In theory, being a sports fan of a professional team is meant to be fun, but the reality can be drastically different depending on who you support. This is something the Vancouver Cancucks fanbase can readily attest to.
The Daily Faceoff's Scott Maxwell posted an article on Friday, where he ranked the suffering of all 32 NHL teams. We assume it will come as no surprise to the majority of Canucks followers, that their team ranked near the very top when it came to the most tortured.
In fact, the Canucks came in at number three, with the Daily Faceoff's panel of six experts tied at three-a-piece, for second and third place. It was the same outcome for the Buffalo Sabres, but they 'won' to claim second place, due to a combination of less star players, less sustained success and the longest active playoff drought at 13 seasons. (We could also add in that they're in Buffalo rather than Vancouver, but that would just be an unnecessary cheap shot.)
Canucks and Sabres linked together in infamy
Another area where the Cancucks find themselves linked with the Sabres, is with the second-longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history. Both teams entered the league in 1970-71 and neither have yet to claim hockey's Holy Grail.
Even when things go right for the Canucks, everything still seem to ultimately go wrong - a perfect way to describe a tortured fanbase. Perhaps the shining example of this, came during the 2010-11 season.
This was the season where the Canucks finished with the NHL's best record and won their first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. They advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final and found themselves up 2-0 after two games versus the Boston Bruins, seemingly set to finally win it all.
However, then it all started to go wrong, with the Canucks being destroyed 8-1 and 4-0 in the next two games in Boston. At least they managed to maintain home-ice advantage, as the game went to a deciding game seven back in Vancouver.
A couple of inexcusable riots
However, despite having the deciding game at home, the Canucks were shut out 4-0, and the cup went to the Bruins. Just for good measures, the aftermath saw an embarrassing and devastating full-scale riot take place, which resulted in 150 injuries and around $4 million in damages.
Sadly, this wasn't even the first experience of a hockey-related riot in downtown Vancouver. A similar situation occurred back in 1994, after the Canucks lost game seven of that year's Stanley Cup Final, this time to the New York Rangers.
The other time the Canucks advanced to the Stanley Cup Final came in 1981-82, but we're glad to advise there was no such riot on this occasion. Mind you, the experience of getting that far was new at that time for the Canucks, plus they never had a chance of winning or getting the fans' hopes up, as they were swept 4-0 by the New York Islanders.
Even the players have suffered
The torture of the fanbase also extends to the players who've worn the Canucks jersey over the years, with the prime example being the Sedin twins. Both elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, it's certainly a shame two of the game's greats never reached the pinnacle of team success.
Certainly, the Canucks have endured some terrible luck over the decades. At the same time however, they've also often been the authors of their own misfortune.
Some may like to make the case that at least they're not the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase, which ranked first in the Daily Faceoff's survey and has the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history. However, we should point out that at least they've won it, even if it was back in the days of just six teams and black and white television.
Overall, the Canucks' ranking of third could be argued as being actually a little too high, but regardless, there's no doubting them being an extremely tortured fanbase. The fans can only hope that the early success of general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Rick Tocchet, is a sign of things to come in Vancouver.