Give me some explanations, why Canadian hockey fans are reacting so strange

[JianYang]

Everyone has their reasons. I was pulling for the Oilers because I have friends and family who are fans, and just because I have to endure decades of disappointment, doesn't mean they have to. But I probably wouldn't have rooted for them otherwise, no.

Yeah, I'm out on the west coast, but many people who typically don't talk about hockey were asking me about game 7 and pulling for the oil. It doesn't matter to the casuals that they knocked vancouver out, generally speaking.

I'm not in that subset that was actively cheering for Edmonton because of the canadian angle. However, I did start actively cheering for the reverse sweep, because it would have been a great story.

 

[Nunymare]

Everyone has their reasons. I was pulling for the Oilers because I have friends and family who are fans, and just because I have to endure decades of disappointment, doesn't mean they have to. But I probably wouldn't have rooted for them otherwise, no.

I try and tune out a lot of the outside noise from social media and the news, and I still think it'd be cool to see another Canadian market win if it wasn't the Oilers. There is pretty much a generation of Canadian fans who have never seen a championship win. It is just different up here when your team is in it.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

I am a hockey-fan from Austria. And I know, my country is no big deal in hockey. But a t least in this years world cup we could go into overtime against Canada. And beat Finland. An in my part of our land (Carinthia) hockey plays an important role...

I've been following the NHL for about 25 years now. And to be honest: I was always cheering for the Canada based teams. IMHO Canada is ice-hockeys homeland. So I was always sad, when Canadian teams lost in the Stanley-Cup-finals.

What I do not understand: In all these finals - when I was going through the forums afterwards - it was strange to see, that most Canadian fans were happy, that the Canadian team lost, no matter if it was Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton.

Look, it is now more than 30 years, that the cup is away from Canada. For me that is a shame. So why do Canadian fans give the impression, that they are happy with it? Is there nothing like patriotism? No national pride? And don't tell me, that this is of no importance, because the majority of players in US-based franchises are Canadians!

I simply don't understand that inter-Canadian-hate, that self-humilitang attitude. And can anyone tell me, why there are so few Canada based franchises? Is no one in Canada, who has money interested in hockey. Who needs another team in the US? Who needs for example a Utah-hockey-club?

Back in 1987, while travelling through AUstralia, I met a Canadian guy, a huge hockey fan. I remember him telling me: "We hate the Russians, cause the beat us so often." It seems to me, there a change: Now Canadians hate themselves and love the United States.

For my part: I prefer Canada...

SO: Can anyone give me some explanations.

Greetings from Austria!

Karl-Heinz

I didn't realize they had Boston Pizza in Austria.

 

[The Management]

Yeah, I'm out on the west coast, but many people who typically don't talk about hockey were asking me about game 7 and pulling for the oil. It doesn't matter to the casuals that they knocked vancouver out, generally speaking.

I'm not in that subset that was actively cheering for Edmonton because of the canadian angle. However, I did start actively cheering for the reverse sweep, because it would have been a great story.

Yeah, exactly. I'm on the far east coast. We don't have a hockey team in our province, so it's a bit of a diaspora, and you have a lot of Edmonton fans who picked up their colours from rotational work out West.

I have no nationalistic allegiance to the Oilers, but it would have been fun to see a few people in my close circle get to celebrate. I also totally agree it would have made for a compelling story to see the best player in the sport complete a reverse sweep.

 

[HolyGhost]

now that they oilers have lost, most people are back hating them over shit that happened 10 years ago and that was expected.

I didn't realize they had Boston Pizza in Austria.

Oiler fans should boycott the Promotion BP announced when the oiles won the cup. Talk about a jinx

 

[JianYang]

I try and tune out a lot of the outside noise from social media and the news, and I still think it'd be cool to see another Canadian market win if it wasn't the Oilers. There is pretty much a generation of Canadian fans who have never seen a championship win. It is just different up here when your team is in it.

It's a remarkable streak. Canadian teams have lost the last 7 finals they participated in, and 5 of those finals went to game 7. Although I suppose it's worth mentioning that I would consider the Canadian team the favourite in only one of those Seven series.

I look at it as counterbalance for the extremely large number of cups won by canadian teams from the birth of the league to 1993.

 

[El Travo]

Imagine expecting Philadelphia fans to cheer for Pittsburgh due to State pride. It isn't happening.

 

[BLONG7]

The biggest rivals for Canadian teams are other Canadian teams.

It's not that deep.

This pretty much says it all folks.....
I think the OP has to be careful here, thee are 40M people in Canada............probably 20M are hockey fans..............very hard to lump all Canadian fans in one big lump, I would think...

I always hope for my team, first and foremost ( Montreal ) but I always hope for the Canadian teams, and even find myself the last few seasons hoping for Toronto, so.................and this year, was very happy the Oilers and Nucks had success.

 

[BLONG7]

On the subject of why there are only 7 Canadian teams, well, it comes down to money, and where the NHL feels they can make money. The US is a financial powerhouse several times stronger than Canada, with a vastly larger population, and many more underserved population centers. Sure, you may have a lot of hockey fans in Regina, but you also have a metropolitan population of roughly 250,000 people. To fill a 15,000 seat arena 41 times a year, every man, woman, and child in the Regina metro would have to buy tickets to 2.5 games. To fill that same arena that same number of times in the 6.3 million population Atlanta metro area, you would need only one in 10 people to buy a single ticket. It's much, much harder to maintain a financial balance in a small location than a large one, so you don't see a lot of teams in smaller cities. Frankly, all the largest cities in Canada are already served, and with the possible exceptions of a second team in the Greater Toronto Area and a team in Quebec City, you're fresh out of options that are large enough to work, until and unless another major population center has an overwhelming boom period.

Some good points, but it is known that 40% of league revenue, comes from the 7 Cdn teams.....60% come from the others.......something along those lines, and may be skewed now, because 2 more teams have recently been added.
The Cdn teams can hold their own for sure, but the chance of growth as you say is pretty slim.
Quebec city someday, once again could happen, maybe if Buttman leaves, but other than that?
Slim to none.................we do not have the population as does the US.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Imagine expecting Philadelphia fans to cheer for Pittsburgh due to State pride. It isn't happening.

That would be different.
That would be like Calgary cheering for Edmonton which wouldn’t happen either.
But there were lots of non oiler Canadian fans cheering for the oilers, just like lots that weren’t.

 

[MSZ]

I am a hockey-fan from Austria. And I know, my country is no big deal in hockey. But a t least in this years world cup we could go into overtime against Canada. And beat Finland. An in my part of our land (Carinthia) hockey plays an important role...

I've been following the NHL for about 25 years now. And to be honest: I was always cheering for the Canada based teams. IMHO Canada is ice-hockeys homeland. So I was always sad, when Canadian teams lost in the Stanley-Cup-finals.

What I do not understand: In all these finals - when I was going through the forums afterwards - it was strange to see, that most Canadian fans were happy, that the Canadian team lost, no matter if it was Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton.

Look, it is now more than 30 years, that the cup is away from Canada. For me that is a shame. So why do Canadian fans give the impression, that they are happy with it? Is there nothing like patriotism? No national pride? And don't tell me, that this is of no importance, because the majority of players in US-based franchises are Canadians!

I simply don't understand that inter-Canadian-hate, that self-humilitang attitude. And can anyone tell me, why there are so few Canada based franchises? Is no one in Canada, who has money interested in hockey. Who needs another team in the US? Who needs for example a Utah-hockey-club?

Back in 1987, while travelling through AUstralia, I met a Canadian guy, a huge hockey fan. I remember him telling me: "We hate the Russians, cause the beat us so often." It seems to me, there a change: Now Canadians hate themselves and love the United States.

For my part: I prefer Canada...

SO: Can anyone give me some explanations.

Greetings from Austria!

Karl-Heinz

It's like asking why Man U fans don't cheer for Manchester City for their achievements in recent years.

 

[Ambisextrous]

It was important when I was 13. Now it's funny when they lose.

 

[OWI]

Okay, thank you all for your answers. I learned the following:

1. This is a forum of "die-hard-fans". For the vast majority of them only their team counts.
2. Basically every die-hard-fan hates nearly every other Canadian franchise.
3. And every die-hard-fan from Canada fears the most, that some other Canadian team breaks the drought, so the breaking of this drought - if ever it happens - will upset the majority of them.
4. The casual hockey fans in Canada is different and much more hoping, the Cup will come home.
5. There is no additional franchise in Canada, above all in Quebec, because the NHL is not interested. This is unfair. IMO typical for USA tactics.

So I respect your points of view, maybe exept the hate-issue. And I hope at least, I will see another Canadian team hoist the Cup until I am 80 (now I am 60).

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I was on both sides but mostly Florida, but truth is. I didnt really care for either team to win. but I did like seeing Luongo lift the cup

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

It comes down to "ending the drought" for me.

Maybe if a Canadian team had won 5 years ago, I'd feel differently, but now I only want my team to "end the drought" so I can snarkily bring it up over and over again in conversations, and not have any other fanbase get that satisfaction.

It comes down to hardcores vs casual fans - people on this forum are pretty much by definition hardcores - I knew lots of people rooting for the oilers in real life, and they were not hardcore fans.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

I didn't realize they had Boston Pizza in Austria.

Underrated comment

 

[Derailed75]

So while most of the blame in this thread is being pointed at the Canadian media, I'm pretty sure there were quite a few threads on this here forum at the start of the playoffs title something to the effect of "Which Canadian team has the best chance at the cup". When round one was over another thread listing how many Canadian teams were left was started. Once the finals hit there was another thread about if the Oilers could break the curse.

Personally as a Canes fan once the finals start if the Canes aren't in it I root for teams for reasons other than what country they are based in.


All that being said I do root against Canadian teams, not because I hate them, Canadians, or Canada, but because of how salty some Canadian fans will be here!

 

[Treb]

Patriotism is Team Canada, not the Edmonton Oilers.

Most Canadian teams have rivalries, so it's to be expected you wouldn't cheer for them if your team is out.

I'd cheer for any American team (except Boston) over any of Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton.

Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver are case by case basis.

 

[Nunymare]

It's a remarkable streak. Canadian teams have lost the last 7 finals they participated in, and 5 of those finals went to game 7. Although I suppose it's worth mentioning that I would consider the Canadian team the favourite in only one of those Seven series.

I look at it as counterbalance for the extremely large number of cups won by canadian teams from the birth of the league to 1993.

Not only that, each team that went to G7 in those years has never led the game at any point. It's just not meant to be I guess.

To me, at least, it is unfortunate when the country is so rabid about the sport. Feel free to skewer my comparison, but maybe a comparable would be if the MLB or NFL expanded to several different and the US-based teams got shut out of championship titles for several decades.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

What I do not understand: In all these finals - when I was going through the forums afterwards - it was strange to see, that most Canadian fans were happy, that the Canadian team lost, no matter if it was Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton.

It's not my team? I don't have any enmity toward McDavid (only sports journos for going on about his point totals) but I want Ottawa to win, not other Canadian teams.
I obviously cheer for Canada at Olympics/sports (not Football, Canada hopeless here) but this a franchise thing not a country thing.

Put it this way: If you were cheering for Vienna HC and their chief rival was Innsbruck HC would you line up behind Innsbruck? Even though you can't stand their players and so on?
Sports is about rivalry and competition and pettiness between fanbases. Let it so remain.

Also the "Bring the Cup to Canada" is garbage stuff, Boston Pizza level mediocrity.
Those same people weren't cheering for the Senators in 2007, that's for sure.

 

[Grifter3511]

Underrated commment.

Yeah, but can you order your groceries at BPs while watching the hockey game?

 

[Chris18820]

Everyone I spoke with before the game yesterday here in Toronto was going for the Oilers. Even several ladies in their late 60s/early 70s. I suspect many people wanted McDavid to get his cup and for a Canadian team to win.
Its now 31 years in a row in which no Canadian team has won a cup. If one were to run a statistical analysis in which the null hypothesis is that Canadian teams and US teams have the same likelihood of winning the cup, it would be rejected.
If you placed 7 white balls and 23 red balls in a bag and picked one at random with replacement and repeated this 31 times, the probability all 31 are red is about 1 in 3777.
In other words, something is going on that suggests Canadian teams are disadvantaged.. the math doesnt lie.

 

[TheDoldrums]

It’s not unique to hockey. In soccer, all the London clubs hate each other. When you share a region, rivalries form among the fans even if not during the games. Canadian hockey is a separate ecosystem from American hockey. We share broadcasting via Sportsnet/TSN so we mostly hear/read about each other at a much higher rate than American teams. Only natural for us all to hate each other given that. Casual fans might cheer for a Canadian team but most hardcore fans engrossed in online debates and the hockey culture would rather any American team win over a Canadian team that’s not theirs.

 

[LeafGrief]

It’s not an international league, it’s a club league. We have national unity for Team Canada, but hate each other’s clubs.

 

[Stephen]

Club sports really doesn’t have anything to do with nationalism.

To put OP’s question in a different context, I wouldn’t think a Real Madrid fan would be cheering on FC Barcelona in the champions league because they’re both Spanish. But for international tournaments they rally around the national team.

The nationality of players on your club team also don’t follow national lines.