Hello all. I have to first thank Bruce for giving me the opportunity to write about the team I love. If you, dear reader, will indulge me, I will be coming from the view of a Canucks fan, as that is what I am. I have also followed, played, and been around this game for 40 years. So, will try to be as unbiased as I can. For a Canuck fan anyhow!
Now, that fandom can have an ugly side in Canada. I am sure many of you saw, or heard about the comments of Theo Fleury on the radio yesterday. His opinion is his own, and while I totally disagree, and think he sounded more like a Flames fanboy than a player I once watched and marveled at, he is entitled to it.
However, that does not mean that he deserved to be attacked on a disturbingly personal level on Twitter last night. The fallout from that, sadly, has been deeply predictable. Eastern writers have been taking the opportunity to paint ALL Canuck fans with the same brush as a result.
Look, that person, or persons, should have their Canuck fancards taken away and be subject to public ridicule. Its very sad that with the wonders of the interwebs, we have to be talking about these people. Some, like Jason Botchford , have nicely summed up what my opinion on this is.
Others have not. That is fine. Free speech and all that. Personally, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mr. Fleury for these folks, because you know they will not do so. But, I would also like to say that the vast majority of us are just as angry as he undoubtably is.
People would be wise to remember that. There is no reason to say things like “Canuck fans are…”, and then disparage an entire fanbase. That is almost as wrong as the people using Twitter to attack Mr Fleury for his comments.
Last night, we once again saw how this years Canucks team is different. They overcame and won a game they would have probably dropped in years past. Roberto Luongo was a huge part of it, but so was the newfound maturity and confidence of this years’ edition. They took whatever came at them and handled it with panache.
This Canuck fan is heartened by it, and would say that the assertion of Theo, that Luongo will fall like a house of cards in the playoffs, and that “they have not won anything” pales in the face of it. Watching and following this team all year, I cannot remember an excuse, a rationalization, or any chest thumping.
Just a “one game at a time” attitude, and a confidence in their abilities.
That is a good thing right?