Rite of Spring '15: exhume our idols! bury our friends!

[The Six]

Sun Belt fans, such as they are, are typically pretty obnoxious about showing solidarity for "their" teams, too,

I'm not sure this actually exists, and I've never even heard the term "Sun Belt" outside of stupid hockey discussions.

[Morgan33]

Personally, I find it gross when Canada gets behind the last Canadian team standing as if the parade route is going to go all the way across the continent. It's not, and when you pretend to rally behind Montreal, you're not fooling anyone, and certainly not yourselves. Sun Belt fans, such as they are, are typically pretty obnoxious about showing solidarity for "their" teams, too, but at least Canada is an actual country rather than a concept. Be better, I say, and hate freely among yourselves!

I see your logic about the parade not coming through Calgary but I'd still jump for joy if any Canadian team won it all. I just want to see it in my lifetime.

[Still MIGHTY]

But why?

[IceCap]

But why?

Coming from someone who defended Sunbelt fan unity on an episode of BASS? You should know why

I don't like the trend of Canadians all pulling for the last Canadian team each year, but I know exactly why it happens, because I fall into the trap annually.

The first reason is the drought. If the Habs had pulled it off last season then you wouldn't have fans in, say, Regina pulling for them this year. You probably wouldn't see all of Canada pulling for the last Canadian team if Calgary, Edmonton, or Ottawa managed to win it all in their recent-ish runs.

The second reason? The arrogance of certain loud segments of the American fanbase. It's like clockwork. The last Canadian team is eliminated and you have some American knuckle-dragger going "WOOHOO KEEPING THE CUP IN 'MURICA FOR TWENTY-TWO YEARS!" As if the American team winning with a roster full of Canadians, Swedes, and Russians somehow speaks to American hockey supremacy.

I'd love to say "go everyone whose not the Habs, because the Habs!" but I really can't. I know a Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup victory would piss those "USA! USA!" schmucks off, so it's what I throw my support behind. So once a Canadian team wins it all again? I'll go back to my provincial Leafs fandom, including hoping the Habs, Canucks, and Sens fail each post-season.

[infrared41]

But why?

I can't speak for my fellow Canadians, but I do it because I think it would be nice to see a Canadian team win the Cup again. Simple as that. My guess is Americans would feel the same way if the Argos or Stampeders had won every Super Bowl since 1993.

Also, what Mike said.

[IceCap]

That's the real reason for the CFL. We don't want to crush you guys with our overwhelming football superiority

[infrared41]

That's the real reason for the CFL. We don't want to crush you guys with our overwhelming football superiority

Exactly. Let's be honest here, CFL teams do more with three downs than NFL teams can do with four. The CFL scoffs at the idea of a fourth down. It's wimpy.

[monkeypower]

I think a third reason might be that we (collectively) in Canada have some feeling of needing to support any sort of Canadian that does something famous or well known.

I'm sure you said something to the effect of, "Hey did you know (insert famous person) is Canadian?" or other things inside of Canada like CanCon and supporting whatever Canadian team is left.

It's almost like we (collectively) as Canadians have an inferiority complex and need to claim anything good done by Canadians as something for the country in order to overcompensate.

[Sport]

Personally, I find it gross when Canada gets behind the last Canadian team standing as if the parade route is going to go all the way across the continent. It's not, and when you pretend to rally behind Montreal, you're not fooling anyone, and certainly not yourselves. Sun Belt fans, such as they are, are typically pretty obnoxious about showing solidarity for "their" teams, too, but at least Canada is an actual country rather than a concept. Be better, I say, and hate freely among yourselves!

I see your logic about the parade not coming through Calgary but I'd still jump for joy if any Canadian team won it all. I just want to see it in my lifetime.

You'll see it in your lifetime and statistically speaking it'll be in the next five years. Then once it happens it's unlikely another drought of this length will happen again. This isn't the Chicago Cubs trying to break a 100+ year streak. There's a 7 in 30 chance every season so in theory about once every 5 years a Canadian team should win it all. From 1984 through 1990 a Canadian team won it every year. So really the statistical balance isn't even that far off.

Now, hockey isn't played in a vacuum and there's a slew of external factors that have kept it from happening, but that doesn't render it impossible. A huge factor for why it hasn't happened is plain old bad luck. The Flames could've easily won in 04, same for the Oilers in 06 if Rolosson doesn't get hurt in game 1, and the Canucks in 2011 were doing just fine until Aaron Rome decided he was going to galvanize Boston.

I chalk it up to statistical anomaly, bad luck, the weak dollar of the 90's, heightened media pressure make building contenders more difficult, and the best players often deliberately choosing not to play in Canada.

[The_Admiral]

I just can't stress enough how much I don't like to see the ROC rallying behind Les Habitants.

What's also interesting is what I suppose is the opposite problem: that there are lots of Canadian fans of American teams but not many American fans of Canadian teams. It seems like there are lots of Bruins fans in Canada, whether it's because the Maritimes feel like an extension of New England, or because Bobby Orr took a leak at your town's gas station once. Canadian broadcasters in particular treat the Bruins with a great deal of reverence. So while I don't get jazzed about Albertans cheering for the Habs through gritted teeth when there's no one else left to cheer for, I'd be totally fine with random Americans being fans all year long.

I chalk it up to statistical anomaly, bad luck, the weak dollar of the 90's, heightened media pressure make building contenders more difficult, and the best players often deliberately choosing not to play in Canada.

Yeah, the only Canadians who don't want to see the Stanley Cup come home to Canada are the ones who play in the NHL!

[TorinK92]

Personally, I find it gross when Canada gets behind the last Canadian team standing as if the parade route is going to go all the way across the continent. It's not, and when you pretend to rally behind Montreal, you're not fooling anyone, and certainly not yourselves. Sun Belt fans, such as they are, are typically pretty obnoxious about showing solidarity for "their" teams, too, but at least Canada is an actual country rather than a concept. Be better, I say, and hate freely among yourselves!

I see your logic about the parade not coming through Calgary but I'd still jump for joy if any Canadian team won it all. I just want to see it in my lifetime.

You'll see it in your lifetime and statistically speaking it'll be in the next five years. Then once it happens it's unlikely another drought of this length will happen again. This isn't the Chicago Cubs trying to break a 100+ year streak. There's a 7 in 30 chance every season so in theory about once every 5 years a Canadian team should win it all. From 1984 through 1990 a Canadian team won it every year. So really the statistical balance isn't even that far off.

Now, hockey isn't played in a vacuum and there's a slew of external factors that have kept it from happening, but that doesn't render it impossible. A huge factor for why it hasn't happened is plain old bad luck. The Flames could've easily won in 04, same for the Oilers in 06 if Rolosson doesn't get hurt in game 1, and the Canucks in 2011 were doing just fine until Aaron Rome decided he was going to galvanize Boston.

I chalk it up to statistical anomaly, bad luck, the weak dollar of the 90's, heightened media pressure make building contenders more difficult, and the best players often deliberately choosing not to play in Canada.

It also appears that for the first time in a very long time, all the Canadian teams are getting better at the same time (apart from the Canucks, who are aging; and the Leafs who just started a rebuild but should have a very strong future core after the next couple of drafts.) Canadian teams will continue to get better until one team finally ends the streak.

Now, I'll admit that I'd rather have the Jets, Flames, or Oilers win the cup than most American teams (partly because they have a chance to buck the streak, plus I really have nothing against them and they seem like cool teams), but I'll be damned if I throw one note of support behind the Leafs, Habs or any rival, national or not, to have any kind of playoff success. That's heresy.

[HedleyLamarr]

But why?

Coming from someone who defended Sunbelt fan unity on an episode of BASS? You should know why

I don't like the trend of Canadians all pulling for the last Canadian team each year, but I know exactly why it happens, because I fall into the trap annually.

It's been a trend since the Flames and their 2004 run, at least. I assume it happened because the Flames were the first to reach the Cup Final in 10 years and, after what the country's teams went through in the late 90's, that it was Canada's "We're back and ready to win!" moment in hockey. Not only were the national teams not making it to the Cup Final, a handful of non-traditional and/or expansion teams were making Finals appearances (Florida, Dallas, New Jersey, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Carolina). Perhaps Canadians felt growing resentment that these inferior teams (in terms of tradition, love for the game, etc.) were having more success than them, so they started hitching their wagons onto the last Canadian-based team.....

But yeah, I'll never understand that a team you want to see lose all 82 games during the season suddenly becomes a team you want to see win 16 games in the playoffs. Don't see how a Canucks fan wants to see Calgary have success or a Leafs fan wants to see Montreal win the Cup. It'd be like a Yankees fan rooting for the Red Sox because they're in the same division. As a fan of the locals, I'd never want to see the Saints or Mets or Nationals or Heat or Gators or Volunteers or Alabama win anything, regular season or postseason. I've never felt any national pride whenever an American-based team wins a title (when it's not an international tournament, that is).

[IceCap]

It's been a trend since the Flames and their 2004 run, at least.

The abnormally long drought and the "haha you guys suck" rhetoric from some American fans was why that happened. No one would be jumping on the Habs' bandwagon if the Oilers, for example, had gotten it done against Carolina. The drought is always brought up, along with American braggarts who want to rub it our faces that a Canadian team hasn't won since 1993 every year. You may not like it, but most of Canada WILL back the last Canadian team each season until both of those factors go away. Which means it won't stop until a Canadian team wins the Cup.

Don't see how a Canucks fan wants to see Calgary have success or a Leafs fan wants to see Montreal win the Cup. It'd be like a Yankees fan rooting for the Red Sox because they're in the same division.

No, sorry. This (and all of your examples) fall flat. The Yankees/Red Sox one would only really hold true in an alternate universe where the Jays and Expos won every World Series from 1992 to 2002. In that crazy world? I'd bet most American baseball fans would fall behind the Red Sox if they played the Expos in 2003 World Series. Even Yankees fans.

I mean I get your central premise. A Leafs fan rooting for the Habs in the playoffs makes as much (or little) sense as a UG fan rooting for the Gators in a vacuum, but it doesn't take the national element into account. Which is what drives so many Canadians to pick up the torch for the last Canadian team.

Again, you don't have to like it. Understanding why it happens, however, isn't the same as liking it. And so many Americans seem to miss that and just jump straight to "Canadians are so dumb for rooting for the last Canadian team in the playoffs."

I just can't stress enough how much I don't like to see the ROC rallying behind Les Habitants

You're making the same mistake that the Quebec nationalists make. Assuming that the ROC is some sort of unified whole. The narrative of Canadian nationality has always been grounded in the "two founding peoples" story. While the idea of everyone jumping on the Habs' bandwagon may be stupid from a SPORTS! perspective it's not that odd, or shouldn't be that odd, from a perspective of national identity. Segregating the French in Quebec and the English in the ROC may have been how the chips fell, but we shouldn't discourage cross-culture appreciation.

It also bugs me because it assumes the Habs are only a team for French Canadien fans. My dad's an Anglophone Jew from Montreal. He's a huge Habs fan, because they're his hometown team. The notion that only the Quebecois could appreciate the Les Habitants died when the Maroons went belly-up.

[Morgan33]

The country's embrace of the Flames also had a lot to do with how unexpected the run was. Most people pegged the team to miss the playoffs entirely and they came out of nowhere to almost win the cup. It was the ultimate Cinderella run and feel good story. I don't believe any of the other Canadian finalists were embraced to such an extent. Especially the Canucks who were all but disowned outside of British Columbia.

GO HABS

[The_Admiral]

I just can't stress enough how much I don't like to see the ROC rallying behind Les Habitants

You're making the same mistake that the Quebec nationalists make. Assuming that the ROC is some sort of unified whole. The narrative of Canadian nationality has always been grounded in the "two founding peoples" story. While the idea of everyone jumping on the Habs' bandwagon may be stupid from a SPORTS! perspective it's not that odd, or shouldn't be that odd, from a perspective of national identity. Segregating the French in Quebec and the English in the ROC may have been how the chips fell, but we shouldn't discourage cross-culture appreciation.

It also bugs me because it assumes the Habs are only a team for French Canadien fans. My dad's an Anglophone Jew from Montreal. He's a huge Habs fan, because they're his hometown team. The notion that only the Quebecois could appreciate the Les Habitants died when the Maroons went belly-up.

I get all that, but it seems like the ROC doesn't care much for Quebec or the Quebecois when the Habs aren't the last team left.

[spartacat_12]

Count me in as part of the group who gets no pride out of the playoff success of Canadian NHL teams other than the one I cheer for. The only hockey teams that should be considered "Canada's team" are the ones that compete in the Olympics, World Juniors, etc. When Ottawa was in the finals they lost to a team that had more Canadians on their roster. In fact, I tend to selfishly root against other Canadian teams in the post season. Selfishly I want the Sens to be the team that ends the drought.

[infrared41]

I don't get why we Americans give so much as a single about this. We're the World Champions of rah-rah flag waving. We wrap ourselves in the flag for reasons a lot dumber than a Stanley Cup win. You'd think that if anyone gets why Canadian fans are rooting for a Canadian team to win the Cup, it would be Americans.

[IceCap]

I just can't stress enough how much I don't like to see the ROC rallying behind Les Habitants

You're making the same mistake that the Quebec nationalists make. Assuming that the ROC is some sort of unified whole. The narrative of Canadian nationality has always been grounded in the "two founding peoples" story. While the idea of everyone jumping on the Habs' bandwagon may be stupid from a SPORTS! perspective it's not that odd, or shouldn't be that odd, from a perspective of national identity. Segregating the French in Quebec and the English in the ROC may have been how the chips fell, but we shouldn't discourage cross-culture appreciation.

It also bugs me because it assumes the Habs are only a team for French Canadien fans. My dad's an Anglophone Jew from Montreal. He's a huge Habs fan, because they're his hometown team. The notion that only the Quebecois could appreciate the Les Habitants died when the Maroons went belly-up.

I get all that, but it seems like the ROC doesn't care much for Quebec or the Quebecois when the Habs aren't the last team left.

Well everyone has their preferences. Albertans probably aren't eager to pull for the Habs because of Trudeau (though they did just vote the NDP in, so who the hell knows anymore).

The Jets are the little engine that almost did, so everyone loves them.

Everyone else hates the Leafs because everyone else is tired of Toronto-centric bias in the media. They're also tired of the Leafs always being a huge story, even when terrible.

There seems to be a lot of Oilers hate going around lately, out of fear that they're going to ruin the next Gretzky.

I know plenty of Ontarians who are Habs fans. Their justification is always along the lines of "my second cousin married a French Canadian." So basically the Canadian equivalent of someone from Ohio rooting for Pittsburgh's teams because they have "family" from there.

I went to school with a Habs fan from Ottawa who cheered for the Habs because he just couldn't get invested in a 1992 expansion team that hangs Stanley Cup banners made out of garbage bags and representing an other team's accomplishments.

I've even met some Ontarian Canucks fans. They don't like the Leafs and Vancouver, like the GTA, is a multi-cultural Canadian metropolis. So they can root for them without rooting for the "redneck" or "French" teams. The Senators just seem to be "there."

So its varied. I don't think the Habs are as disliked as you think. As for the Quebecois? Most of the hostility seems to stem from the separatist movement. So maybe you'll see a lot of that evaporate if they can keep up their current run of voting for parties not dedicated to tearing the country apart. We're getting political now, so I'll just stop here.

Count me in as part of the group who gets no pride out of the playoff success of Canadian NHL teams other than the one I cheer for. The only hockey teams that should be considered "Canada's team" are the ones that compete in the Olympics, World Juniors, etc. When Ottawa was in the finals they lost to a team that had more Canadians on their roster. In fact, I tend to selfishly root against other Canadian teams in the post season. Selfishly I want the Sens to be the team that ends the drought.

I (begrudgingly) supported the Sens during their 2006 run, but I've gotta admit that seeing the Leafs end the drought would be glorious for reasons beyond me just wanting to see my team win it all. They'd bring the Cup back to Canada while pissing off all the Leafs haters across the country in the process

[habsfan1]

Game Over.

[TorinK92]

I really hope the Lightning aren't doing their impression of the 2010 Boston Bruins.