Official World Hockey Championships thread

[Robbie]

I remember back in the days of the Winnipeg Jets, fans in the Winnipeg Arena would wave the flag of Finland in honour of Teemu Selanne whenever he played a great game. Nobody seemed to mind at all and in fact, I think everyone felt it was honourable of fans to support their Finnish star player. 8)



But at the same time, that brings back the city vs. country issue that I brought up earlier. In the upcoming final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, I'm assuming a lot of fans in Ottawa will be waving the Canadian flag in support of their Senators. But should they also wave the Swedish flag as well to honour their Swedish captain Daniel Alfredsson?



I wonder where does one draw the line when it comes to the appropriateness of waving a foreign flag to support a foreign player who is playing for the local team.

Ian Smart is originally from Jamaica, and I suppose it would be okay if I started waving the Jamaican flag to honour him at a Lions game when he is having a standout day.



But I suppose it would not be appropriate to wave the American flag to show support and honour them if all the American players on the Lions like Dickenson and Simon were having a standout day.

[MacNews]

But I suppose it would not be appropriate to wave the American flag to show support and honour them if all the American players on the Lions like Dickenson and Simon were having a standout day.

Unless you like getting yelled at I wouldn't recommend it.

[Robbie]

But I suppose it would not be appropriate to wave the American flag to show support and honour them if all the American players on the Lions like Dickenson and Simon were having a standout day.

Unless you like getting yelled at I wouldn't recommend it.

Exactly. But that just begs the question, if it's okay to wave the Swedish flag at a Canucks game to honour Naslund, Ohlund, and the Sedins, then why doesn't the same thing apply to waving the American flag at a Lions game to support all the American players? See the double standard?

[sj-roc]

Ian Smart is originally from Jamaica, and I suppose it would be okay if I started waiving the Jamaican flag to honour him at a Lions game when he is having a standout day.

But I suppose it would not be appropriate to wave the American flag to show support and honour them if all the American players on the Lions like Dickenson and Simon were having a standout day.

Football isn't as international a sport as hockey, lacking Olympic or World Cup-style tournaments, and I honestly don't think most fans of the CFL really give much thought as to the country of origin of its players aside from import/NI status. By far the most common (only?) type of flag waving I've observed at BC Place is with the Fleur-de-Lys when the Alouettes drop in for their annual first loss of the season, but that mainly represents the home of the team, as opposed to that of its players (although they do often have several of those, to be sure).

With regard to the NHL, I've sometimes spotted the flag of Nfld on hockey broadcasts when they're represented on the ice -- players such as Harold Druken and Jason King when they each played here, and Daniel Cleary, who's played for several other teams, including the Red Wings currently. And I'm willing to bet it's usually ex-pat Nflders waving most of the flags for them.

[sj-roc]

But I suppose it would not be appropriate to wave the American flag to show support and honour them if all the American players on the Lions like Dickenson and Simon were having a standout day.

Unless you like getting yelled at I wouldn't recommend it.

Exactly. But that just begs the question, if it's okay to waive the Swedish flag at a Canucks game to honour Naslund, Ohlund, and the Sedins, then why doesn't the same thing apply to waiving the American flag at a Lions game to support all the American players? See the double standard?

Do people actually wave Swedish flags at GM Place for all the Canuck Swedes, and are these fans not themselves Swedes? Whatever the answer, it's not a very common sight at Lions' games simply because -- to paraphrase my previous post -- the CFL is a much more insular sport.

Frankly, if one were to wave the Stars and Stripes at BC Place as a nod to *insert one's favourite Lion import player here*, I think the gesture would be lost on most fans. I'd say most of them would simply assume that this fan was himself an American, and would be wondering why all the flag waving. Which can unfortunately lead to the result MacNews describes.

But aside from that, Robbie, you're comparing apples and oranges somewhat. Assuming foreign flag waving by locals is sufficiently commonplace at the Garage to begin with -- then the real question to ponder is... would you see it done for a high profile Canuck who happened to be American? I don't follow the Canucks closely enough to know if they've had many high profile US-born/raised/trained players over the years who would help answer that question.

[TheLionKing]

I hope it isn't the start of a trend. Personally I think it's a ridiculous idea. They are playing for a TEAM, not representing their country. Would you be bringing a Canadian, American, Swedish, Finnish and Danish flags to the Canuck games ?

[Hambone]

Still hard to fathom Burke taking a Cup when you see him celebrate goals in the press box during this series...

Can't remember if it was in this series or the Canucks series. There was a shot of Burkie throwing his hands up in the air in celebration of a goal, maybe even an OT winner. With the shirt and tie, haircut, grey hair and belly thrust outward what immediately sprang to mind was an uncanny resemblance to Boris Yeltsin.