How a respectable team became hated

It used to be so much easier to be a Canucks fan. For years, the team's core has been the Sedin twins. They are exciting players who care more about the team than themselves. Unlike most modern athletes, they are true role models. While there have been a few questionable personalities here and there, the team has been one of the most respectable in the league. Of course, respectable and respected are two very different things, and the Canucks gradually became one of the most hated in the league.


Outside of rival cities with a blind unjustified hatred of the Canucks, the hatred we see is relatively new. It started with the Chicago Blackhawks. They beat the Canucks in the playoffs for two consecutive years. In order to win, the Blackhawks had to completely embarrass the sport. Their performance was so bad that the fans could not defend them. Instead, they found it much easier to tear down the Canucks. Ultimately, the Blackhawks fan base proved themselves to be incredibly sore winners.

The following year, the Canucks finally beat the Blackhawks. Since they were already entrenched in their Canucks hatred, they didn't hesitate to aggressively attack the Canucks while downplaying the embarrassing performance from their own team. They also pushed their flimsy arguments throughout the remainder of the playoffs.

The Canucks reached the Stanley Cup final that year. Blackhawks fans tried to force their narrative onto Bruins fans. We also saw something very similar. The Bruins had to absolutely embarrass the sport in order to have a chance at victory. Once again, it was easier to tear down the Canucks than to defend the antics of the team that beat them.

Unfortunately, the Canucks weren't at their peak in regards to honor for that final. While there is no question that the Bruins were worse, the Canucks stooped to their level numerous times. This created another problem. Due to the heavy bias from the American media, the Canucks rarely see any coverage in the states. The hockey media could not ignore the Stanley Cup final. As a result, the only exposure the average American hockey fan has had to the Canucks featured the team at its worst.

That brings me to another huge obstacle that the Canucks need to overcome, the media. I have already mentioned that the hockey media focuses on the northeastern United States. The Canucks have the single most difficult team to sell to that market. This is why they are the most mistreated team in the league.

When the media had to acknowledge the Canucks existence, they embraced everything they could use against the Canucks. The reputation according to rivals and the Blackhawks became the basis for their commentary when they faced the Bruins, a northeastern media sweetheart. While that series was played, they pounced on anything they could use against the Canucks and downplayed far worse actions from the Bruins. While I already acknowledged that the Canucks were at their worst, the media had no problems exaggerating the team's worst. Again, this is the only time the average American hockey fan has been exposed to the Canucks.

The media's antics solidified the Canucks reputation of being an easy team to hate. The media is highly influential. The general hockey fan base, which has become far more mindless since the league decided to dumb down the game, has embraced the narrative. Hating the Canucks was suddenly the in thing for hockey fans. People didn't even know why they hated the Canucks, but they were aggressive in supporting the media's misportrayal.

I used to read comment sections for hockey-related articles to help correct the media's misinformation. Trolls have taken over, so I can no longer find those corrections. Instead, I'm reading about how the Canucks are both too clean and too dirty. I'm reading about how a despicable act by a player who had a previous brief stint with the Canucks is proof that the Canucks are unethical. I have read posts on articles specifically relating to the Canucks about how you have to hate the Canucks because they have seen trolls on their own teams' articles. I have also seen how most anti-Canucks comments don't even say why people hate them. Modern hockey fans have become pawns of the media, and they have been aggressively attacking the Canucks without even knowing why. Perhaps I'm biased, but I see no reason to trust people who have shown a blind hatred toward the team that they can't explain.