5 Reasons Why Fans Hate the Vancouver Canucks

During the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks quickly became one of the most hated teams throughout the National Hockey League.

This hatred especially evolved during the Stanley Cup Finals versus the eventual Stanley Cup champs, the Boston Bruins.

Which raises the question, why was so much hate developed?

Well, for many reasons. These reasons come from almost all levels of the organization.

Now to make myself clear, I personally do not hate the Vancouver Canucks. I think they are a great organization that has a lot to look forward to for the rest of the season.

However, some NHL fans do not like the Vancouver squad.

Continue reading to find out the top five reasons for hating the Vancouver Canucks.

5. The "Green Men"

The "Green Men" have become Canucks icons in the past two NHL seasons. They have made the headlines on multiple occasions since their early beginnings.

I would be the first to say that the Green Men were a great form of entertainment for the NHL. Many of their penalty box antics were indeed funny and enjoyable.

However, the Green Men crossed the line on a few occasions, which has placed them as the fifth biggest reason why some NHL fans hate the Vancouver Canucks.

Probably the biggest controversial Green Men act occurred in a game versus the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Semifinals during 2011. This game took place in Vancouver. 

During the game, Mike Fisher took a penalty that earned himself a seat in the penalty box. While serving his two minutes, the Predators forward was taunted by the Green Men with a cardboard cut-out of his wife in a Vancouver Canucks jersey. 

Why did the Green Men do this?

Easy. His wife is country star—Carrie Underwood.

It is perfectly fine to taunt a player in any manner they feel reasonable. However, to taunt a player dealing with their personal or private life outside of the NHL is unacceptable.

I'm sure Don Cherry would agree.

4. The Sedin Twins

Yes, the Sedin twins are the fourth biggest reason for hating the Vancouver Canucks.

Well, how come?

Their instant chemistry with each other is just unbearable for their opponents. Not only are they superstars in the NHL, they are identical. This makes it extremely tough for opponents to determine which one is the shooter and which one is the passer.

The Sedins are one of the best offensive duos in the league. The Sedins have so much skill with the puck.

Every team would love to have such a dynamic duo such as the Sedins. Their chemistry would help out any team in the NHL, no matter what kind of playing style their team adopts.

General manager Brian Burke noticed their chemistry during the 1999 NHL entry draft. However, to get both of the Sedins, Burke would have to work his magic.

Brian Burke convinced all of the NHL teams with high draft picks that if they selected only one of the Sedins, they would not sign with them.

In the mean time, Burke wheeled around his picks to eventually land him the second and third overall picks. He then chose to pick both Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Brian Burke is a major part of the Vancouver Canucks' success in the past few years. The Sedins have carried the Canucks to great finishes during several NHL regular seasons and to deep runs in the playoffs.

The main reason to hate the Sedins is simply because every NHL fan is jealous of them. Everyone wishes that they had the Sedins on their favorite team.

It is as simple as that.

3. Head Coach Alain Vigneault

Alain Vigneault is known to be one of the most verbal coaches in the NHL.

Even though he is known to have a sense of humour in the Vancouver media, he has also been known to attack or voice his displeasure about other coaches, players and referees to the media.

This season during a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins, a rematch of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Bruins forward Brad Marchand made a low hit on Canucks defencemen Sami Salo. The video of the hit can be seen here.

After the game, Vigneault made these comments seen here, to the media.  

Vigneault has every right to voice his opinions on the hit. Some of the things he said I definitely agree with.

However, to say that Marchand is player that tries to hurt others is not right.

Marchand plays the game hard and plays the game to get under the skin of his opponents. That's what he does, and he does it well.

To say a player's main purpose is to hurt other players is a comment that should be held back. NHL players make it to the NHL for one reason. That reason is because they are great hockey players that play the game with passion. They do not make the NHL to intentionally hurt others.

Vigneault has also battled with Bruins coach Claude Julien through the media.

Vigneault hasn't just battled with the Bruins off and on the ice, but he has also battled with other teams in the NHL through the media on other occasions.

It is also common for an NHL coach to argue calls against their team, especially in controversial cases. However, Vigneault is also commonly seen during games arguing just about every call the refs make against his Canucks.  

He's a referee's nightmare.

Because Alain Vigneault is a very verbal coach, sometimes he can not control his mouth, making him the third biggest reason why people hate the Vancouver Canucks.

2. Divers and Fakers

Is this soccer?

No. This is hockey, and hockey is a game for men. Hockey is not for divers and fakers, and there is no part in the game for it.

Two Vancouver Canucks players that are well known for these "soft" antics include Max Lapierre and Alexandre Burrows.

It was obvious during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs that these two players wished that the frozen ice surface was a pool of water instead. They just loved to dive and fake injuries that much.

During the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals between the Canucks and Bruins, forward Max Lapierre received a light love tap from Zdeno Chara after the whistle had blown. The video of the incident can be seen here.

I know. It was a ridiculous fake injury on the behalf of Max Lapierre, but that's what he's known for and he's good at it. It gets under the skin of his opponents and sometimes can draw penalties.

In this case, the referees were well aware of the fake injury, and no penalty was called.

Alexandre Burrows has had his own separate incidents involving dives and fake injuries.

In a regular-season game in 2010 versus the Nashville Predators, Alexandre Burrows was hit in the boards by forward Jarred Smithson. Burrows went down to only look up and fall back down again. A video of the incident can be seen here.

The fake injury would lead to a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

Both of these players have had many more incidents that have been deemed questionable by many people.

These particular incidents, and many others, are the second biggest reason why NHL fans hate the Vancouver Canucks.

1. Their Ignornant Fans and the Vancouver Riots of 1994 and 2011

The Vancouver fans are known to be extremely hard on their organization. Ask Roberto Luongo.

For the past few seasons, many Canucks fans believe that Roberto Luongo could not perform when it really counted. This is also known as the playoffs.

Luongo has had some rough goings in the playoffs, but he has been good enough to lead the team to deep playoff runs year in and year out.

However, Luongo has proved that he can perform on the big stage, as he helped his Canadian squad to the gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Other NHL fans usually wonder: Why do they give Luongo so much trouble? He's helped the Canadians win a gold medal on their home soil, and he's led the Canucks to deep playoff runs.

It's beyond me, and it's beyond many other NHL fans as well.

Fans view the Vancouver loyalists as very ignorant towards their team, and that fans should be supportive of their team.

That ignorance was clearly displayed after losing Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, as the city literally "blew up in flames" after the game.

Vancouver fans and multiple hooligans started a riot within the city. They destroyed businesses, vandalised the city streets, flipped over cars and set them a blaze while fighting against the Vancouver police.

The riot was chaos, a complete repeat of the 1994 riot after the Canucks lost in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Rangers.

These incidents were an embarrassment to the country of Canada and to the entire hockey world.

People from all over viewed the riot as stupid. They asked questions such as, "Why would people riot over a hockey game?" and these types of questions and comments were acceptable.

Even as a Canadian myself, I was not pleased with the actions in Vancouver during that day.

After the 2011 Vancouver Riot concluded, the police filed these reports found here.

As a result, over 100 people were arrested due to their contributions to the riot.

The fans of Vancouver are the No. 1 reason why NHL fans hate the Vancouver Canucks.