Canadians, Passion & Pride
One of the knocks on Canadians is their lack of nathionalism & pride compared to Americans. However Canadian's don't lack passion, its just in other areas.
http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip47958#clip47748
This was a celebration after a first round playoff win. There are 4 rounds in the playoffs. Normally these "celebrations" happen only after winning the Stanley Cup. However the Montreal Canadiens have had a mediocre team since 93 when they last won the Cup and the last time there was a hockey riot in Montreal.
I'm not condoning the behaviour, its pure mob mentality and has happened in other Canadian cities. My point is this is how Canadians feel about hockey. America's pasttime might be baseball but they come no where near as passionate about baseball as Canadians are about hockey. Parents have been banned from arenas, and things have gone way overboard.
I grew up in a generation where people live, eat & breathe hockey, I'm a Canadian, its who I am, its how I grew up, its my one and only true love in life. It was my first love and it will be one that doesn't go away. For the first 18 years of my life, I probably played 4 hours of hockey ever single day, whether it was organized hockey on the ice in the winter, playing at the outdoor rink, or playing street hockey in the summer.
FYI 16 cop cars were burnt down and 16 people were arrested.