No Canada... The Media's obsession with "Canadian Teams"

[Jumptheshark]

You keep saying except they have everything in place. But I digress. I think the real problem is so few canadian teams have made they playoffs recently other then last year.

They don't have everything in place. The key piece to every idea is this

1) Get team
2) Play in Big O till the team guilt trips city and Province to building them a new one


I have been following along every single plan that comes up and every single plan is based upon the Spos getting a new stadium in 5 years from the moment they return. MLB does not want to return the the Big O

 

[No Fun Shogun]

There's no imperical evidence to support that. But I remember Drew Stafford saying that playoff revenues would be down the year that every Canadian team missed the playoffs.

Personally I watch the Canadian teams.

After that the interest wanes. Summer's are short in Canada so make the most of it. Hockey in June never made sense to me.

Still doesn't.

And honestly if given the choice to watch hockey for two teams I could care less about, on bad ice, because of the season, i.e Tampa's run, or watch the basketball playoffs with friends I'll watch basketball. The Raptors success will turn even more fans away. Because basketball is a global sport, and their game is about scoring. Hockey playoffs become benign as the playoffs wear on. There is not much offense. Usually generated by questionable penalties that didn't exist in the old days. You know the refs are going to ruin it for somebody. Or the video review people who didn't think that Corey Perry grabbing Talbot's leg was goalie interference. I still remember that Martin Gelinas had the game winning goal in every playoff series in 2004, except the one that didn't count. It's fixed for American teams now. Watch how many PPs the Jets get in the playoffs, with one of the best PPs in the league. They managed to get 1 PP in 2 games in New York. The league doesn't want them to win, or Ottawa, so they won't. Toronto at least has a chance.

But honestly, it doesn't matter. Nashville will play Pittsburgh, and maybe Nashville wins this year, because it's good for Bettman's game when non traditional markets win. After the Jets go out, I'll be pulling for the Timberwolves.

Sure, there's no hard evidence, but the fact is that whenever the "Canada's team" narrative emerges, we see loads of Canadian fans all vigorously bashing it. Couple that with the fact that the built in rivalries among Canadian teams are oftentimes fierce, and in many scenarios you have the western fans hating the other western teams, the eastern fans hating the other eastern teams, and regularly hating everyone else all over as well. I'd say that at least that general dislike of other teams is a much more logical and easier to back standpoint than there being some kind of national undercurrent for wanting an otherwise rival to win just because they're north of the border rather than south.

And each Canadian team has a big fanbase, so when any or all of them are out you see huge hits to the ratings north of the border just as you see ratings in Chicago or New York or Philadelphia tank once their teams are out of the picture as well. That seems like a no-brainer that less Canadian teams making the playoffs equals less Canadians watching the playoffs for that very reason.

Fandom is a hard thing to have empirical datapoints for, but at least from my years watching sports and seeing other fans watching sports as well, I'd be willing to bet just about anything that in the vast majority of circumstances that there'd be more Canadians experiencing schadenfreude over the last Canadian team (that's not their own) getting eliminated versus happiness over a Canadian team (that's not their own) winning it all and ending the national drought. And, truth be told, if we see another Canadian team start to come very close to winning the Cup, I fully expect a major increase of impending doom from the other six fanbases over knowing how much gloating that they're going to have to sit through for the foreseeable future if they win.

 

[Melrose Munch]

They don't have everything in place. The key piece to every idea is this

1) Get team
2) Play in Big O till the team guilt trips city and Province to building them a new one


I have been following along every single plan that comes up and every single plan is based upon the Spos getting a new stadium in 5 years from the moment they return. MLB does not want to return the the Big O

They have a plan for a new stadium.

Help me out! @Nullus Reverentia

 

[voyageur]

Sure, there's no hard evidence, but the fact is that whenever the "Canada's team" narrative emerges, we see loads of Canadian fans all vigorously bashing it. Couple that with the fact that the built in rivalries among Canadian teams are oftentimes fierce, and in many scenarios you have the western fans hating the other western teams, the eastern fans hating the other eastern teams, and regularly hating everyone else all over as well. I'd say that at least that general dislike of other teams is a much more logical and easier to back standpoint than there being some kind of national undercurrent for wanting an otherwise rival to win just because they're north of the border rather than south.

And each Canadian team has a big fanbase, so when any or all of them are out you see huge hits to the ratings north of the border just as you see ratings in Chicago or New York or Philadelphia tank once their teams are out of the picture as well. That seems like a no-brainer that less Canadian teams making the playoffs equals less Canadians watching the playoffs for that very reason.

Fandom is a hard thing to have empirical datapoints for, but at least from my years watching sports and seeing other fans watching sports as well, I'd be willing to bet just about anything that in the vast majority of circumstances that there'd be more Canadians experiencing schadenfreude over the last Canadian (that's not their own) getting eliminated versus happiness over a Canadian team (that's not their own) winning it all and ending the national drought. And, truth be told, if we see another Canadian team start to come very close to winning the Cup, I fully expect a major increase of impending doom from the other six fanbases over knowing how much gloating that they're going to have to sit through for the foreseeable future if they win.

It's a little different up here. For Winnipeggers we went 16 years without a team. Any hockey fan at that point had to choose another team. What kept me interested in hockey was the Senators almost beating the Sabres, and Oilers monumental upset of the Stars in '97. I adopted the Habs in 200o, as a francophone I had some exposure to them, and I lived in Halifax at the time, so the games were available in French.

I would root for teams like the Hawks, when they had locals Fleury, Housley, Kidd and Arnason on their team, or the Thrashers because they had Hnidy, Vigier, and Garnet Exelby who went to my high school.
Most people hop the bandwagons though, as Toews success created a Blackhawks following in Winnipeg. Crosby and the Pens have an allegiance of followers.

But that is how Winnipeg is different. Toronto-Montreal is such an engrained rivalry of Upper and Lower Canada that no one likes both teams. It's one or the other, something like RedSox-Yankees. I imagine the same line is more or less drawn in Alberta between the Flames and Oilers. But from the outside the only team in Canada I can't pull for is the Leafs. Roch Carrier understands. I used to really hate the Oilers because they knocked the Jets out of the playoffs each year. Now I just dislike most American teams because it's convenient. Well the Ducks, that is a different story. No one in Winnipeg pulls for Corey Perry. If Teemu were still there maybe.

 

[Butch 19]

Is it already time for yet another "insecure Canadian hockey fan" thread?

Where does the time go?!

 

[powerstuck]

Every playoff season, the idea that as a Country, we need to get on the bandwagon of the "Canadian Teams" is pushed by the Canadian media. I get it. they want/need a Canadian based club going deep into the playoff, potentially even winning the cup. What I'm not buying is we need to get on the bandwagon based on geographical location. This is Club hockey, not National teams.

Let me put it this way: It's Toronto Maple Leafs or bust! I don't care about the Alberta teams, the Canucks, the red-headed step-child in the Nation's Capital ... And I would sooner cheer for a team coached by Satan with Hitler as it's First line Centre than cheer for the Montreal Canadiens.

If the Leafs are eliminated, I cheer for the Thunder Bay boys representing the city (want to win a cup, find a Lakehead boy)
Then it comes down to which teams play a style I enjoy (Speed, forecheck, Dangerous offensively -- which may include a team geographically located in Canada)

Actually, I'm intrigued and have been thinking about how great a Nashville vs Tampa Stanley Cup Final
could be. I'm thinking about how many Canadian Chest thumpers might stroke at the thought of a such a Southern USA based Stanley Cup final... and if that doesn't get them, Smarmy Gary Bettman wearing Bermuda shorts to present the cup will push them over the edge.

I don't know man !

2017 SC Finals between Penguins and Nashville drew an average of 2.67 million Canadians (Source) so roughly 7.6% of all Canadians.
Now, compare that to 4.7 millions of Americans *** see note*** (Source) or 1.44% of all Americans.

NOTE : From what I understand, the wiki source states numbers are combined for both US and CAN tv markets...so could also mean 2.6 Can + 2.1 US viewers for a total of 4.7 millions.

I don't know if Nashville vs Tampa would get less ratings in Canada, because whether you like it or not, we love hockey, and we watch hockey even if there is no home team and no ''Canadian'' team in the finals. Now I would say that Pittsburgh being in the finals last year did HELP QUITE A LOT to boost the ratings for the finals. Not sure how Pittsburgh to Tampa compares tho.

As for the media...well their bread and butter is the number of butts watching the TV. So yes it's normal that Canadian media wants us Canadians to cheer for a Canadian team as long as we want.

I mean, if a Tampa vs Nashville finals draws 2 million Canadians and 5 millions Americans...you can bet that Montreal vs Edmonton would draw 7 million Canadians and 1 million Americans. It's that...logical ?

Let me tell you one thing, individually speaking the 31 owners of current NHL franchises do not give a flying f*** where other 30 franchises are located as long THEY have on in THEIR CITY.

Now obviously, if look at it from another angle...none of them individually care if there is a team in Seattle, Huston or Phoenix. But collectively, a wider perspective if you want, they want teams in Seattle and Huston to get bigger US TV contract which leads to more money in their pockets...same goes for the media.

There is a lot of people pissed off that NBC favors Blackhawks, Penguins, Rangers, Bruins in their national telecasts...is that right or wrong I have no idea, but if they do show them more than other teams...its most likely because numbers tend to be better. Just my 2 cents...

I personally like and follow Bruins since the Nordiques left. They are the Habs biggest rivals, driving for a game or two per year isn't too much of hussle and so on.

So obviously looking like Bruins will make the playoffs, I'll cheer for them. In 2011, I was in a local bar watching the game with a buddy who is also a fan. When they won against Canucks, I looked at my friend and said : We going to the parade ? Next thing you know we slept in a hotel across form the TD garden and witnessed in person the SC parade.

But hell yeah I would love Jets to win. Just because I know the party would be as crazy as if Nordiques/Quebec City won. Jets are like our brothers hockey and its history wise.

Last year I cheered for Nashville in finals and would so again this year if Bruins don't make it, because they are a good hockey team and they do deserve to win.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

I'd still hate watch a Canadian team in the final though.

 

[MacDaddy Version 4]

Is it already time for yet another "insecure Canadian hockey fan" thread?

Where does the time go?!

More of an "instigator Canadian Media" type. The media tries to create this flag waving, bandwagon hopping frenzy. I'd like to say most fans see through it and cheer for those that represent their interest better.

 

[the4thlinegrinder]

I’m making a generalization here, but I think casual hockey fans tend to cheer for “Canada’s team” whereas more hardcore fans will either actively cheer against “Canada’s team” or cheer for them because they actually like the team in some way besides geography (skill, players, style, etc). As someone who follows hockey closely and are a fan of one particular team, why would you cheer for a rival to win, right? Whereas if you don’t take it so seriously you’re more likely to cheer for a team because they play in Canada. The rivalry factor doesn’t play into it as much. Makes sense to me anyway.

As an Oiler fan I can say with 100% certainty I will NEVER cheer for Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal. If a pair of them met in the SCF I’d probably watch the NBA Finals lol. I like Winnipeg and Ottawa as teams and also have some personal connection to both cities so I could get behind either team. I’ll probably pull for the Jets and Knights this playoff.

 

[DowntownBooster]

More of an "instigator Canadian Media" type. The media tries to create this flag waving, bandwagon hopping frenzy. I'd like to say most fans see through it and cheer for those that represent their interest better.

That shouldn't really come as a surprise. Some fans in Canada tune out once any remaining Canadian teams are eliminated from the playoffs. The Canadian media is the same when it comes to the Blue Jays in MLB and the Raptors of the NBA. It's their belief that viewership will be higher if there is a Canadian team to watch.

 

[voyageur]

Because having a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup would piss Bettman off... that's why we cheer for Canadian teams.

Winnipeg - Toronto Stanley Cup final.

I think it is more than that. The national anthem as another fan mentioned is a source of pride. It is particularly on display in international hockey. One you stop hearing "The TRUE NORTH strong and free" you know the game is on foreign land. I mean they may come in masses if their team wins, but it is not like the Red Mile or the Vancouver riots to a lesser extent. It's not a passion. They don't have that connection when the rivers freeze over every year to produce a skating rink. It's more of a pop culture phenomenon.

I'd like to see Winnipeg-Philly. Been a long time since we've seen Bobby Clarke and Ron Hextall in these parts, and it would be a homecoming for Nolan Patrick, Dale Weise, and Travis Sanheim. Ivan Provorov of sorts too.

 

[Pilky01]

I root for the city that will hold the biggest parade. That often means cheering for a Canadian team.

 

[LeHab]

It's just a lazy, easily repeated narrative that also creates an obvious Canada vs US talking point that feeds into being anti-Bettman. Meanwhile, I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of Canadian fans would root for the vast majority of American teams in any playoff matchup versus the other six teams north of the border.

The Senators were eventually eliminated by the eventual Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins, but not before sparking another edition of a popular debate centred around the idea of “Canada’s Team” and with it, a very patriotic question: How important is geography when it comes to our bandwagon allegiances?
Turns out, location really is key.
The results of an online survey conducted as part of The Canada Project to mark our nation’s 150th year revealed that 76 per cent of Canadians said they would cheer for a Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup even if it’s not the team they typically cheer for. Seven per cent said they would not root for a Canadian team that wasn’t their own, while 17 per cent said they were not hockey fans at all.
These results were fairly consistent throughout all age groups as well as regions of Canada. Ontario residents were listed as most likely to root for a Canadian team different than their own (81 per cent) while Quebecers were least likely (68 per cent).

Are we willing to embrace 'Canada's team' in hockey playoffs? - Macleans.ca

I think the whole HNIC is a powerful platform to promote the concept of Canada's team

 

[DowntownBooster]

I'd still hate watch a Canadian team in the final though.

Your avatar is a picture of Mathieu Perreault with the Quebec flag behind him. I cannot tell what your location is since it says "What's your excuse?" but based on your avatar, it would seem to indicate somewhere in Canada. Is there any particular reason you would hate to watch a Canadian team in the final? Just wondering.

 

[Wolf357]

Canadian media does and should give presidence to Canadian teams
As far as Canadians (at least here in MB) besides Jets fans of course Chicago, Boston are just as popular as Leafs and Habs.. Philly, Detroit , Pittsburgh are more popular than Edmonton , Rangers more popular than Calgary.Islanders, Colorado more popular than Canucks, Sens

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Your avatar is a picture of Mathieu Perreault with the Quebec flag behind him. I cannot tell what your location is since it says "What's your excuse?" but based on your avatar, it would seem to indicate somewhere in Canada. Is there any particular reason you would hate to watch a Canadian team in the final? Just wondering.

Sorry missed a dash there.

I would hate-watch a Canadian team in the final. (Tune in to root against them) versus just not really caring if there are 2 American teams

 

[Dan Kelly]

Every playoff season, the idea that as a Country, we need to get on the bandwagon of the "Canadian Teams" is pushed by the Canadian media. I get it. they want/need a Canadian based club going deep into the playoff, potentially even winning the cup. What I'm not buying is we need to get on the bandwagon based on geographical location. This is Club hockey, not National teams.

Let me put it this way: It's Toronto Maple Leafs or bust! I don't care about the Alberta teams, the Canucks, the red-headed step-child in the Nation's Capital ... And I would sooner cheer for a team coached by Satan with Hitler as it's First line Centre than cheer for the Montreal Canadiens.

If the Leafs are eliminated, I cheer for the Thunder Bay boys representing the city (want to win a cup, find a Lakehead boy)
Then it comes down to which teams play a style I enjoy (Speed, forecheck, Dangerous offensively -- which may include a team geographically located in Canada)

Actually, I'm intrigued and have been thinking about how great a Nashville vs Tampa Stanley Cup Final
could be. I'm thinking about how many Canadian Chest thumpers might stroke at the thought of a such a Southern USA based Stanley Cup final... and if that doesn't get them, Smarmy Gary Bettman wearing Bermuda shorts to present the cup will push them over the edge.

i never bought into this rah rah Canada bull spit either ! in 2004 i was cheering for Tampa Bay to win the cup and not Calgary and the same in 2011 when i cheered for Boston to win the cup over Vancouver. simple fact is that, even though i might hope this team or that team wins a cup if the Oilers aren't in it, i'm an Oiler fan and i don't care about any other team in the NHL nor do i care if anyone else in the NHL cheers for the Oilers.

 

[Inkling]

I'm going to disagree with the initial premise of this thread. I don't think that the media does specifically push the narrative that everyone should get behind the Canadian team. The simple fact is that once the playoffs start, the only media broadcasting NHL games is the national media, namely Sportsnet and the CBC (via Rogers). They are broadcasting to the whole country, to all seven NHL markets. They are going to serve their audience and concentrate coverage on the local teams that they broadcast to. If Winnipeg is the only team left, then everyone across the country is going to get a lot of coverage of Winnipeg because the national media is covering Winnipeg and everyone one else is just to have to like it or not watch. They will pick US-based series that have a following (Pittsburgh, Chicago) but the simple fact is that any Canadian series is going to get more eyeballs because you get the casual fans that follow the local team and die-hards in Canada that follow some US-based team will never surpass that. The broadcasters simply tailor their coverage to serve their audience and hopefully maximize ratings, but people see all this coverage of, say, Ottawa because they are the only Canadian team left, and think that they are pushing some patriotic narrative.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Honestly I hate the whole let's cheer for a Canadian team so Canada can bring back the Stanley Cup. I know that as a Leafs fan if they made the Stanley Cup Finals fans of the other six Canadian teams would want them to lose. In 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011 when the Flames, Oilers, Senators and Canucks were in the Finals I did not want them to win. Even in 2010, 2014 and 2107 when the Canadiens and Senators were in the Eastern Conference Finals I also wanted them to lose.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Sorry missed a dash there.

I would hate-watch a Canadian team in the final. (Tune in to root against them) versus just not really caring if there are 2 American teams

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[edog37]

Here’s to another 24 years of excellence in US-based teams keeping the Cup away from Canada

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Speaking as an American fan, I always laugh a bit when the Canadian media pushes a nationalist agenda when it comes to the Stanley Cup. I laugh because it's so disingenuous. Yes, Canada bands together for Olympic hockey, World Championships, World Juniors, etc., with passion and as much of a superiority complex as any MAGA-hat-wearer could muster. But when it comes to the NHL, there are just certain things you can't expect most Canadian fans to do in the name of national pride.

How, for instance, could you ask a die-hard Leafs fan to cheer on the Habs just because of the flag? Especially if that Leafs fan remembers the 1970s, when not only were the Canadiens curb-stomping every other team in the league, but they were also preening around in a sort of ice-bound manifest destiny while laughing at the Ballard-crippled Maple Leafs and condemning them as a soulless joke? How could an Oilers fan get on board the Flames' bandwagon when the intra-province rivalry is as close to bloodshed as you can get without going to jail? And what of Vancouver, who (I've been told by many die-hard Eastern Canadian fans) might as well be in the U.S. for all their lack of national relevance?

When the team is all wearing the maple leaf on their chest, sure. But get that NHL team crest on the sweater, and sayonara to "We stand on guard for thee" - some loyalties run deeper than national ones...

 

[cbcwpg]

Speaking as an American fan, I always laugh a bit when the Canadian media pushes a nationalist agenda when it comes to the Stanley Cup. I laugh because it's so disingenuous. Yes, Canada bands together for Olympic hockey, World Championships, World Juniors, etc., with passion and as much of a superiority complex as any MAGA-hat-wearer could muster. But when it comes to the NHL, there are just certain things you can't expect most Canadian fans to do in the name of national pride.

How, for instance, could you ask a die-hard Leafs fan to cheer on the Habs just because of the flag? Especially if that Leafs fan remembers the 1970s, when not only were the Canadiens curb-stomping every other team in the league, but they were also preening around in a sort of ice-bound manifest destiny while laughing at the Ballard-crippled Maple Leafs and condemning them as a soulless joke? How could an Oilers fan get on board the Flames' bandwagon when the intra-province rivalry is as close to bloodshed as you can get without going to jail? And what of Vancouver, who (I've been told by many die-hard Eastern Canadian fans) might as well be in the U.S. for all their lack of national relevance?

When the team is all wearing the maple leaf on their chest, sure. But get that NHL team crest on the sweater, and sayonara to "We stand on guard for thee" - some loyalties run deeper than national ones...

I think you would also find a difference between those who live in cities that have NHL teams and those who don't. Those who have teams of their own will probably less likely to cheer for another team once they are out of the playoffs. IE: Leaf fans cheering for Habs. But if you take places that don't have teams, you might find those people cheering for any Canadian team still in the playoffs. I found myself and others doing so for the 16 years Winnipeg didn't have a team... had to find someone to cheer for.

 

[Stumbledore]

Your avatar is a picture of Mathieu Perreault with the Quebec flag behind him. I cannot tell what your location is since it says "What's your excuse?" but based on your avatar, it would seem to indicate somewhere in Canada.

You need to go back to the Simpsons episode where the family went up to Canada to buy cheaper prescriptions. At one point, they pass a large "Welcome to Winnipeg" sign which has the inscription: "I was born here, what's your excuse?"

 

[member 157595]

I've always found it confusing when sports fans can hate a professional sports team exclusively because of the country in which the team is located.