British Columbians are not generally that violent. Most people go their whole lives without getting into a fight more serious than a schoolyard scuffle. Political protests usually use non-violent tactics.
But when the Canucks make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs, all bets are off.
We’ve had two Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver, one in 1994 and one in 2011.
During the 2011 playoffs, local leaders and police were confident – one might say overconfident – that there would not be a repeat of the same events.
The day after the final game, as investigators pored over video footage of arson and broken windows and brawling in the streets, authorities were just a little shamefaced.
But no one should have been surprised by the outcome.
Hockey fan culture always has the seeds of a potential riot.
To put my cards on the table, I’m not a hockey fan. (I watch the Tour de France sometimes, and cycling has its own awful fans.) A playoff game night, for me, is a good time to go see a movie, knowing that things really get quiet while a good chunk of the population is sitting in front of a TV watching the game.
But just because I don’t like hockey doesn’t mean I’m a big grump about it.
It does mean that I don’t have any stake in defending it, either.
“Hockey fan culture” is incredibly broad, and it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
For a lot of them, by far the majority, it’s something to enjoy with friends and family. You root for your team, you talk about the players, their performance, their chances in the next game or series. Maybe people have a couple of beers. Everyone cheers or groans in sympathy.
But there are parts of hockey fan culture that are overtly toxic.
A few years ago, I was covering a trial at the courthouse in Vancouver. I walked out onto the streets to find them strangely empty – except in the nearby sports bars, packed with fans in jerseys. An East Coast game had just started.
And on the street was a guy whose celebrating had clearly begun hours before. He was so drunk, he was staggering. He kept pointing to his jersey, yelling at passersby, demanding to know why they weren’t cheering for the Canucks. He was oblivious to the fact that the game had started 20 minutes before.
That, too, is one of the faces of hockey fandom in B.C. There are people for whom every game is an excuse to get wasted, maybe to get into a fight. A Stanley Cup loss is a licence for bad behaviour.
“Those aren’t real hockey fans!” I can hear you saying.
Sorry, but they are.
Every subculture has its toxic side. Sports fans exist on a broad spectrum, and the far end of that spectrum is rooted in binge drinking and glamourized violence. Hockey fans can’t stop the next riot until the culture changes.