[Article] It’s about time the Vancouver Canucks were hateable again

[RWJC]

It’s about time the Vancouver Canucks were hateable again

 

Stephan Roget

 

Over the past days, weeks, and months, the Vancouver Canucks have added quite a bit to their NHL roster. And we don’t just mean the players themselves, but those players’ qualities and attributes, too.

Penalty killing. Defensive acumen. Speed. Physicality.

 

There’s a lot that the Canucks have now that they didn’t have before. Including one trait that won’t show up in a stat column, or a post-game recap, or most scouting reports. A truly intangible characteristic that might not even technically be a word in the English language:

Hateability.

 

It’s about time that the Canucks were hateable again. And thanks to a handful of those recent-ish additions, they are.

 

But before we look at the current roster’s ability to make the blood of their opponents boil, let’s take a look at the past. Because being “hateable” is usual not considered a positive thing, but it has traditionally been a big component of the best moments in franchise history.

 

The 2011 Era is the high-water mark in Canucks hockey for many fans, and that team was absolutely loaded up with agitators, troublemakers, and straight-up pricks.

 

There was Ryan Kesler. Alex Burrows. Maxim Lapierre. Tanner Glass. Raffi Torres. Keith Ballard. Even Kevin Bieksa used to be despised by plenty of the same folks around the league that now cheer him on as a SportsNet analyst.

 

This abhorredness wasn’t just a sideshow, coincidence, or indirect result of playstyle, either, and it certainly wasn’t a detriment. It was at the center of Canucks hockey at the time, and it made the team incredibly difficult to play against on a nightly basis. On many occasions, opposing teams wanted to beat the Canucks up more than they wanted to beat them, and it showed on the scoreboard.

 

Speaking of which, long-term Vancouverite fans know the score. The rest of Canada, and even many American fans, are going to hate on the Canucks, anyway. For whatever reason, this is just a franchise that sticks under the saddle of other organizations like a burr (pun intended.) So, if the Canucks are going to be hated leaguewide no matter what they do, why not lean into it a little bit. It worked in 2011, and it can work again.

 

The list of celebrated shift disturbers goes back far longer than twelve years ago, too. Names like Jarkko Ruutu, Matt Cooke, Antoine Roussel, Esa Tikkanen, Dave “Tiger” Williams, Hilliard Graves. Heck, even Gino Odjick was as much an agitator as he was an enforcer, he was just of the rare variety that can both start stuff and finish it…

 

Link to rest of article:

https://canucksarmy.com/news/about-time-vancouver-canucks-hateable-again

[Chickenspear]

[420Fish]

Oh man, this reads like a first draft of ideas for the high school sports section.

[Goal_thecup]

22 minutes ago, 420Fish said:

Oh man, this reads like a first draft of ideas for the high school sports section.

Yeah, if Roget doesn't know if its a word or not...

[Phil_314]

Lafferty, Soucy, Cole, Hronek, Hoglander, Friedman, Joshua... that's largely fringe guys (besides the two top-4 D).  We've got a ways to go before we get to the Cup run teams (Miller could probably largely do what Kesler did, but we don't have a Burrows or Bieksa who are both chippy and key parts of the identity [Hronek's also not consistently punishing guys].  Petey's probably ahead of where Hank was even when #33 counter-hit guys but he can only do so much himself).  Myers, while tough, needs to first learn how to defend properly.  Hopefully we can trade out a Garland/ Beauvillier to add some sandpaper, as long as the returning player isn't a D-bag who rubs his own teammates the wrong way.  Would've been nice if we could've kept Pearson for that particular reason, he's a bit more of a grizzled veteran who is still capable and also physical.  It's tough to expect much in this department from most of the skilled guys, so that just might not be our identity anymore, at least not now, and even the likes of Blueger/ Suter etc. don't have much pugilism experience on their fight cards.  

[RWJC]

Agreed, I was merely posting for the idea behind his thoughts. If we had a few more pests that could draw penalties like Lafferty or potentially Friedman, that means more PP time and we’re petty potent that way

[DSVII]

Never forget the local media completely betrayed the team in 2011's national hate narrative campaign on the Nucks

[Brad Marchand]

Nonsense, the Canucks are already plenty hated - by their own fans.

[Goal_thecup]

14 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Agreed, I was merely posting for the idea behind his thoughts. If we had a few more pests that could draw penalties like Lafferty or potentially Friedman, that means more PP time and we’re petty potent that way

It is a fun article but I think he was reaching too far for his thesaurus, trying too hard to make his Hateability schtick stick.

There are a number of us who bemoaned the devolution of abrasiveness and physicality on the Canucks who like hearing the old raspy names again.

One of the most successful "agitators" of the last decade is that excremental ejaculation of nose pus, Brad Fuck.

I like management's acquisitions of Lafferty and Friedman and even more the implications for future improvements.

Thanks R-Dub-Ya

[Barn Burner]

13 minutes ago, Brad Marchand said:

Nonsense, the Canucks are already plenty hated - by their own fans.

So's Brad Marchand. 

[Riddikulus]

I think we are missing that player that's going be a pest. Garland has called himself a rat but he is too small to do it effectively. Myers has had a few moments here and there but I don't think there was any real intent there. Wish we had a Tkachuk/Marchand type player even if that player wasn't as good. I would take third liner or a third pairing defenseman with those attributes. 

[Nucker67]

Miller, Blueger, Soucy and Friedman is a good start. Need more from Joshua and Myers.

[Drive-By Body Pierce]

We need a stubborn French Canadian to just piss off American players who can't understand what they're saying, Burrows style.

[Sabrefan1]

That's a bit ego-centric.  Fans of other teams have no reason to like or dislike the Canucks or really even think about them.  Unfortunately people are apathetic to mediocre teams.

 

When the Canucks become good again, that's when Canucks fans can revel and bathe in the hate while drinking other team fan's tears.

 

It's the harsh reality of sports.  Nobody cares, one way or the other, about the bad teams except for their own fans.

[RWJC]

1 minute ago, Drive-By Body Pierce said:

We need a stubborn French Canadian to just piss off American players who can't understand what they're saying, Burrows style.

What about some English/Finnish hybrid jibberish too…some Jarko Ruutu or Esa Tikkanen style nonsense 

 

 

https://www.timesonline.com/story/sports/2008/04/22/pens-ruutu-is-like-nails/18375259007/

 

 

This article ranks Ruutu as the Nux #1 agitator of all time. Some good company there though:

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-top-five-agitators-all-time/

[Miss Korea]

3 hours ago, RWJC said:

Agreed, I was merely posting for the idea behind his thoughts. If we had a few more pests that could draw penalties like Lafferty or potentially Friedman, that means more PP time and we’re petty potent that way

 

We have a pest who plays hard, has skill and is excellent at drawing penalties.

 

But he is on the verge of getting traded away because he isn't fitting into Tocchet's system.  Maybe he is too short for his liking.

 

[Drive-By Body Pierce]

1 hour ago, RWJC said:

What about some English/Finnish hybrid jibberish too…some Jarko Ruutu or Esa Tikkanen style nonsense 

 

 

https://www.timesonline.com/story/sports/2008/04/22/pens-ruutu-is-like-nails/18375259007/

 

 

This article ranks Ruutu as the Nux #1 agitator of all time. Some good company there though:

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-top-five-agitators-all-time/

 

Love it! ...I am good with either, or both!!!

[Drive-By Body Pierce]

1 hour ago, RWJC said:

What about some English/Finnish hybrid jibberish too…some Jarko Ruutu or Esa Tikkanen style nonsense 

 

 

https://www.timesonline.com/story/sports/2008/04/22/pens-ruutu-is-like-nails/18375259007/

 

 

This article ranks Ruutu as the Nux #1 agitator of all time. Some good company there though:

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-top-five-agitators-all-time/

 

 

[Mando27]

Those were good times

[John.Tallhouse]

[Whaleroad Train]

I'm sorry but I refuse to hate this team.