These Ottawa Senators fans would rather eat glass than cheer for Habs
As Stanley Cup finals begin, hardcore fans refuse to abandon their disgust for a rival
The Montreal Canadiens have made an improbable run to reach the Stanley Cup finals, and they could be the first Canadian team to win the cup since 1993 — Montreal also won that year — but fans of its rival in Ottawa want no part of the bandwagon.
Shaila Anwar, avowed Ottawa Senators fan and former co-host of a TSN radio show, will be "hate-watching" and cheering hard for the other guys on Monday night in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals.
It's a feeling shared by other hardcore fans.
I would rather eat seagull poop encrusted glass and wash it down with a bottle of iodine than agree to that.
—@baldjam"You don't just give up your allegiance and ideals. I spend my entire season hating on especially the other Canadian teams. The Leafs are the team I hate the most. The Habs would be number two," said Anwar.
Last Thursday, after Montreal eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights, Anwar was inundated with messages from Habs-loving work colleagues. It was infuriating.
"One of the advantages of the lockdown and working from home is that I don't have to see them face to face," she said.
She describes her brother — normally a committed Sens fan — as a turncoat, for embracing the last Canadian team standing.
"He has gone against the family and decided to cheer for the Habs, which I find appalling."
'I have no interest in seeing them succeed'
Keith Serry is a Senators fan living behind enemy lines in Montreal, and predicts the next two weeks will be excruciating.
"I feel like the guy who just stole my university girlfriend has just won a Nobel Prize," said Serry, a former Sens season-ticket holder.
"I have no interest in seeing them succeed."
Serry's ire for Montreal can be summed up with his view on games between the Habs and Toronto Maple Leafs, also known as the "asteroid" game.
"Some people root for Toronto, some people for Montreal, and we root for an asteroid to fall out of the sky and turn the rink into a crater."
Serry, who is also a fan of English football, takes rivalries seriously. He rejects in principle the late season fan-transfer of cheering for whichever Canadian team makes it deepest into the playoffs.
"That's the beautiful thing about sports. It's such a simple narrative. There can be bad guys and good guys. That's why I've never understood this switching of hats. Our guys are the good guys and their guys are the bad guys," said Serry.
If I was given a choice to either cheer for "Canada's Team" or wear a t-shirt for the rest of my life that said "I'm a Big Dumb Stupid-Head" I'd be asking if that t-shirt came in multiple colours cause I ain't a traitor.
—@CrAftyBarnArd0'Sports fandom is tribalism'
Shannon Proudfoot, a former sports writer and current Ottawa bureau chief for Maclean's, said the term "Canada's team" fundamentally misunderstands sports fandom.
"This is something I yell about every spring when there's one Canadian team left. It really annoys me," said Proudfoot.
"Sports fandom is tribalism, and that means you love your team and you hate your team's rivals."
As a lifelong Habs fan, I couldn't care less if ppl think of us as 'Canada's team'. There is no such thing as a '2nd' team for serious sports fans. There is only one team. Our team <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LesBoys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LesBoys</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoHabsGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoHabsGo</a> <a href="https://t.co/uXEoBUCdq7">https://t.co/uXEoBUCdq7</a>
—@nljcoProudfoot particularly bristles at the notion of "bringing home the cup" as team rosters consist of players from multiple countries, not just Canadians.
The idea of switching allegiances out of expediency in the spring is the mark of "casual or non-fans," said Proudfoot, and the closer that rival sits to your favourite team geographically, the larger the dislike.