For one reason or another, there is no shortage of Vancouver Canucks haters in Canada.
When the Canucks were in the Stanley Cup finals in 2011 against the Boston Bruins, the vast chunk of Canadian hockey fans outside of B.C. was hoping the cup would go to Massachusetts rather than north of the border. To their delight, it did with Boston winning Game 7.
The Canucks didn't go far enough in the post-season to cause a commotion last year. The Los Angeles Kings knocked them out in five games.
Los Angeles embraced Canadians' hatred for Canucks. After the Kings knocked the Canucks out of the playoffs, their official Twitter account tweeted "To everyone in Canada outside of BC, you're welcome."
For many Canadians, it gave them an easy chuckle. The diehard Canucks fans, however, didn't find it that humorous as many lost their cool.
This year, Vancouver's lack of success in the playoffs continued as the San Jose Sharks swept them out of the second season in the first round.
So why has the majority of Canadian hockey fans turned against the Canucks?
The most obvious answer is how some of their players act on the ice. Canucks such as Maxim Lapierre, Ryan Kesler, and Alex Burrows don't exactly play the hard-nosed brand of hockey that most Canadians enjoy watching. Instead, they frequently dive, embellish, and complain after the whistle.
Although the Sedin twins don't bring the diving antics to the table, there seems to be few and far between fans of them outside of Vancouver. This is likely because most Canadians fall in love with the hockey players who block shots with their teeth and finish playoff games with broken bones. Daniel and Henrik don't fit that bill to say the least.
Before the Sedins became the faces of the franchise in Vancouver, Canadian hockey fans didn't seem to have a problem with the Canucks. The majority of the nation cheered for Vancouver when they were led by Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison, and before that, Trevor Linden and company.
But at the same time, the Canucks' depth players weren't acting as though the ice was a slip and slide like Lapierre and Burrows do. Players such as Brad May and Ed Jovananovski were respected. They played hard and didn't look to the refs when they were hit.
Not only have the players been known to lack class, but also the management team.
In their last regular-season game this year, the Canucks faced the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. They didn't dress some of their better players and to rub it in, they had Henrik Sedin play one shift of 22 seconds. Once his lone shift was over, they sent Sedin to their dressing room.
The 20-second stunt was so he would not break his team-leading ironman streak of 940 games played.
According to reports emanating from the Canucks' dressing room, it wasn't Henrik Sedin's idea.
Arrogant fan base
Every fan base has its share of unintelligent fans, but it seems Canucks Army is the belle of the ball for stupidity. In various chartrooms and social media sites, there are always Canucks fans that come off with arrogant and ignorant attitudes.
The worst of the worst from this fan base practically burned down their city after falling to Boston in 2011. Some argue 'they aren't rue fans,' but that's not true. Just because they lack intelligence and are criminals doesn't mean they aren't real fans.
This isn't just the new generation of Canucks fans, though.
Back in 1972, Vancouver hockey fans booed the beloved national hockey team after losing 5-3 to the Soviet Union. That ugly incident led to Phil Esposito's emotional outburst on national TV: "I'm completely disappointed," Espo said. "I cannot believe it. Every one of us guys -- 35 guys -- we came out because we love our country. Not for any other reason. We came because we love Canada."
Although the green men are somewhat humorous at times, they are also irritating. Their antics aren't a part of being a supportive fan. They are just annoying goofs who probably didn't receive enough attention from their patents when they were kids, so now they have to make up for it by getting on TV cameras.
All of this - burning their city down, 1972 incident, and the green men - makes it tough to band together with Canucks fans in the playoffs.
