Vancouver 15 June 2011. A Stanley cup final, with a full moon and lunar eclipse to boot, I would have been surprised if something hadn't happened.

Still, something is seriously amiss in our society.

dont want to sound rude or anyting about our canadian friends(vancouver specifically), but a riot? really? i couldnt believe it when i saw it on the news earlier this morning.
to be honest, the fans at the arena last night are rude and not sportsmanlike at all. i can understand booing the other team. But, i havent heard booing like that after the away team won it in game 7 at an away arena ever.
im not a fan of either team by any stretch of the word. i cheer for tampa and detroit. neither of my teams was in it, so i just watched the series to watch some hockey.
then to top it off, they destroy their own city.

Actually, it's the second time. the first was in 1994. What's troubling is that unlike the first time, which was spontaneous, this time the crowd was 3 times the size and there appears to be a group of individuals prepared to cause mayhem, as well as a lot of underaged drinking. I've been pretty critical of the police in incidents like this but in this case in my opinion they did a pretty good job of crowd control and dispersal despite the property damage.

It's been a long time since Canadians rioted for something important enough enough to get angry about. Usually we do it for fun. Back in 2001 when I lived in Edmonton, a crowd of about 75000 rioted in the River Valley because the Canada Day fireworks were too short, then they went and destroyed Old Strathcona. I was going to go myself, but I was sitting in a Starbucks downtown watching the Maple Leaf faces and flags go past, and it already felt like the Picts up to tear a strip off the Romans-- real ugly. I beat it home!

But as for the hockey, the Bruins fans were just as nasty to Canucks in their rink. And there have been sports riots in Boston too. But I'm glad Boston won, they were the better team, and I even made a few bucks on it.

It's unbelievable what's just lurking under the thin veneer of our civilization,so much so tthat any excuse can set off this type of conduct.

Ahhhh... the duality of man shows through once again.

It seems like that happens more and more. Riots or some other kinds of craziness after a game.

Fighting at a hockey match? I don't get it.

The hooligan thing is getting out of hand. Why can't people just get along? Too much emphasis on things that don't matter, not enough on what does.

You never know. They may have trashed a hobby store. The thought of all that wasted plastic brings a tear to the eye.

As the old joke goes, "I went to the fights last night, and a hockey match broke out..."

Growing up on Long Island, it was all too common to find Rangers and Islanders fans creating havoc in the stands, but they never managed to spill out and burn the whole town.

Tom

Actually the booing was for the President and CEO of the league Gary Bettman, not the Bruins. Most Canucks fans stayed around to see the cup hoisted by Chara and Tim Thomas getting his hands on the Conn Smyth, both were met with applause. True hockey fans know what a battle it is to win the Stanley Cup.

The riots in Vancouver would have happened win or lose, there were scumbags who were going to start this anyhow. The VPD has found backpacks with flammables and incendiary devices. These losers have come from across Canada and the US to be part of this, it had nothing to do with hockey. or the Vancouver Canucks.

The fact these "fans" wore Vancouver Canucks jerseys was shameful and has stained the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL, professional hockey and my city.

I take offense, as do most Vancouver Canucks fans that we should be included with these idiots.

These riots had nothing to do with hockey it was about creating as much chaos and mayhem as possible and they succeeded to a point. These clowns are at the lowest end of the gene pool and should be charged to the highest degree of the law. As Canada has combat troops in action right now I hope that means they can try these ring leaders with treason, and lock them away.

I'm sure their parents are very proud of them at this time.

I am disgusted that some of these people call themselves Vancouver Canucks fans, Vancouverites and Canadians.

Regards

Peter Hickey
Vancouverite and hockey fan

what i want to know is, with all of the photos catching people in the act of destroying police property, or just property in general, are they going to arrest people. my personal fav is the idiot that has a very good side profile of him lighting a rag that has been stuffed into the gas tank of a police car. id love to see that tool get arrested

But what does matter?

The government lies to you. Wall Street lies to you. The news media lies to you. Your boss lies to you. Your spouse lies to you. Your children lie to you. What is the average young guy (they were mostly young guys) to do? Turn to one's pursuits after eight or nine beers mixed with Red Bull, usually organized sports, which is basically neutered warfare (except in hockey, where it's not so neutered), and is big big big business and amped up to sell sell sell for 10 long months, 84 reg season games PER TEAM and then possibly as many as 28 playoff games PER TEAM and it's pump pump pump up the volume on the money machine and I could go on but I already feel like punching someone in the face and looting a London Drugs myself and I don't even like hockey so I'll stop now------

ummm what was the question again? Why don't people get along? I thought I saw a lot of them getting along just fine smashing, looting and burning stuff, including a few expensive police cars (kudos again to the VP for their restraint).
But if you mean why can't people be nice to one another, is the irony missed on you that you're asking this question on a site devoted to constructing facsimiles of the results of the opposite?

"Actually the booing was for the President and CEO of the league Gary Bettman, not the Bruins. Most Canucks fans stayed around to see the cup hoisted by Chara and Tim Thomas getting his hands on the Conn Smyth, both were met with applause. True hockey fans know what a battle it is to win the Stanley Cup.

The riots in Vancouver would have happened win or lose, there were scumbags who were going to start this anyhow. The VPD has found backpacks with flammables and incendiary devices. These losers have come from across Canada and the US to be part of this, it had nothing to do with hockey. or the Vancouver Canucks.

The fact these "fans" wore Vancouver Canucks jerseys was shameful and has stained the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL, professional hockey and my city.

I take offense, as do most Vancouver Canucks fans that we should be included with these idiots.

These riots had nothing to do with hockey it was about creating as much chaos and mayhem as possible and they succeeded to a point. These clowns are at the lowest end of the gene pool and should be charged to the highest degree of the law. As Canada has combat troops in action right now I hope that means they can try these ring leaders with treason, and lock them away.

I'm sure their parents are very proud of them at this time.

I am disgusted that some of these people call themselves Vancouver Canucks fans, Vancouverites and Canadians.

Regards

Peter Hickey
Vancouverite and hockey fan"

Sorry Peter, I beg to differ, while I will agree there were provocateurs in the crowd (and the brazenness of it! What nerve!) this has a great deal to do with hockey in particular and organized sport in general and how this Bread and Circus routine is packaged, marketed and sold to its 'target audience'.


"what i want to know is, with all of the photos catching people in the act of destroying police property, or just property in general, are they going to arrest people. my personal fav is the idiot that has a very good side profile of him lighting a rag that has been stuffed into the gas tank of a police car. id love to see that tool get arrested"

Wait a minute...? Why don't the police have tank caps that LOCK on their cars? Isn't that standard equipment these days?

In downtown Vancouver? ??A hobby store??? Have you any idea what the rent would be? Uh-uh, East Side Manhattan is cheaper.

No, it's been sixteen years, but I think the nearest store is still a picturesque seabus ride to North Van. It's a good one too.

It's a shame, it would have been nice to see the cup in Canadian hands, well I remember when I watched hockey with more continuity mst teams were made up of Canadians anyways. I'm also a football fan(the one that's actually played with the feet), so it's not too strange for me. I don't condone, but it happens. What can you do?

The Bruins have more Canadians on the roster than the Canucks do, so those fans in Boston chanting USA,USA,USA, are just fools, as are the fans in Vancouver jeering in the faces of the Bruins every time they entered the rink while waving their giant Canadian flags. People calling themselves fans, yet insulting their own teams players and countries of origin with this embarrassing, uninformed behavior.

This isn't about Hockey, it's about people and their own selfishness and stupidity. Riots and sports are nothing new...

Montreal Canadians fans rioted both in 2008 and 2010 after winning against Boston and Pittsburgh respectively.

Lakers fans rioted after winning in 2009 and 2010.

Red Sox fans rioted after the World Series win in 2004.

In 1994 Vancouver lost to the NY Rangers in game 7 and rioted through the night and into the morning.

Denver rioted 1999 after the Broncos won the Super Bowl.

In 1996 there was a riot after the Bowe / Golota boxing match.

The European Cup final riots in 1985.

Detroit rioted in 1984 after the Tigers won the Series.



The list goes on...

Kevin, I think we agree to disagree, no worries, my opinion only and you know what they say. Unfortunately, the store( Finescale Models) in North Van has moved to Penticton. He's on Main street. There is a store in North Van, but he mostly caters to RC and has a very small amount of plastic.

Good point about the locking gas cap though...I wonder if that will be a new SOP on all police.

Cheers

Penticton YOW no way! That's EXCELLENT and finally a reason to go to the Okanagan (closer than me to Vancouver. Thanks).

By the way, the kid that lit up th PCs wasn't a thug, just a 'normal' teenager and captain of the water polo team in high school.