Canada has a bad decade

A cloud descended on Vancouver Wednesday and then the damn Canucks had to go and lose.

First it was Calgary in ’04, Edmonton in ’06 and now Vancouver in “11. All of them lost in the Stanley Cup final in 7 games. We been primed with gas about how Vancouver is our team for the past 4 months of playoff hockey and again we Canadians miss out on the celebration. Except for the75% of the roster that is Canadian and who play for Boston, it has been a year of heartrending pain for Canadian teams and their fans.

Remember the World Juniors? Ouch enough said! As an Oilers fan it was downhill after 10 games, same for the Senators really. Calgary tanked at the start and couldn’t make the playoffs despite a valiant run and Toronto… well… the Leafs played better in the last 20 games but they were out of the playoffs as a Christmas present to their fans. Even Montreal, who had a great team and whose fans would usually provide a source of great happiness when an English Canadian team loses in the finals, even the Quebecois were not happy. The fans of les Habitants hate Bruins even more than Canucks.

The loss by the Canadian women in the World hockey championships to the American team for the gold medal was surprising. I expected the Men’s team we sent to the Worlds to get beat but I always thought Canadian women could kick any ass. It could be just the women I have married.

Winnipeg finally gets a franchise and they don’t get Phoenix who has been in the playoffs for the past couple of years and has all the great draft picks and prospects. For 3 years people in Winnipeg have been watching, in wonder, as the team they thought they would get be the recipient of some unbelievable lottery luck, incredible free agent signings and trades. But when the time comes to get a team, they get Atlanta who hasn’t made the playoffs in forever. The small consolation is for Leaf fans who are now not the Canadian standard for ineptitude.


It should be noted hands down as the worst year of hockey ever for Canadian fans. Except for the Stanley cup winning Canadian players, coaches, their families and groupies, about the only Canadian who slept well on Wednesday was Don Cherry. Ironic doesn’t even begin to cover it. The guy who would bleed maple leaf if you cut him is happy the Bruins won.

It is the worst year in the history of Canadian hockey and I can’t wait until training camp starts in August so we can win them all next year.