Can Toronto bring itself to cheer for the Habs?
“No born-and-bred Torontonian and Maple Leafs fan can cheer for the Canadiens,” a friend told us on Wednesday night as we walked with her to watch the Pittsburgh-Montreal game at an Annex bar. And yet, once we got there, we didn’t see a single Penguins—or even Sidney Crosby—jersey. When the Canadiens captured the series, we even heard “Olé! Olé! Olé!” bounce off the framed Leafs jerseys on the wall. Our pal sat glumly as everyone else celebrated.
Can Hogtown really get behind these Habs? Past the bad blood? Is this city really that desperate for some hockey glory? Can Leafs nation cover this up by saying, “We’re just supporting the Canadian-with-an-‘A’ team”? Can Torontonians just cheer for the Rexdale rookie and Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban?
Or will we show some conviction here and just ignore the Canadiens?
Never mind that they’re playing gutsy, all-out hockey—the kind we’d kill to see the Leafs play for just one game. Never mind that they’re classic underdogs. Never mind that they’re obviously fooling around with destiny. And never mind that Montrealers would never, ever, get behind the Leafs. Ever.
You see, for the city’s hockey scribes, a good story is a good story. Toronto sports writers are dusting off their best rhyming nicknames for Les Habitants (“Fab Habs”) and deploying such overstatements as “miracle” and “dream.”
And with every Canadiens win, the Leafs get razzed. The Star’s Andrew Chung reports from Montreal’s riotous streets: “Evan Martow, a Torontonian who was born in Montreal, said he’s never seen the kind of team spirit in Hogtown. ‘People here support the team regardless of how they’re doing.’” Even CBC Radio’s The Current repeatedly knocked the Leafs during a segment about how to keep offices productive during the NHL playoffs, noting that the tips applied only theoretically to Toronto.
So, Montreal, not that you care, but we guess we’re watching. Just please understand that it hurts a little.
• Hockey joy turns to violence in wake of Canadiens’ victory [Toronto Star]
• Fab Habs bounce the Penguins [Toronto Star]
They wouldn’t be watching the Leafs
Leafs who???
Oh HELL naw, I could never EVER cheer for the *huuuuuuuck tooey* Habs, no more than I could ever cheer for the *double huuuuck toooey* Sens.
This girl bleeds blue and white. I would rather see Chicago take it before them. After all their team Captain is one of our golden boys, and if I’m not mistaken, there are more Canadian boys on other team’s rosters in the post-season, than there are on the Canadiennes (did I mention *huck tooey*?). Which begs the question, it’s no news flash that the majority of Quebecers hate Canada, so why then I wonder is their team called the Canadians/Canadiennes (*ht*). Ah, the things that make you go hmmm.
Nope, no bandwagon for me…not cheering for anyone really, just don’t want to see it in the hands of the antichrist :)
Slow day/month at the office? Nothing to report on? I’ve seen many of these non-thought-provoking articles about how Leaf fans are cheering for the Habs, if they should or not, implications, etc. These are quite possibly some of the dumbest articles ever written. True fans stick to their team, win or loss. End of story. Now stop with these meaningless articles and move onto some real news.
Normally I would think die-hard leaf fans can cheer for the canadiens now that the leafs are out of it. I’m a huge leafs fan for life and I love the history and tradition of both the leafs and canadiens. I’ve noticed that very few leaf fans have involved themselves in the team enough to learn the history of our team and to know that the leafs franchise originated as a spin-off of the canadiens franchise. I normally think of this rivalry as one of mutual respect based on a long storied tradition of great hockey.
Problem is that the canadiens have assembled a roster or trash-talking, dirty little players in recent years that have caused me to turn against them in almost all situations. So there is no way on God’s green earth that I will be cheering for the canadiens this playoffs.
Toronto: 11 Stanley Cups, not counting two won before its franchise adopted the Maple Leafs name. Last Stanley Cup: 1967. Longest Stanley Cup streak: 3 (1947, 1948, 1949, and 1962, 1963, 1964).
Montreal: 24 Stanley Cups, including one won two years prior to the formation of the National Hockey League. Last Stanley Cup: 1993. Longest Stanley Cup streak: 5 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960).
The Canadiens are capable of independent thought, whereas the Maple Leafs endorse obligatory tobacco consumption by age 14.
Name two ways the Maple Leafs name was tailor-made for Toronto: They move at half the speed of cryogenically frozen pancake syrup and rot like decaying vegetation.
Bottom line: Fuck Toronto. Go Montreal!