Canucks and Oilers fan rivalry heating up online on eve of Game 1
As the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers prepare for the puck to drop on Game 1 of their second-round playoff series, fans of both teams are already cranking up the temperature with chirps on social media.
One Facebook group called "Oilers Fans in the Lower Mainland (and anywhere in BC)" offers a safe space for diehards living in enemy territory.
According to group member Tamara Bingley, a Coquitlam resident, Oilers fans can sometimes get a frosty reception on the west coast.
"I'll be walking my dog and I'll be wearing an Oilers hat and my dog has an Oilers bandana, so people see, and I see them staring at me. Once in a while I'll see someone shake their head,” she said.
In Penticton, one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, called for a boycott of the local Boston Pizza franchise after seeing a sign outside the restaurant supporting the Oilers.
"You know, maybe that's a little extreme,” said Canucks fan Quinn Edmondson, outside the team store at Rogers Arena. “We don't need to boycott a whole restaurant just for that."
The sign at the restaurant has since been updated and now says "Bring the cup home. Let’s go Canucks," but it’s not clear if the social media storm played a role in the decision to change it.
Predicting a tense playoff battle between the divisional rivals, Edmonton Journal reporter Robert Tychkowski did his best to stoke the fan rivalry in an article published Tuesday.
“The sushi dens and granola taverns will be on edge, you can count on it,” he wrote, adding “how sweet it would be for Oil Country to take down the anti-pipeline crowd.”
Canucks fans who spoke to CTV News are taking the online discourse in stride.
"I mean, it's fun. It's playoff hockey. It's bound to happen. But it's exciting,” said Amrita Dhillon, who predicts a Vancouver win in seven games.
As the players continue to prepare for Wednesday night’s series opener, Canucks coach Rick Tocchet doesn’t think it will take long for the animosity between the teams to build on the ice.
"There's only eight teams left. Edmonton's in our way,” he said. “And we're in their way. That's a rivalry to me."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Oilers beat Stars, one win away from Stanley Cup berth
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals as Edmonton smothered the Dallas Stars 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the NHL's Western Conference final on Friday.
Is carbon pricing a politically feasible climate policy? Research says maybe not
Research suggests the Liberals may be fighting a losing battle, and some experts are urging policymakers to look for alternative policies to lower emissions, warning the threat of climate change is too dire to delay action.
Ex-husband charged with murder in death of Lumby, B.C., woman
The ex-husband of Tatjana Stefanski – the woman whose disappearance and death set the small town of Lumby, B.C., on edge last month – has been charged with her murder.
Republicans join Trump's attacks on justice system and campaign of vengeance after guilty verdict
Embracing Donald Trump's strategy of blaming the U.S. justice system after his historic guilty verdict, Republicans in Congress are fervently enlisting themselves in his campaign of vengeance and political retribution in the GOP bid to reclaim the White House.
U.S. defense secretary says war with China neither imminent nor unavoidable, stressing need for talks
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a gathering of top security officials Saturday that war with China was neither imminent nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, stressing the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart in avoiding "miscalculations and misunderstandings."
U.K. ambassador to Mexico out after video allegedly shows him pointing a rifle at a colleague
The U.K.’s ambassador to Mexico has left his post after a video was posted on social media that purportedly shows him pointing an assault rifle at an embassy employee.
Baby dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to woman who was in police custody
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.