Stanley Cup riot

[Deleted]

Just wondering -- does this surprise Canadians? I know that you are very passionate about hockey, but this does seem to be just a tad out of order.

The Vancouver Sun has some interesting photos.

[bjd]

I'm not a real Canadian but my first thought is that life is simply too comfortable in a country where the only thing to riot about is the loss of a hockey tournament.

[imec]

Surprised? No. Appalled? Yes. Pissed? EXTREMELY! Not just that theses people did this, more that it was allowed to happen. It's another symptom of ineffective policing. Vancouver police have had 17 years to figure out how to deal with this and they failed to adequately prepare. It's time police forces in Canada turned their attention to PREVENTING serious situations such as this instead of relying on improved surveillance to prosecute the perps AFTER the damage is done.

With respect to this being about hockey... That's an insult to the millions of hockey fans who simply swore and went about their normal evening routine before retiring to sleep. This was clearly started by a handful of thugs and fueled by an uncontrolled crowd of unhappy, largely inebriated people.

While I in no way condone this behaviour and am intensely embarrassed by this occurrence, I'm also keenly aware the the same thing could and does happen all over the world. EVERYWHERE has it's thugs and NO crowd has a mind - given the opportunity, the two will act as blasting cap and explosive. Canada is not the only country where sport triggered violence erupts - soccer anyone???

[fumobici]

What strikes me most about the bad behavior on display in Vancouver- which is the city closest to where I live- is the pure pointlessness of it. Does anyone think the result would have been any different if the Canucks had won? I don't. There are so many things wrong in the world that people should be upset about, and here we have an explosion of apparent discontent (or maybe just latent sociopathic pressure) over the end of a comparatively meaningless sporting event. The stupidity boggles the mind.

Alcohol + crowds + testosterone = pointless violence.

[mich64]

We were afraid this was going to happen as soon as it was decided that Vancouver was in the Stanley Cup Finals.

I actually sent a message out to one of my girlfriends who now lives in Vancouver before the game to find out where she was because I was already afraid for her safety if she was out on in the crowds as she did when we hosted the Winter Olympics. Thankfully, she was safely inside watching the game.

I am so disappointed in those who behaved so badly. There are so many devoted hockey fans that get included in this embarrassing show of poor sportsmanship. Unfortunately hooligans like to ruin any event they can. Sporting events, Political Conferences or Groups legally demonstrating draw these hooligans every time to ruin it for everyone.

Congratulations to the Boston Bruins in their win of The Stanley Cup, true hockey fans are happy for your accomplishments this season.

Mich
(an embarrassed Canadian)

[imec]

And imagine the embarrassment for the 17 Canadians out of 26 players on the Bruins...

[mich64]

Yes, Imec, it must take away a bit of their joy of their achievement. I was happy with the fans in the arena after the loss, I thought they were the true respectful fans.

Just watching it again on the news... The Police should recognize when groups show up in hooded coats/sweaters, big sunglasses and bandanas on their faces, there is going to be trouble. Just like the Black that came out of the manholes during the G8, planned violence, I cannot believe it sometimes, shocking that people think and implement these acts of violence in a Country that is so fortunate compared to others in the world.
Mich

[Deleted]

I was living in Boston in 1972 when The Boston Bruins last won the Stanley Cup and I do not recall anything of this order occurring during the celebration.
Perhaps, it's a sign of the times. It's almost as though this is an expectation somehow,and indeed the police should be well prepared in advance for this.
I know that the one thing New Orleans Police know how to do,and that is crowd control dealing with inebriated out of order miscreants. Mardi Gras being a prime example of an occasion for this behavior to potentially happen.
I have only to been to one hockey game in my life and while it had it's moments of excitement, the sight of blood on the ice when a scuffle broke out, turned me off completely.

[Deleted]

My whole point of asking the question was precisely because even though it is quite common in certain countries of the world for this sort of thing to happen, I do not think it is a common occurrence in Canada, so I am a bit perplexed about what could have started it. For example, were all of the rioters Canadian or might some of them come across a nearby border?

In Paris, we have incidents, but generally only when the Paris and Marseille football teams play against each other, and the 'riots' have always been around the stadium ('Parc des Princes'), never 'downtown'. In recent years, there have been no more incidents because all of the Marseille supporters are obliged to take the same train and ride the same buses and be channeled between walls of riot police. ("Are we having fun yet?") Same thing for the exit from the match.

Nevertheless, anybody who follows European football know that certain matches are played in empty stadiums, no spectators allowed. Creepy but apparently necessary.

[mich64]

I do not believe this type of behaviour is quite common in Canada. In Montreal there have been problems in the past as well when their team does not do well, but these few incidents over many many years of competitive sports in Canada are the very few incidents that occur.

There is absolutely no reason for this type of behaviour, no excuses. The recent reporting is that 100 people were arrested. The Police Chief reports that about a dozen Police officers were injured, one receiving 14 stitches to close an injury he sustained from a hooligan throwing a brick at him. Purely disgusting. Apparently the City of Vancouver has been dealing with a group of individuals that seem intent on causing distruction. I am sure the Police did the best they could, how do you prepare for something like this?

I have not heard if their were others involved besides Canadians but I doubt that was the issue. Hopefully we will hear more arrests being made in the coming days as the Police are examining visually recoreded material.

Thugs and hooligans, just terrible for the true fans and for the City of Vancouver.

[fumobici]

[lagatta]

A reporter said that the core of the hooligans were already well into their cups before the match even got underway.

I certainly don't think it is specifically Canadian and remember moments of fear when there were important football games in Europe. There were racist killings, random killings, and a group of thugs that deliberately killed a police officer.

That is unfortunate casimira as hockey can be a beautiful game, combining grace and power. I get the idea that authorities thought they had controlled the worst problems by imposing protective wear, but with the demographic in question on the ice and outside the arenas, there is compensation.

[Deleted]

Is unemployment up in the Vancouver area? Have there been any ethnic clashes of importance? I haven't been there for at least 10 years, so I don't know how the city has evolved. Or was the timing just off -- hockey match coinciding with the end of the school year or something like that?

[lagatta]

There are certainly economic problems for many people in Vancouver, due to the extremely high cost of housing (by Canadian standards). But typically violence by so-called "fans" at sporting events is not produced by the disaffected or discriminated. Sociological studies have shown (duh) that the perps tend to be young white men, fuelled by high levels of alcohol consumption, groupthink and testosterone.

You are correct that the hockey season, like many other professional sport seasons, has become absurdly long. Remember, it is a winter sport, eh? I can remember thinking it very strange that the finals stretched to May Day. Now into mid-June.

[Deleted]

fumobici's picture made me wonder - so here are the couple telling us what it was all about

video.ca.msn.com/watch/video/kissing-couple-speaks/16ayhbfv9?from=en-ca-hpquad

[Deleted]

I read an article explaining the photo the other day as well since so many people thought it was 'posed.'

[lagatta]

One extremely disturbing facet of the riot was that some of the yahoos deliberately beat up LGBT people in the Gay Village (Vancouver is an important centre for gay life, like SF, Amsterdam, Barcleona etc). They broke gay people's teeth and otherwise mistreated them.

[mich64]

Kerouac was that photo not posed? I though definetly it was either posed or edited.
Mich

[mich64]

Kerouac, I was just listening to the news and they report that indeed it was an actual event. The young man came to his girlfriends aid after she fell and then shared a tender moment with her. They cannot believe that this happened and are embarrassed at how something so revealing is on the internet for everyone to see. I now think it is an incredible fact that the picture was captured.
Cheers,
Mich

[mich64]

I should have scrolled up further and seen Deyana's post with the actual interview with the couple, old news. Sorry, have not been focusing lately.
Cheers,
Mich

[Deleted]

The picture really was cool. I did not manage to watch the video when I saw that it lasted 13 minutes -- the event itself was worth maybe 2 minutes of commentary, so I can't imagine what they said in all that time.

[Deleted]

I agree, it was a very cool picture.

Lagatta, I hadn't heard about the beating up of gay people. Just awful. Vancouver has always been a very gay friendly city, I'm surprised.

[Deleted]

I saw that "the photo" has now gone viral on the internet -- the couple is seen embracing on the moon, in Baghdad with the Saddam Hussein statue about to fall on them, on sports fields, during the Tiananmen Square events in Beijing... you name it -- they are everywhere.