“A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” — Winston Churchill
Churchill gives us a simple, but dead-on accurate description of a committed sports fan, and I like to think, a dedicated Montreal Canadiens fan.
Habs’ devotees immerse themselves in their team in a way that is unequaled in the NHL. 21,273 fans pack the Bell Centre for every game, including the pre-season. Canadiens’ fans travel by the thousands to attend road games in many cities including New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
While the dedication to the team strikes many as rather impressive, others are simply envious.
On Saturday night, Canadiens’ fans converged on Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (capacity 16,297). While media estimates vary, most reports seem to agree that approximately 7,000 were in attendance for the game between the Islanders and the Canadiens, with two-thirds being Habs’ supporters.
The locals blame the poor attendance on a major snowstorm that hit the eastern United States. While it’s true that about 28 centimeters of snow fell on the Long Island area, as mentioned in my game review, “the Islanders haven’t exactly been spinning the turnstiles on clear nights.”
Well, it seems that the enthusiastic ‘invasion’ didn’t sit well with at least one Islander’s fan. His name is Dave, and he is Columnits[sic]/Host of Isles Fan Reaction for Islanders Hockey Blog. Dave was motivated to write an article titled “Hockey’s Worst Fans… By Far.”
* Note: The article has now been removed from the blog. If you wish to read the full text, you will find it below at the end of this piece.*
I have been invited by the blog’s editor, Christian, to respond.
As you read Dave’s article, it won’t take you long to figure out that he is not impressed with Canadiens’ fans. “Sensible people like you and I know it, Leafs and Senators fans know it best, that the Montreal Canadiens have the most uncivil, the most insolent fans in the National Hockey League,” writes Dave.
But tell us what you really think, Dave.
He continues, “What infuriates me about these boorish, disrespectful, excuses-for-canadian-citizens is that they have the audacity to saunter into which ever arena they’re in (the Coliseum in our case) like they own the place.”
My glib response is: that’s what happens when you abandon your home arena! My second response is to note that while Dave is calling Habs’ fans disrespectful, he has chosen not to capitalize the word “Canadian.” Proof that his shift key works comes a few words later when he types “Coliseum.”
A more thoughtful response begins by noticing that Dave is expressing his outrage using very strong language. You can almost feel the pain in his words as if he has been terrorized by the experience of being intimidated by being in the Islander minority of fans at Nassau Coliseum.
I was almost ready to sympathize until I realize that Dave is writing his article from the safe confines of his computer chair in Florida. Somehow his outrage is becoming more hollow.
Dave is upset by the reaction to the U.S. national anthem writing about “thunderous booing.” There have been incidents at the Bell Centre in the past where the anthem has not received the respect it deserves. Regular readers of All Habs will know that I have an unblemished record of expressing my extreme displeasure for such conduct.
While I heard both anthems played, I didn’t hear anything resembling “thunderous booing.” But while we’re on the subject, I do find it somewhat disrespectful that both anthems were not treated in an equal manner. The Canadian anthem was played by the organists while a children’s choir performed the US. anthem. However, it was heartening to hear the voices of the Canadiens’ fans filling the void.
Apparently Dave was not so enthused with the singing voices of Habs’ fans complaining about the chants of ‘Go Habs Go’ and ‘O-le, O-le.’ He may have missed the chorus of ‘Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye’.
I really don’t know how to respond to that except with mild amusement. Hockey games are not golf, nor group meditation, Dave.
Reading his last paragraph, I quickly move from being amused to shaking my head. Claiming that tour coach buses from Quebec park “wherever it so pleases them” is just nonsense. The ‘keep your provincial flag at home’ comment is juvenile. I don’t know what it says about his level of linguistic tolerance that he is offended when “They yell to each other, … in french.” (In future, use the shift key on ‘French’ too.)
Dave also went out of his way to link the Canadiens’ fans at the Nassau Coliseum to thugs who instigated a riot on April 21, 2008 in downtown Montreal. Dave writes,”we must remember these are the fans that burn POLICE CARS after a first-round playoff victory.” Not that facts seem very important to Dave, but the truth is that the riots on that date began more than two hours after the end of the hockey game, and were led by a small group of organized vandals, not Canadiens’ fans.
Let’s not be under illusions that any fan base is exempt from groups of boorish, ignorant people. I believe that the best method of curbing their poor behaviour is for all of us to speak out (or write) about our own when we see it happening.
While Dave may be upset that Islanders fans were in the minority at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night, his anger is misdirected. He should consider that Habs’ fans in attendance were not only from Quebec. The Montreal Canadiens have fans throughout the New York area in large numbers. They could be friends, neighbours and co-workers.
But shouldn’t Dave’s emotions be directed at the apathy of fellow Islanders’ fans? Isn’t buying tickets the simplest way to limit the voices of your opposition?
Some will once again raise the snow storm as an excuse for poor attendance. To that I say, if Montreal shutdown every time the city got 20-30 cm. of snow… To which some Islanders’ supporters will counter, ‘but we don’t have a mass transit system like Montreal.’ Neither does Ottawa or Edmonton.
Unfortunately the explanations sound more like excuses. And let’s not forget that Canadiens’ fans from Montreal had the inconvenience of a 1,200 km. round trip to see the game.
In addition, as mentioned earlier, attendance issues in Long Island are not a one-game phenomenon. Even buoyed by the sales to Canadiens’ fans, the Islanders rank 29th in the league in average attendance in 2009-2010. Montreal ranks first.
These figures seem to challenge Dave’s closing statement, “It’s undisputed, The Montreal Canadiens have the WORST FANS IN HOCKEY.”
If Dave doesn’t appreciate the statistical evidence, then perhaps he will be interested in a recently published article by Forbes magazine who ranked NHL fans. In their estimation, based on last season’s calculations of attendance, merchandise and TV viewship, Canadiens’ fans ranked fourth in the league.
Undisputed? I think not.
Instead of misplaced and sometimes immature criticism, there could be an opportunity to borrow from the playbook of one of the NHL’s most successful franchises and brands. Dave, I suggest that you wish for the day when your fans will travel cross country in numbers to show their love for the Islanders.
A closing note to Christian at Islanders Hockey Blog: Thank you for the invitation to respond to Dave’s article. All Habs welcomes opportunities to work with bloggers from other NHL teams. I commend you for reaching out.
(Photo credit: AP)
The following is the full, unedited text that appeared on Islanders Hockey Blog:
Islanders Hockey Blog: Hockey’s Worst Fans… By Far
It’s undisputed, The Montreal Canadiens have the WORST FANS IN HOCKEY.
Rocket, I'm really happy you had the chance to expose this. It saddens me that in this day and age people are still stereotypical and discriminatory to groups they don't call their own. Fandom aside, this "article" is completely biased against Canadians AND French Canadians, against Quebec, and against Montreal. It disgusted me to be honest. Especially, since most if not all of "Dave"'s arguments were completely invalid.
"the 6,000+ of them who seemed to be in large patches of the stands rather than widely spread out " … A. calling a group "them" already gives the sentence a discriminatory tone… and B. saying that they were in large patches as opposed to being widely spread out… That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. I don't see the point at all… even if they did all "decide" to sit together (which generally when buying tickets is impossible to do (when there are 6000 people)) who cares? What does that have to do with anything?
"boorish, disrespectful, excuses-for-canadian-citizens" – he has the "audacity" to call us "disrespectful"?!?!? This sentence is so horrifically rude that I can't even think of a better term to describe it.
Then he says that the garbage is the Habs fans fault… and he lives in Florida, so clearly he wasn't there watching them litter, if that even was the case.
"Flags with their team's logo on them are ok, but a number of fans flagrantly waving the flag of the province of Quebec? That's crossing the line! Go back if you like it so much! Don't come to the U.S. and give your fellow countrymen in Ontario or British Colombia a bad rep here because you're a boorish pig!" This was the last straw for me… I could barely finish the article after this… but I did and found this little gem:
"They come in on a coach bus, (parking wherever it so pleases them), walk out nonchalantly with their Patrick Roy jerseys and all."
Again a jab at Francophones or Quebecers or Canadians, or all of the above, I don't even know anymore.
I tend to be an easy-going person. I don't get mad that often, but this guy is ridiculous. I feel bad that he is this way, I really do. I know that there is freedom of the expression, but I mean come on, this show of intolerance is so offensive and repulsive.
People need to realize that discriminatory remarks such as these do nothing but tear people apart. Hockey should be something that brings people together. Discrimination has no place here.
An interesting addition to Dave's article (reiterating the point that it could have been written in Florida): I once flew to NY (5585 km (3471 miles)) for a Habs game on the Island and one at MSG. In the Coliseum, my wife and I were sitting behind a lovely gentleman fan of the Islanders whose only words I could hear throughout the game were "Kill the French". There was an additional word in his battle cry, but I have chosen not to repeat it here. Such a pleasure to have been in his company during the on ice contest between two teams that were predominantly made up of anglos and non-French Europeans.
No doubt he is not typical of Islanders fans. But he has tainted my image of them. I assume Dave's image of Canadiens fans has been tainted by a similar lout. They are, after all, out there in all walks of society. Bad apples spoiling the bunch. There are many more good apples in each bunch – the Habs bunch being the larger by far.
Dave's angry post cannot be taken seriously in the least.
Seems to me that if you are going to open the doors for thousands of out of town fans to invade your arena, you deserve to be taken over! Snowstorm? Give me a break. Why don't the fans get themselves to the arena and put down some cash for a seat or two?
To his second point, I don't recall hearing any "thunderous booing" of the anthem, nor do I recall seeing any online chatter about that during the game. I don't doubt for a second that a couple idiots among the Canadiens fans were booing. It would not be the first, 2nd or 10th time. You'll find a couple of knuckleheads in any large group, regardless of where they're from, and I hope that someone; Habs or Isles fan punched them in the throat.
To learn that Dave was safely ensconced in sunny Florida while his team was being beaten somehow also subtracts a massive piece of his credibility. But let's not the facts get in the way of a mediocre and xenophobic rant. Perhaps if the Islanders and the body that runs the Nassau Coliseum feel the same way Dave does, they can reimburse all the money the Canadiens' fans sunk in to beer/food/merchandise from that night. I thought not.
From there Dave devolves to parking space babble and nonsensical flag waving blatherings. Again, if Dave is so anti-Quebec, maybe he should mobilize some local Floridians to evict all the Quebecois and the dollars they inject into Florida's coffers during the winter. Again, I thought not.
If anything, the Isles nation should be grateful that the Habs faithful helped avoid what would have been another attendance embarrassment for the Islanders. Remove the Habs fans from the building, and they'd be lucky to have 3,000 warm bodies in the building. Snowstorm or not, that's dismal. And we all recall how Americans loved making fun of the Expos for having similar numbers.
Seems to me that Dave's scattered-thought post is a petulant fan's displeasure at another one of his team's losses and needs a new angle to rant on.
Instead of focusing on the Islanders on-ice product, he chooses to stomp his feet and hold his breath because Montrealers rolled in to town and took over the arena. I'm sure if we ask Charles Wang, he wouldn't care who's in the arena, as long as the cash is flowing from the wallets to the cash registers.
His claim that the Canadiens have by far the worst fans in the NHL is laughable. The statistics are there for anyone to see. The Canadiens lead in attendance and have fans everywhere. If that qualifies as "worst fans" then the NHL is in even deeper trouble than ever.
What's most unfortunate is that Dave's voice is being published on a blog where otherwise smart Islanders fans reside. While Islanders fans may not fill the arena, we have been fortunate enough to connect with many awesome Islanders fans on other blogs and especially on twitter. Their contributions to hockey discussions is always thoughtful and always on point. But this? I don't even know where to categorize this. It's false. It's lazy. It's ignorant.
At some level I can understand being upset about having the opposing team outnumber you at home. I've been in that situation before and it's not fun in the least (the solution is pretty simple though: show up to the game!). However, the discriminatory remarks really infuriates me. This is not the first time that I've heard anti-Canadian and/or anti-Quebec comments coming from opposing fans. These attacks are completely uncalled for. Like Kelly said, these type of comments only serve to tear people apart and they should have no place here.
I used to attend Expos games when the Blue Jays/Yankees/RedSox/Mets came to town, and in those games their fans took over. It's annoying, but like you said, the answer is more locals buying tickets.
We have seen plenty of anti-Canada and especially anti-Quebec/French stuff out there, both from the U.S. and our own fellow Canadians. It's divisive and stupid, and when guys like Don Cherry are leading the charge, it's not likely to go away any time soon.
Holiday Greetings,
I wonder if the Floridian NYI blogger considered the possibility that Canadien fans may not live in Quebec, or even Canada? During my 35+ years attending sporting events in person, the worst fans actually do not attend games. From my perspective, an Native-born American citizen living on the Gulf Coast (I live in Louisiana), Montreal fans are the most loyal of all fans in the league. With a team that is suspect at best, HabsNation shelled out hundreds of thousands of badly needed ticket dollars to help stem the flow of red ink in Uniondale. Can Ottawa fans or Toronto fans match this? Dare I say not?
Tonight, with my wife, this American citizen will be in Atlanta cheering wildly for his Canadian-based team after driving seven hours to reach the arena.
Go Habs Go!
We got to and back from the game safely.
Habs fans were definitely dominating – visually and vocally. It was a sea of red sweaters chanting Go Habs Go so loudly that even our friends' son, wearing an Isles jersey, started repeating it.
Few tidbits from the restrooms (always the best source of info):
1. From the ladies room: an Isles fan walks into the room filled with red sweaters "Wow, I think I'm in the wrong place", followed by "I'd rather be surrounded by 5000 Habs fans than 500 Rangers fans – you guys are nice and fun".
2. From the men's room: one Isles fan to the other "man, I thought we were driving out to LI, not MTL".
I have got to go to a game in MTL (maybe my secret Santa will get me tickets).
Islanders Hockey Blog and Dave did in no way mean to offend any one from Canada or the Province of Canada. Islanders Hockey Blog respects all 30 NHL teams, their fans and their cities. While it sucks when teams lose having visiting fans in your own arena can make it extra painful, but that in no way means any one should go out and disrespect other people over it. Most of the Canadiens' fans i have encountered over the Internet or in person at the Isles/Habs game were insightful and nice overall people. Of course like any thing you always will have a few bad apples in the bunch. We do apologize for anything said that may have been taken offensively or disrespectful. I would also hope that people will give Dave a second chance since he is very insightful about Islanders and NHL hockey, I mean every one makes a mistake or speaks from emotion and everyone deserves a second chance.
NOW LETS GET BACK TO HOCKEY TALK!
My article regarding the Habs fans at Saturday night's game was not meant to be an attack on the City of Montreal, the Province of Quebec or Canada as a whole. Much to my displeasure, this one article has spiraled out of control and came back to hit Islanders Hockey Blog in the behind. My comments were harsh, and I regret them. However you cannot bypass the utter rudeness and incivility portrayed by a number of knucklehead Canadiens fans not just on Saturday night, but on a game by game basis. It's true that you find these knuckleheads in any fan base, heck, I've seen a few Islander fans that are like that. It's truly unfortunate to see my story being flipped on its head and used to call me an "stereotypical, ethnocentric american". I can assure you I have nothing against Canadians, French Canadians or anything of the sort. Nor do I have anything against the fan base of the Montreal Canadiens. Stories like the aforementioned article are a rarity here at the Islanders Hockey Blog. That is NOT what I am here for. I am a blogger, not a chauvinistic american pig. I have since posted a disclaimer on the article to prevent any further ill-natured responses. I am sorry again to the right minded Habs fans who were offended by my article and I thank those of you who expressed your thoughts on the article through your intelligent comments. Intellectuals like you are the reasons why I feel the need to write this lengthy apology. On behalf of Christian and myself, I hope that we can put this behind us and move on with our blogging lives.
Dave, I commend you for showing up to state your case, and clarify your position, but I also challenge you to show some examples of the "utter rudeness and incivility portrayed by a number of knucklehead Canadiens fans…" that you talk about.
Further, I would challenge you to prove that these knuckleheads are any different from those of another team with a major following. I submit that the sheer number of Habs fans at any given rink give the appearance of rudeness. Nobody would notice if 5 isolated Habs fans were having fun, or being rowdy. Change that number to 500, and now you have a mob of fans where the volume is higher.
Anyway, there are no hard feelings. When Leafs fan come to Montreal, I want to punt them all through the roof, so I understand that it's annoying to see "your house" swarmed by the enemy. It's not natural to enjoy that sort of thing.
To whom it may concern,
The article entitled "Hockey's Worst Fans…By Far" has been removed from the Islanders Hockey Blog, and you have my word that you will never see anything of the sort from us again.
Sincerely,
Christian and Dave
Say what you will, this little Islanders article works miracles. After reading it, I, a German living in Poland, started to think in French.
But seriously, I was at TorTor in Toruń last week for a game between the local TKH and Stoczniowiec Gdańsk. I remember hearing some weak "Toruń, Toruń, Toruń!", but mostly "RKS Gdańsk!". I glanced at the Gdańsk sector- and they had a flag which read: "Witajcie w Stoczni!" (Welcome to the Shipyard!). And there I thought, yes, I came to TorTor, but I ended in Gdańsk. A sad thing, but entirely natural. No one even imagined to be so pissed, even though they boo'ed our city anthem. (We'd do the same if we went to, par example, Bytom. I woudn't do it, my friends wouldn't do it, it would just happen).
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