Blog: Canada’s team?

Did I miss something? Or are the only people celebrating a Canadian hockey team’s advance into a NHL conference final living, living west of the mighty Rockies.

The hashtag #gocanucksgo is not even trending across the Canadian Twittersphere today and certainly not in hockey mad “T dot O.” Sean Avery and his support for same sex marriage IS in the top ten Tweets.

In the just arrived at the office, before we got down to business, morning chat with the boss, who by the way is a huge hockey fan, our conversation focused on the Jays. (Our office is in Toronto.) When prodded about Vancouver’s win over those pesky Predators, he admitted he was NOT a Canucks fan, was cheering for Nashville, and preferred to watch the wild pitching and swinging of yet another dismal Blue Jays outing.

Where is the around-the-clock news coverage of Robson Street celebrations like we have seen of Calgary’s Red Mile, or Edmonton’s Whyte Ave, or the trashing of Montreal’s Rue Ste-Catherine. (Sorry Yonge St. – it has been a while.) There was barely a mention in this morning’s national newscast on Canada’s public radio.

I have been a loyal fan of the Canucks since the white towel days of their 1982 unlikely Stanley Cup run, led by Roger Neilson and his pyramid power plays.

In 1994, I was there for game 7 at Madison Square Gardens, watching the tear filled eyes of the Lindens, Lummes and the Bures as they filed off the ice following their 3-2 heartbreaking loss to Messier’s Rangers. Now there was emotion – and Canada was behind their team.

So my question is – why isn’t Vancouver considered Canada’s hockey team in these playoffs?

In his Edmonton Sun column, Terry Jones writes “The Canucks are NOT Canada’s team!”

He quotes Vancouver-based Finnish sports writer Vesa Rantanen “"Since they joined the league, the Nucks have been this team nobody took seriously, that sympathetic or just pathetic team with ugly jerseys who start playing when the rest of Canada is sleeping.”

Kevin Brooker, of the Calgary Herald writes: “…a brief survey of fan forums turns up a whole lot of haters in these parts. Of some 2,500 posts related to the Vancouver-Nashville series on the Flames Forum at calgarypuck.com, the vast majority is virulently anti-Canuck…”

And the National Post’s Joe O’Connor titles his blog: “Canucks as Canada’s team? No thanks.”

One Tweeter pointed out that only the Wings have fewer Canadian players than the Canucks. Their first power play unit is an all European squad except for their legitimate Conn Smythe contender – American born Ryan Kesler. And the jersey of their one Canadian star in Luongo is not exactly a hot seller across the country.

Despite the lack of below freezing temperatures, having more Starbucks than Tim Hortons, more foreign players than native sons, and the arrogance of being the most beautiful city in the country – doesn’t Vancouver’s team deserve the support of Canadians from sea to sea? Maybe only when Stanley finally goes for a dip in the Pacific.

We want to hear from you – do you think Vancouver is Canada’s team? Why or why not?

George is the senior producer of national and international news at GlobalNews.ca. Follow him on Twitter: @gbro2009.