players signed by American teams I do – when they put on a red and white (or black) jersey with the Maple Leaf on it. Like during the IIHF Championships – heck I am going to Quebec from Vancouver for the gold medal game just so I can finally cheer for Nash and company. I guess it is presumptuous to assume they will be in the gold medal game...
Call me crazy but growing up and watching Gretzky and the Oilers, hearing O Canada just always brought on a sense of national pride and to this day it still does. I associate my passion for hockey with Canada and Canadian teams. And since I cheer for Canadian teams most of my favourite players end up being Canadians (except Alfredsson) on Canadian teams... crazy yes I know...
Then when all Canadian teams are out –I prefer that the cup goes to a team that has fans that will appreciate it –like the Wild fans – now they know their hockey and are passionate about it, or a team that has the most Canadian players – lol... that was just a joke!
write a new comment