Baby I Want You Back
Is it just me, or do Canadian hockey fans tend to give off that 'slighted yet hopeful ex-boyfriend' vibe?
I say this after spending 30 minutes on the elliptical tonight at the gym. There, I found myself gritting my teeth as I watched barbeque-mastering, red-state inhabiting, Dubya-loving Texans bounce up and down, cheering on their beloved Minnesota North... er... Dallas Stars.
Then, I caught myself.
Yep... that's a packed arena. Yep... that's a sold out crowd. Yep... they understand the game. And yep... they support their team.
That's more than can be said for Flames fans through the 90s, Jets fans at certain stages of that team's life, and for the Nordiques of old.
The folks in Dallas have every right to be cheering.
Meanwhile, north of the border, wre keep whining and complaining that there aren't enough Canadian teams in the NHL. We keep pouting over expansion franchises like Tampa Bay and Nashville. Like an ex-boyfriend unwilling to believe our former love has found herself a new man, we keep shouting, "Baby! You know that I love you! I want you back! I'll do anything."
It's time we put away the cubic zirconia engagement ring and face the facts. This is not a Julia Roberts movie where the protagonist stops the wedding and everyone lives happily ever after. The NHL is gone... and she ain't coming back.
At a time when we could have been supporting our teams, we took them for granted. And now, there's only six franchises left in the Great White North.
Why?
I'll tell you why.
Because we have a habit of being crappy fans.
There. I've said it.
Sure... when there's the excitement of the Red Mile, you can't get a seat at the game and if you want a jersey you'll have to fight a feisty little 20-something bean counter who spends his days on the 20th floor of Banker's Hall and his nights getting plastered on 17th Ave to rip one off his back.
But while I was in Vancouver on the weekend (where the Canucks have been eating up tee times for a few weeks now), you swore the NHL was the last thing on anyone's mind. One bar I was at couldn't change the channel fast enough to the NBA playoffs as the Don and Ron show was just getting ready to sign off.
Even in a province that has the 'greatest fans in the world,' Rider fans only come out to play when there's something to cheer about. (Yes, this is an obligatory shot at Rider fans. Don't you know? We in the 'mainstream media' have a Rider-fan-slagging quota. At least, that's what the tin foil hat crowd says. I'm just doing my job folks.)
Rather than trying to win over the NHL's love again, we should be content to see it for what it is today. It has changed. We have changed. And we should be happy for it. And we should be grateful we have games to go to and enjoy.
But we shouldn't be spiteful. And we shouldn't hate on Gary Bettman.
The only people we have to blame for a lack of Canadian teams in the NHL is our own sad selves.
John Himpe is Program Director of Rawlco Interactive, a regular blog contributor to NewsTalk980.com and NewsTalk650.com, and is cheering for the Penguins because he wants to see Sid the Kid hoist the cup.