Vancouver Riot

[terminator363]

To start this thread off this was rather bad.

 

[alexleighton]

All those people should be removed from society and kept on an island in little filthy cages where we can go and throw apples at them.

Actually no, then they would have food to survive on. Absolutely disgusting, worthless creatures.

 

[Pyle_PMG]

Yeah, that was pretty disgraceful. Being a Montreal fan I know how crazy we can get. I beleive there was a riot in the 1960's because the habs finished the season in second.

 

[Keef]

Keep the fighting on the rink you crazy Canucks!

 

[Omnis]

Hockey sticks don't kill people, crazy canucks with hockey sticks do.

 

[Joel]

If you follow the hockey world, and the online hockey blogs, you'd know it's a real 🤬 state of affairs if Eklund* is the voice of reason.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklu...-Fans-Were-The-Ones-Who-Were-Attacked/1/36433

What happened last night was horrible. It was horrible for the city of Vancouver. It was horrible for the country of Canada. It was horrible for the game of hockey. It was horrible for those who are forced to rebuild today....And more than anything, it was horrible for those critically injured.

However none of this gives anyone the right to use this event as a way to sensationalize a stereotype or justify a warped generalization about Vancouver Canucks fans. And I am seeing this hatred towards Vancouver and their fans being propagated everywhere this morning and it is flat out wrong.

Now, I am not saying there weren't drunken Canucks fans who got caught up in the mob mentality and I hope those people are prosecuted fully, but understand this...All throughout the Olympics last year this size group of people met up downtown and peacefully disbursed. Throughout the playoffs, and especially during the Cup Final, thousands of people were gathering for every game. They even watched their team get essentially killed three times in Boston and dispersed without incident.

And it was because of this peaceful recent history the idiots who lit the fuse last night were successful.

From being there and talking to people all night long, I am convinced that last night was a well planned terrorist attack, pulled out by a few idiots who took advantage of a ripe situation. They wore Canucks jerseys to blend in, as any good terrorist would, but they also brought canisters of pepper spray (used to deter bears) and they brought black scarves to wear around their faces..as no good FAN would.

They brought a truck, with the lone intention to set on fire...win or lose. They had tools to aid in looting. Their intention was clear...to destroy property and make Vancouver Canucks fans look terrible.

And much of the media has bought it. hook, line, and sinker.

Again before you go at Canucks fans, remember this. The owners of those properties and car destroyed were Canucks fans.

Since there were no trains, taxi's running I walked last night to my hotel on Granville street. I saw people in front of the hospital getting treated for tear gas. I saw broken glass, I saw police helicopters shining lights on the streets..

But what I also saw were way more REAL Vancouver Canucks fans who were way more saddened and embarrassed by what had happened since the Cup had been awarded then anything prior. The game they lost...it lost all meaning.

I saw good, and frankly braver than I am, people trying to reclaim their city from the terrorists. Screaming to stop the violence and destruction. Helping those hurt. Helping police. Video taping incidents and posting them online to aid police..

There was an explosion outside my hotel late last night, and I felt the need to get out of the building in case the building might be in danger. It was then I met even more people who continued to all tell me the same stories...."Anarchists in Canucks jerseys and black scarves running from one very calculated hot spot to the next, lighting the fuse and trying to draw a drunken, frantic crowd into the fray."

So why am I defending Canucks fans?

Because I know these fans. I spent three weeks here during the Olympics. I lived with a host family of Canucks fans. I met countless Canucks fans during that time who impressed me endlessly with their humility and kindness.

I was in a building last night that was full of the most real/die-hard Canucks fans alive....as the clock ticked down inside the building I was blown away by the Canucks fans ability to maintain perspective and stay positive. It had taken them 40 years to see a game 7 Stanley Cup game in their building, but there was no sense at all they would be violent despite watching a very mundane performance by their team at the most critical time. They were chanting "LU" on Luongo saves right to the end. The common refrain was "can't blame it all on Luongo, he can't score."


Where I come from it would have been ALL Luongo's fault. Canadians know their hockey, that's for sure.

Vancouver Canucks fans aren't about violence. They are incredible fans.


Later last night, as the destruction and tension continued to rise, a few Vancouver fans started a Facebook page where thousands upon thousands of other Canucks fans committed to meeting at noon the next day to help aid in the clean up.

So if you ask me about Canucks fans, all I can say is "those are the fans I know." Those were the fans who were making sure everything was freshly painted and ready to go. During the Olympics we all saw that same pride.

I ask some of you Canadians who are into tearing down Vancouver today to remember how amazingly well they represented your great and vast country during the Olympics. At that time the people of Vancouver knew they were the ones the world would judge Canada on and they came through with an amazing example of the kind of warmth, respect, and decency that I, and American, think of when I think of Canadians.
L
They had your back.and last night they just got attacked. Plain and simple. You weren't attacked. They were. And it sucks enough for them right now to have to rebuild and live with the embarrassment. An embarrassment they feel so strongly due to their character. Don't pile it on because you have some personal prejudice against BC people or what hlave you.

Terrorists are not Muslims, or Canadiens or Asians, or Americans, or Canucks fans, etc.. Terrorists are ******g terrorists. They look for opportunities and they break things. It's the most wimpy thing a human being can do: Breaking something when it is not being protected. It's so frigging easy to be a Terrorist. It takes years and courage to build things, but it can take a terrorist loser seconds to destroy something.

The 24 hour news world, a world pushed to sensationalism as they are pushed to extinction, wants to classify people by saying "The Vancouver Canucks fans rioted last night." And they will show you a picture of a guy in a Canucks shirt standing near a car on fire. Don't get sucked in by it. It wasn't all that last night. I was there. It wasn't.

*Eklund is a hockey blogger notorious for posting ludicrous and far fetched trade "rumours".

Keep the fighting on the rink you crazy Canucks!

Hockey sticks don't kill people, crazy canucks with hockey sticks do.

 

[Omnis]

I think Eklund is going to be writing that Vancouver will trade Luongo back to Florida for a pack of gum.

 

[Joel]

Vokoun to the Canucks for both Sedins. Who doesn't love Swedish twins?

 

[Pupik]

***cough*** Miami's NBA fans didn't riot ***cough***

 

[Omnis]

That's because they were too busy trying to kill themselves with pastelitos con guayaba.

 

[Pupik]

^ I thought we all fire our pistols up in the air and wait for the earth to rotate?

(Actually, I was in Little Rock, Arkansas...telling my wife that "we'll be back next year", and went to work the next morning without overturning any automobiles.)

 

[gogatrs]

Well, that's what they get for living in Canada.

JK, but on a serious note, have they counted the injuries yet?

 

[Public'sTwin]

The funny thing is, another giant mob showed up the very next morning to help with the cleanup.

Not even kidding.

 

[Joel]

Well, that's what they get for living in Canada.

JK, but on a serious note, have they counted the injuries yet?

9 cops injured, around 150 injured total was what I read.

 

[aarror]

Vancouver fan here, I live just across the water in Victoria. It was embarassing to be a Canucks fan after the riot, it is sad that a few drunks have come to represent the entire fanbase. It was nice to see the real fans clean the streets this morning. Having said all this, the riots were nothing compared to '94 (though I was only a few weeks old at the time). I went to the BBC website and was ashamed at the headlines: Human rights riot in China, Greek Revolution riots continue, and then, embarasingly, Canadians riot over hockey game. How embarassing It is truly disgusting that this happened, I know a few people who were over there, one ended up in hospital and the other was peppersprayed by a cop as she was dragging her friend to safety.

On the light side, anyone see the video of the guy getting flashbanged (if thats even a word) in the gentlemans area? It was priceless! Unfortunatly youtube took it down, so I can't link it for you guys. Still, I am deeply ashamed that this happened.

 

[Grand Prix]

I can vouch for the article posted above by Noob. Throughout the playoffs there were massive groups of fans coming here to watch the game from all over BC. The riot starters were taking advantage of this by looting stores and then burning them. I counted 4 police cars on fire also; that doesn't happen without some sort of plan.

Vancouverites wouldn't attempt to destroy their own city, especially one such as this. It is absolutely disgusting behaviour.

 

[Horde_R35]

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Yeah, that was pretty disgraceful. Being a Montreal fan I know how crazy we can get. I beleive there was a riot in the 1960's because the habs finished the season in second.

Montreal rioted in 1993 after winning the Stanley Cup. And also after the Metallica concert when Hetfield had his hand burnt.

 

[Horde_R35]

Montreal rioted in 1993 after winning the Stanley Cup. And also after the Metallica concert when Hetfield had his hand burnt.

Crazy stuff! I think that was in the vids "A year and a half in the life of Metallica!"

 

[prisonermonkeys]

So, they rioted because they lost? Whatever happened to the image of Canada as a conservative, boring nation (albeit one that I have garnered almost excuslively from HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER)?

These guys have to be the biggest sore losers in the history of sports.

 

[Public'sTwin]

So, they rioted because they lost? Whatever happened to the image of Canada as a conservative, boring nation (albeit one that I have garnered almost excuslively from HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER)?

These guys have to be the biggest sore losers in the history of sports.

Canada is a liberal, pensive, and anxious nation. With little to do, it explodes in frenzies of car burning as seen most recently in Vancouver, and last year at the G20 riots in Toronto.

People talk as if rioting in Canada is new, or rare, but it's not.

The 'boring' aspect of Canada is particularly baffling, though, as we're constantly being compared to either Britain or the US, neither of which share that moniker.

Part of Canada's 'contentment', as it may be perceived, could stem from these massive outbursts: large and loud demonstrations & protests are frequent occurrences, and tend to lend gravitas to an issue which remains otherwise politically ignored until then, especially among media on the world stage (since we're a First-World country and aren't attempting overthrow, it's often overlooked; just a few days ago a girl stood in Parliament declaring Stephen Harper a tyrant—who heard about that?). It's our outlet for democratic action, and it works.

Sometimes, though, we just lose a hockey game.

If you're looking for a breakdown of that, though, it has more to do with a series of almost-hads and not quite getting there, as Vancouver has just done. Also, Luongo's performance. 'We' were counting on him off the heel of the Olympics; even though 17 of Boston's players are Canadian, to their 1 sole American teammate, it seems 'we' are/were most upset at the stunted momentum of Canada's image in hockey, which was enjoying a renewed dominance.

Another part of the riot was systemic. Transportation routes were blocked, bridges out of the Vancouver downtown core were shut down, liquor stores closed/remained open (there is an argument that being open that day contributed to it, there is another argument that being open but closing early had contributed to it), and there was a heavy police presence before hostilities began. The police presence is especially provocative in Canada, where their presence is generally met with indignation for the implicit lack of trust in ourselves to assemble peacefully. Thus, their presence creates tension and antagonism, and riot-like behaviour erupts—this was especially true at the G20 protests. In sum, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. The risk, however, of not having any police-presence is obviously one that most local governments would not take.

But some of that, I suspect, will be innate to any demonstration.

 

[Grand Prix]

So, they rioted because they lost? Whatever happened to the image of Canada as a conservative, boring nation (albeit one that I have garnered almost excuslively from HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER)?

These guys have to be the biggest sore losers in the history of sports.

They rioted because they wanted to steal stuff. They were essentially terrorists taking advantage of the large crowds gathering in the city. A little context helps before jumping to conclusions.

Some were loser fans indeed. It is amazing when you think about it, these people go by their day-to-day lives as seemingly civilized people on the outside, and then turn into pack animals over stupid events like this.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Canada is a liberal, pensive, and anxious nation. With little to do, it explodes in frenzies of car burning as seen most recently in Vancouver, and last year at the G20 riots in Toronto.

I don't mean 'conservative' in the political context. I mean 'conservative' in the sense that they don't do anything wild; they stay in on a Friday night rather than go out and get drunk.

 

[Public'sTwin]

I don't mean 'conservative' in the political context. I mean 'conservative' in the sense that they don't do anything wild; they stay in on a Friday night rather than go out and get drunk.

Are you kidding? All we do is go out and get drunk. We do that on Tuesdays.

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

So, they rioted because they lost? Whatever happened to the image of Canada as a conservative, boring nation (albeit one that I have garnered almost excuslively from HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER)?

 

[Prince.M5]

I went on the M5 Board and found these video... Felt sorry for the owner.



Here's the girl trying to protect her M5. (4:40)

I'm shocked, that's all I can say...

[Picture courtesy of M5BOARD.com]

 

[1241Penguin]

Poor girl! She had the heart, but was clearly overpowered. I'm quite amazed as to what people will do. If I were her, I would've shown no mercy. I would especially like to have kicked the guy who was posing in front of the burning M5.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I said almost exclusively. I have known some Canadians, though it's been a year or three since I've spoken with them ... because they were the most boring people I've ever met. The only interesting one was French-Canadian, and even she went to great lengths to describe herself as French before describing herself as Canadian (or, when all else failed, she said she was from Quebec).

 

[niky]

All I know of Canada is from a family friend who came back home from Canada and spent all his time saying "ey".

Until that point, I'd thought the whole "ey" thing was a stupid outdated stereotype.

Speaking of stereotypes... boring Canadian kid drove a boring Pontiac Sunfire... yeeeeeeaaaaaah....

 

[Pyle_PMG]

Niky, we don't say 'ey', we say 'eh'! There's a difference. And were not boring.