The complaining Canuckleheads

The Los Angeles Kings official twitter account, @LAKings, tweeted this after the eighth seeded Kings beat the President’s Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in Game 1: “To everyone in Canada outside of BC, you’re welcome.”

After this tweet garnered attention from national media outlets across Canada and lots of attention in the States, the Kings won 4-2 win in Game 2, to go up 2-0 in the series. They shared this gem to the digital world: “We apologize in advance for anyone this tweet offends: #LAKings lead series 2-0.”

Whether or not you think it’s a hockey team’s place to get cheeky in social media outlets is another debate for another day. But the fact is most of Canada appreciated the tweet, and seeing the Canucks lose.

Why? Because let’s face it, Canucks fans are very hard to handle. According to an article by Spike TV, Canucks fans were named as the most annoying fans in the NHL in 2009 and fifth most annoying in all of sports.

One of those reasons is how much they abuse the freedom of speech on social media outlets, like twitter. Their subjects to whine about have been large, like any of @LAKings’ tweets, not just the Game 1 and 2 comments, but refereeing in the series, Kings’ captain Dustin Brown’s need for dental work, anything really.

Event Centre funding

City may hire lobbyist for event centre money

15h ago

International honours

Raiders' Kubiesa to represent Czechia at IIHF U18 Men's World Championship

18h ago

Learn the signs

How often should you change your brakes?

22h ago

This outburst has sparked a twitter handle, @LOLVancouver, which is dedicated to retweeting all the complaints Canuckleheads have expressed on twitter. Many of the tweets cannot be repeated in this column, due to the overwhelming use of profanity, homophobic slurs and overall defamatory comments. I must admit, it is extremely amusing reading these comments.

Canuck fans have historically been very touchy on the internet, especially during the playoffs. Ex-NHLer Theo Fleury tweeted last year on his official twitter account, @TheoFleury14, predicting the Chicago Blackhawks would upset the Canucks. The Blackhawks after all was the last team Fleury played for.

Canucks fans took this especially seriously and for some reason, felt it necessary to bring up Fleury’s darkened past of alcohol and drug addiction. Some even brought up Graham James sexually abusing him as twitter-insult ammo.

Here’s two tweets appropriate enough to include. @DanArcaroOnIce tweeted: “The only thing @TheoFleury14 can predict is his next shot of whiskey.”

Another keyboard hero, @cmseahawks86, attacked Fleury in two separate tweets. “@TheoFleury14 you little crackhead (expletive) rat keep ur predictions to yourself u (expletive) (expletive). Lay off the whiskey u drunk (expletive) clown.” He later tweeted, “@TheoFleury14 cup ring??? Didnt you pawn that off for an 8ball you rat.”

We haven’t even talked about how last year the ‘fans’ treated Milan Lucic yet, a Bruin who’s originally from Vancouver. Instead of being proud of somebody actually from Vancouver to win Lord Stanley’s Mug, Canuckleheads spray-painted the church his family goes to in Burnaby, BC with graffiti.

In Game 1 in last year’s Stanley Cup finals between the B’s and the Canucks, Lucic’s elderly grandparents had popcorn and peanuts thrown on them, while his uncles had beer poured on them.

Heck, we haven’t even touched on the riots in 2011, after the Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. I was actually there for the mayhem, watching people with Canucks jerseys dance on cars, then burn them. I saw people hide their faces with Canucks flags while they looted stores and fled with Gucci bags and other expensive merchandise.

Former Canucks player and wildman Tiger Williams told the Vancouver Sun the riots ultimately ruined the Canucks for the rest of Canada.

“Unfortunately, that riot killed off any Canucks fans living east of Field, B.C.,: Williams told Post Media reporter George Johnson. “I’ve got guys in Swift Current who always cheer for Canadian teams telling me ‘I can’t . . . just ‘cause of the riot.’

What kills me is that after all of these incidences, members of the media, or even people that I discussed these events with, concluded each time “it’s only a few of the fans, you can’t judge a whole fan base for this one thing.”

They are some educated and kind fans of the Canucks, sure, but how many ‘one things’ does there have to be until the fans are accountable?

So I just lambasted an entire fan base, but as they say, don’t dish it out if you can’t take it back. So if you want to chirp me for being a lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan, feel free to lay it on me below… Maple Laughs, can’t beat the Habs, 1967, I’ve heard them all. All I ask if that you be respectful and follow our site’s commenting rules.

jdandrea@panow.com