The Vancouver Canucks and their fans have enjoyed some memorable moments since the team first started playing in the 1970-71 NHL season. Yes they have yet to capture the Holy Grail of hockey, but they've been close a few times.
Arguably the biggest moments in franchise history have been the Canucks' three playoff runs all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, in 1981-82, 1993-94 and 2010-11. The Final appearances in 1993-94 and 2010-11 were particularly painful, given that both times the team took it all the way to Game 7, before losing their grip on the Stanley Cup.
Obviously the Canucks and their fans would love another run at Stanley Cup glory, with last season's success providing optimism that another trip to the Final is close to coming to fruition. However, it turns out that not everyone connected to the great city of Vancouver, is entirely convinced that they want to see the team have another shot at winning it all.
Giving due credit to Cooper Godin of Canucks Daily, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim recently sat down for an interview with the Daily Hive's Kenneth Chan. The main focus of the interview was to discuss the potential impact of the upcoming 2026 FIFA World cup in Vancouver, and compare it to how the city handled the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Sim's reluctance to see the Canucks succeed
However, Sim also discussed the nervousness associated with Vancouver hosting outdoor viewing parties, if the Canucks qualify for and progress through the NHL playoffs. As per Chan, he said:
""As a fan, I want to see the Canucks have an exciting run and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and hopefully win in Game 7 in overtime. As the Mayor of Vancouver, I do not want them to play a single game in the playoffs, because (of) the stress that it causes for safety.""
We appreciate that a lot of Canucks fans' will initially react with some combination of surprise, frustration and anger. How can someone who represents the city of Vancouver, not want to see the team succeed?
After all, aside from it meaning the team is doing well, any outdoor viewing parties and the downtown area just being busier in general, would be a financial boon for Vancouver. However, if you take a step back and look at the situation objectively, Sim's comments are entirely justified.
At the end of the day, the city endured inexcusable riots at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final trips in both 1994 and 2011. The suffering and damage, both financial and reputation-wise to Vancouver was terrible, with it taking the city a long time to recover on both occasions.
The cost of another Stanley Cup Final appearance
As such, you can entirely appreciate Sim's confliction in seeing another successful Stanley Cup run for the Canucks. He said:
""We can handle it, but the costs, if they made another (Stanley Cup) run, the bill would be in the millions of dollars.""
Taking everything into account, Canucks fans can claim all they want, that Sim is only concerned with the bottom line and doesn't truly care about the team doing well. However, there's only really one way to get him to drop his guard in this situation.
More specifically, let's see the Canucks advance to another Stanley Cup Final and lose in Game 7, and there not be a riot afterwards in downtown Vancouver. Not that anyone associated with the team wants them to go through a similar heartache of falling just short yet again, but until such a scenario repeats itself, people just have to accept that Sim has a justified right to feel how he does.