I guess for me, I have no problems cheering for Eastern conference teams.
Flames are obviously my favourite and pretty much all my next favourites are Eastern teams because they aren’t really a rival outside of two games a year and, in the event it happens, once we reach the Cup finals.
I will always hate TB but outside them I generally like most Eastern teams. There are some like Columbus, Buffalo and NJ that I don’t really care about but the rest I have varying amounts of fondness for.
IMO the best part of the traditional conference setup is I can follow half the league without strong convictions about any of the teams and kinda pick who I like each year.
Typically Philly has been my 2nd favorite team but Ottawa is starting to grow on me.
The best part of the Canadiens making the Finals is that now every Canadian team (except Winnipeg which doesn't count) has made a Finals appearance more recently than the Leafs have won a single playoff series. So big time LOL to that.
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I think you have to cheer for Montreal here (or you don't, I actually don't care), but for me:
- They're clearly the most historic and iconic Canadian team
- They're miles more loveable than Vegas (dumb bandwagon team), and Tampa (dumb loser team)
- The Islanders are neat and all but nobody cares about the Islanders
- Montreal winning would please Montreal and the many Montreal fans across Canada, and we could join in their joy for a day, or two. It would also upset Toronto, which is a positive.
- Tampa winning would please no one and primarily upset Calgary, clearly the worst option
- Islanders winning would also please no one, but upset no one, it will be like the Stanley Cup was never awarded at all (maybe good or bad)
- It's nice to see elite guys who have been at it forever finally get a cup (Price, Weber)
- Montreal is clearly the best city in Canada
- French Canadians can be a delight
- The notion that they riot after wins is funny
These are too good to choose just one.
No, no wait. This calls for a video.
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There are two common denominators here, one is people from Quebec, the other is you.
When everyone else is unlikeable, it's more than likely you, not them.
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My 6 years in Sherbrooke and Lennoxville was a mixed bag of cruel snooty francophones and extremely friendly francophones. And that was a predominatly bi lingual part of QC. It get much less friendly in more predominantly French parts of QC.
Honestly though, it's about as equal as you can get compared to anywhere else.
Although it probably will not change any opinions about QC, here are my 2 cents on the range of statements on this thread:
-sports riots are pointless and typically just hurt business that have no dog in the fight
-what occurred last night doesn’t even count for a riot in Montreal…one ruined police car is the price for doing business… In reality, if you have 100k drinking people in one location, minor property damage is expected. Anyways, Montreal police are dicks
-it is typically a small group of troublemakers that go over the edge. Let’s hope it doesn’t get worse than that, but if it does it will likely be the same individuals
-Montreal fans are very passionate about the Habs and that is it. You saw it during the World Juniors a couple years ago…they aren’t hockey fans, just Habs fans. I don’t find them annoying as a fan base…they overhype their players, but typically have realistic expectations for their team. They are proud when their team succeeds and celebrate loudly, but are not obnoxious IMO.
-As far as Quebecers, they are super friendly and accommodating in general. For sure there are blind spots around their nationalism (which often result in bigoted policies), and are uber sensitive to criticism - but individually they are typically joyful, generous and collective. Alberta has some of the friendliest individuals in the world, but if you judged it based on the bad apples that are constantly in the news you would think it was full of hateful, racist, anti-science, oil barrons. We know that this stereotype doesn’t reflect the majority of Albertans, don’t fall for the same stereotypes of Quebecois
Last edited by Funkhouser; 06-25-2021 at 01:55 PM.
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On the Habs:
I said as the playoffs began that if they were the only Canadian team to make it to the SCF, I'd be OK with that. Not cheering for them, but would be happy if they won. Not ecstatic, not jubilant, just a little smile that the smug 'Murrican teams didn't make Gary's day. (Still wary about the reffing. That "icing" call was...the icing on the cake.)
On Quebec in general:
Great food, great wine, great women and a pleasant culture - if you try to speak French even badly (high school was 55 years ago for me...) they are happy to help, talk, whatever. We spent a lovely time there in a 2017 "Canada 150" trip. Hate their politics and the pandering from the feds to them though.
On Quebec women:
I just love their voices. Don't need or want any more...just love, love, love that accent in either language.
Go read the Subban/Weber trade thread, and that was 5 years ago.
Even Habby was trippin out.
Weber's contract is still going to suck. 5 more years. He looked BAD in the regular season, but that may have been exasperated by his hand injury that finally made him take a few weeks off at the end of the season.
The one thing I didn't foresee was how badly Subban's career would fall of a cliff. He's been awful lately.
I'm not usually a strong fan when it comes to the playoffs (due partly to being a Flames fan), but somehow watching Montreal this year, they remind me of the Flames in 04, where they just keep getting better and better as the series progresses. I think, besides all the normal things that make a team great, it's that little extra effort I see in the Habs, that comes from confidence and a belief in themselves, that makes the difference. Of course having the best goalie on the planet helps.
I think also the style of hockey I see with the Habs, with less emphasis on physicality, and more focused on fast, highly skilled, end to end hockey, I find much more enjoyable to watch.
Also being able to watch one of my favorite former Flames, Byron, offers an additional attraction.
Weber's contract is still going to suck. 5 more years. He looked BAD in the regular season, but that may have been exasperated by his hand injury that finally made him take a few weeks off at the end of the season.
The one thing I didn't foresee was how badly Subban's career would fall of a cliff. He's been awful lately.
All of this is true, although if he retires I believe Nashville still gets the worst of the cap recapture (even though the NHL specifically changed the rules to relieve them of the worst of those consequences, yet again proving what a joke of a league it is in terms of preferential treatment for some teams and not others).
The first surprise is that Weber has remained effective as long as he has, though that's a mild surprise. If someone told you he'd still be a capable defender for a stout defensive team in his mid 30's you'd probably say you believed them.
The much larger surprise is as you say how far Subban has fallen. He's only 32 and has been washed for the last two seasons. I don't think anyone saw that coming. He was third in Norris voting in 2018 and promptly turned into a pumpkin.
That being said, none of it matters if the Canadiens win the cup. They win the cup with Weber, they win the trade. Just as PK's subsequent fall-off wouldn't have mattered if the Predators had beaten the Penguins.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Weber's contract is still going to suck. 5 more years. He looked BAD in the regular season, but that may have been exasperated by his hand injury that finally made him take a few weeks off at the end of the season.
The one thing I didn't foresee was how badly Subban's career would fall of a cliff. He's been awful lately.
All forgiven though if you win a cup. Then it doesn't matter how bad that contract is for the next 5 years. Worth it. X10.
I think you have to cheer for Montreal here (or you don't, I actually don't care), but for me:
- They're clearly the most historic and iconic Canadian team
- They're miles more loveable than Vegas (dumb bandwagon team), and Tampa (dumb loser team)
- The Islanders are neat and all but nobody cares about the Islanders
- Montreal winning would please Montreal and the many Montreal fans across Canada, and we could join in their joy for a day, or two. It would also upset Toronto, which is a positive.
- Tampa winning would please no one and primarily upset Calgary, clearly the worst option
- Islanders winning would also please no one, but upset no one, it will be like the Stanley Cup was never awarded at all (maybe good or bad)
- It's nice to see elite guys who have been at it forever finally get a cup (Price, Weber)
- Montreal is clearly the best city in Canada
- French Canadians can be a delight
- The notion that they riot after wins is funny
Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
If Islanders win, they tie the stupid Oilers for number of Cup wins. So that's a big bonus for me.
And also, the Islanders winning would definitely upset Leafs fans (pajama boy).
That being said, definitely want the Habs to take The Cup home (to Montreal, not Canada).
