Hockey season is over. Thanks all for keeping this post.up. It was a real pleasure.
Too bad. Canucks had a great season. Just fell short in the finals as they came up against a better team. Boston got stronger as the series went along and the Canucks did not. There are many reasons why but in the end the Bruins were better and deserved it fully.
Congratulations Bruins!
Steve and Mark, I’m sorry that your hockey team lost.
Steve, I share your frustration at the increasing level of violence and intimidation in the NHL. Some of the league’s elite players have been sidelined or retired by traumatic brain injuries or, like the Sedins, have been physically intimidated out of the play. What frustrates me the most, however, is that the vast majority of players in the NHL are grinders who don’t score more than 8 goals in one season and are released after a few years of play. The world’s talent pool of hockey players is too small to fill the ranks of 30 teams, so we are left with the present-day NHL. Dramatically reducing the number of teams and increasing the size of the rink will weed out the deadwood and concentrate the world’s elite players in the NHL.
I’m sorry that the Canucks lost. But at this rate Raw Video: Riots Following Canucks Loss - YouTube I hope they never make it again to the finals.
Vancouver lost because they don’t have players from Czech republic. (just joking)
Maybe Boston won because they have a good player from Slovakia.
Or, maybe it was the 1 strong American Boston had in goal…or because 14 out of Boston’s 19 players last night were Canadian…while Vancouver only had 10 of 19 Canadians.
Well if Europeans ever ask what the difference is between Canadians and Americans we can tell them that in the US a city riots when their team wins, in Canada when they lose…
Europe just riots for any reason…
Oh, my goodness. 14 of Boston’s 19 players were Canadians? I did not know that. I think I just picked the wrong team… LOL!
Humberto, I can imagine you were a great outfielder, and I know that a lot of Venezuelans have made the Major Leagues in baseball. Just think if they had ice in Venezuela…
(…) Well if Europeans ever ask what the difference is between Canadians and Americans we can tell them that in the US a city riots when their team wins, in Canada when they lose…
Europe just riots for any reason… (…)
Well, I guess you will find troublemakers anywhere. I used to really love soccer and used to play it when I was younger. The hooligans totally ruined it for me though. I mean, I still think it is one of the most fascinating types of sports out there and it can be such an intriguing experience to play in a team and as a team. But I haven’t gone to a match for ages and I hardly watch them on TV anymore either. Unfortunately, Europe’s soccer (or football 
has suffered massively because of those brainless hoodlums who do not deserve to be called fans.
I had the same feeling when I watched the TV footage about the riots in Vancouver. To be honest, I first thought it was a report about the Middle East (I had tuned in late and realized only after a couple of seconds that this terrible thing was actually happening in Canada).
Just a few days ago I had talked to some friends about rioting “soccer fans” in Europe and told them that something like that would be inconceivable in North America where you can still go and watch sports matches without having to fear to get drawn into civil-war like clashes between so-called fans. Obviously, I was wrong. If there is anything that does not know any borders in this world then it evidently is the stupidity of people. Those images on TV were really disturbing.
Lovelanguages, I agree with you.To be honest, there are riots like in Vancouver all around the world.I do find this situation quite terrible because so-called fans adopt the style of behavior through television and they take for granted it.
Dooo
Czech or Slovak, it is almost the same. 
@lovelanguages - While I agree the rioters are complete idiots I wouldn’t compare them to soccer hooligans. This is a one time event involving crowds of people in the streets not those attending the event. In fact, at the hockey game itself these type of events do not occur. They figure that the riot was planned and involved people who deliberately went there to cause problems disguising themselves as fans. However, people here are appalled and most of the troublemakers were caught on tv cameras and personal cameras and this evidence is being collected by the police.
I have a friend at the Vancouver police who told me that they figure they will get all the perpetrators because of all the video evidence available and that people are appalled and will turn in the people they recognize. I heard another story today from another friend who is a policeman on Vancouver Island about one of the people who burned a police car being recognized by a fellow passenger on the Vancouver Island ferry yesterday leading to their arrest on arrival at the Island. At least, social media and all the cameras will make it tough for anyone to get away with what they did.
mark wrote: (…) While I agree the rioters are complete idiots I wouldn’t compare them to soccer hooligans. (…)
I think they are more than just idiots, they are criminals and should be treated as such. But I also guess that you are right in your assertion that these things do not happen as often in Canada as they happen in many European countries (including Austria) before, during and after soccer matches.
(…) At least, social media and all the cameras will make it tough for anyone to get away with what they did. (…)
I hope you are right. I used to work as an interpreter at World and European Championships and my experience has taught me that European judges are way too lenient towards those criminals. They keep collecting minor punishments as some sort of trophy. (Relative) Impunity is one of the root causes for this kind of behaviour.
I just never associated this kind of event with Canada. Of course, one cannot and should not generalize. Canada probably still is one of the few countries where such things are more an exception than the rule - hopefully.
Some people are idiots and sheep, and young people are no exceptions. Unfortunately we have had this kind of event before, here in Vancouver (1994) and in Montreal. It need not be related to hockey. I think there is a copycat effect at work here.
We have disturbances at other festivals etc. Some people think it is fun to destroy property and cause trouble. I wish it were not so, but it is.