OT: Stanley Cup Finals

[John]

Hey. I still remember the Civic Center being invaded by Bruins fans every time they played the Whalers. They'd usually kick our rear end on the ice, then be loud and arrogant in the bars afterwards. Hopefully some of those same people walked back to the T with a sour puss and sore fanny last night.

And an additional "up yours" to that obnoxious teenage kid who shows up at every parade with his title sign. Maybe next year, nerd.

Bruins fans were THE WORST at Whaler games.

 

[superjohn]

Bruins fans were THE WORST at Whaler games.

THE WORST are Whalers fans who turned into Bruins fans.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bruins fans were THE WORST at Whaler games.

No. Second worst. Canadiens fans were the worst by far.

 

[HuskyHawk]

THE WORST are Whalers fans who turned into Bruins fans.

Why? Only team left in New England. The Whalers no longer exist. Are they supposed to abandon hockey?

 

[Dooley]

Hey. I still remember the Civic Center being invaded by Bruins fans every time they played the Whalers. They'd usually kick our rear end on the ice, then be loud and arrogant in the bars afterwards. Hopefully some of those same people walked back to the T with a sour puss and sore fanny last night.

Dooley's "One More Reason Why I HATE The Boston Bruins" Storytime: I was at Game 6 of the 1991 first round playoff game. The Bruins beat (and eliminated) the Whale 3-1 that night. I was 14 and my younger brother (12) were in our seats in section 111. I remember the Whale carrying most of the play that night and Mark Hunter finally scoring late in the 3rd period to at least break the shutout. Game ended and the players were going through the handshake line, showing off hockey's time honoured tradition of sportsmanship after every hard fought playoff series...

Unfortunately, sportsmanship did not extend to a pair of obnoxious Bruins fans who were watching the handshake line from a section 300 overhang (now section 239). As my brother and I were watching with completely sick stomachs at yet another loss to the Bruins, the drunk dopes above us spilled some beer on the two of us. My brother and I were obviously annoyed and we looked up to see the two dopes laughing at us. Carrying it a step further, the dope with a fairly full beer cup proceeds to throw his remaining beer at the two of us. Remember, I'm 14 and my brother is 12. I did the only I could do, take the gum from out of my mouth and chucked it back at them. To my surprise, the gum hits (and sticks) to the dope's chest...the same dope who threw his beer at a pair of dejected kids. He loses it. Wants to run down to the lower bowl to fight a pair of kids. A few more Bruins fans who were standing nearby and witnessed the whole thing did what any self-respecting adult fan would: they yelled and mocked the pair of kids for being Hartford Whalers fans...in Hartford. Flipped them all off leaving the arena stinking of beer and completely dejected that my Whale had been eliminated in the first round once again. The best part of the night: my mom picked us up outside the arena by the old Wendy's entrance after the game and flipped out on the two of us for reeking of beer.

Naturally, every time the Bruins are bounced from the playoffs, I am a happy old Whaler fan. I hope those dopes had an absolutely miserable night last night and every night the Bruins lose.

Moral of the story: F the Boston Bruins.

THANK YOU ST LOUIS BLUES!!!!!!!!!!! You've made many an old Whaler fan VERY happy!!!

 

[superjohn]

Why? Only team left in New England. The Whalers no longer exist. Are they supposed to abandon hockey?

Because they were the Whalers rivals and their fans would invade the Civic Center and act like arrogant s^*ts. There are like 30 other teams you could choose from.

 

[Dooley]

THE WORST are Whalers fans who turned into Bruins fans.

Yes they were. Bruins fans and "Mark Messier" Rangers fans were the absolute worst. I still actively root against both of those teams because of the swarm of obnoxious fans who used to go to the old Civic Center. Nobody was worse than Bruins fans though. I remember a sign that one of those dopes had one game: "Why Build a new Garden when we have the Civic Center?". At least the Mark Messier Rangers fans were fair-weathered and everyone knew it. The Civic Center Bruins fans were all obnoxious dopes trying to bully Whalers fans in their own arena.

 

[olehead]

Shout out to the great Bernie Federko, the great Chris Pronger, the great (and crazy) Brett Hull.

Finally over the hump, the Blues are dope.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Because they were the Whalers rivals and their fans would invade the Civic Center and act like arrogant s^*ts. There are like 30 other teams you could choose from.

I don't root for teams outside of New England except for KC. Don't and won't.

I went to a lot of Whaler games. Bruins fans were no worse than Montreal fans, Quebec fans or Rangers fans, and were better than Flyer fans (everyone is) but more numerous. That was all over 20 years ago anyway. The one team no Whaler fan should ever root for is the Carolina Hurricanes.

 

[Dooley]

No. Second worst. Canadiens fans were the worst by far.

No way. The Bruins fans were in an obnoxious class of their own. Not to mention, the crowds were always just about a 50-50 split...especially in the early 90s after the Francis trade. That just made them act far more obnoxious because they had strength in numbers. It's from sitting amongst those crowds as a young Whaler fan that had made me such a staunch Bruins hater. By far the professional sports team I hate the most. No team comes remotely close.

The only other fanbase that enters the same obnoxious stratosphere as Civic Center Bruins fans were the Mark Messier Rangers fans.

 

[HuskyHawk]

No way. The Bruins fans were in an obnoxious class of their own. Not to mention, the crowds were always just about a 50-50 split...especially in the early 90s after the Francis trade. That just made them act far more obnoxious because they had strength in numbers. It's from sitting amongst those crowds as a young Whaler fan that had made me such a staunch Bruins hater. By far the professional sports team I hate the most. No team comes remotely close.

The only other fanbase that enters the same obnoxious stratosphere as Civic Center Bruins fans were the Mark Messier Rangers fans.

I lived in Manchester, and we would be inundated with Canadiens fans. Swarming the restaurants, driving like maniacs, acting like jerks, it was horrible. So for me, they were the worst by far.

 

[Deepster]

Because they were the Whalers rivals and their fans would invade the Civic Center and act like arrogant s^*ts. There are like 30 other teams you could choose from.

Rangers, Devils and Islanders are all just as close as the Bruins. I'd respect someone rooting for the Hurricanes over the Bruins.

 

[Dooley]

I lived in Manchester, and we would be inundated with Canadiens fans. Swarming the restaurants, driving like maniacs, acting like jerks, it was horrible. So for me, they were the worst by far.

Fair enough. There's natural historic hate there for you now too with the Bruins/Canadiens long-standing rivalry.

If I had to guesstimate opposing team average fans crowd sizes at the old Civic Center based on my personal experience, I'd say...

"Real dopes wear black t-shirt" Bruins fans: 5-7K a game;
Mark Messier Rangers fans: 5K a game
Eric Lindros Flyers fans: 3K a game
Martin Brodeur Devils fans: 1-2K a game
Ron Francis Penguins fans: 1-2K a game
Canadiens fans: 1K a game
Wayne Gretzky Kings fans: 500-1K a game

...and a little later on in years...

Brendan Shanahan Red Wings fans: 500-1K a game.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Fair enough. There's natural historic hate there for you now too with the Bruins/Canadiens long-standing rivalry.

If I had to guesstimate opposing team average fans crowd sizes at the old Civic Center based on my personal experience, I'd say...

"Real dopes wear black t-shirt" Bruins fans: 5-7K a game;
Mark Messier Rangers fans: 5K a game
Eric Lindros Flyers fans: 3K a game
Martin Brodeur Devils fans: 1-2K a game
Ron Francis Penguins fans: 1-2K a game
Canadiens fans: 1K a game
Wayne Gretzky Kings fans: 500-1K a game

...and a little later on in years...

Brendan Shanahan Red Wings fans: 500-1K a game.

Way more than that from Montreal, at least in the playoffs. That's when it was really ugly with them.

I won't say I didn't hate certain specific Bruins back in the day, but as a Red Sox and Patriots fan, and fan of the city, I never hated the Bruins as a franchise. Montreal I always did. Even as a Whaler fan.

 

[Scoe]

Boston was absolutely expecting this one this one wasnt against an all time great Blackhawks team.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Why? Only team left in New England. The Whalers no longer exist. Are they supposed to abandon hockey?

As a former Hartford Whalers Fan, I will never ever root for the Bruins or the Rangers. When the Whalers left, I immediately cancelled my subscription to Hockey News, which I had for 15 years, and stopped following the NHL. I still played hockey, and still do, but just didn't follow the NHL anymore. It wasn't until recently (within the last 2 years) when I started listening to Jeff O'Neill on TSN Radio 1050 "The Overdrive" (the afternoon drive out of Toronto) that I started following the NHL again. They have Ray Ferraro on as a regular guest, so between O'Neill and Ferraro it provides a link to the Whalers. In addition, Bryan Hayes and Jamie McClellan are really entertaining as well. Now I follow the Toronto Maple Leafs a little. I haven't been to an NHL game since the Whalers last home game, but now I am thinking about making the trek to Toronto to take in a Leafs game.

 

[superjohn]

Boston was absolutely expecting this one this one wasnt against an all time great Blackhawks team.

A lot of them were calling sweep.

 

[Deepster]

I haven't been to an NHL game since the Whalers last home game, but now I am thinking about making the trek to Toronto to take in a Leafs game.

The only game I've been to was a Red Wings game in Joe Louis on a business trip. It would be interesting to see how many former Whaler fans have been to, say, less than 5 games since they left.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The only game I've been to was a Red Wings game in Joe Louis on a business trip. It would be interesting to see how many former Whaler fans have been to, say, less than 5 games since they left.

I've been to more than 5, but mostly in San Jose. One in Phoenix and a few in Boston. The Sharks are the team I root for aside from the Bruins. When I lived in San Jose, that was my team.

I only fully adopted the Bruins after being in the Boston area several years. I'll admit that guys like Bergeron helped that. There's no classier player in the league. Chara is easy to like too.

 

[Dooley]

The only game I've been to was a Red Wings game in Joe Louis on a business trip. It would be interesting to see how many former Whaler fans have been to, say, less than 5 games since they left.

Excellent poll topic. I've been to 2 NHL games since the Whalers left. 1 Islanders game at Nassau and 1 at Barclay's. I guess I kind of root for them but not a diehard by any means. I usually just watch NHL games casually and gravitate towards a few in the playoffs. I'll always root against the Bruins and Rangers. I morph into this wacky and very bitter diehard fan of whoever plays against them in the playoffs every year. I died hard when the Whalers left.

 

[Waquoit]

The only game I've been to was a Red Wings game in Joe Louis on a business trip. It would be interesting to see how many former Whaler fans have been to, say, less than 5 games since they left.

Counting the Wolfpack?

 

[CTBballfan243]

I really struggle giving the NHL and Gary Bettman any of my money after they conspired to move the Whalers out of Hartford. I don't care what anyone says, Carolina has never been or ever will be, a better NHL market than Hartford. The NHL (Bettman) just didn't want a team in Hartford. They could have worked to save the market if they wanted too. Look at Pheonix, that situation with the arena is a dumpster fire yet Bettman is doing everything in his power to keep the team in Arizona. Hell, Quebec City deserves a franchise way more than Carolina, Arizona, and Florida (the Panthers).

 

[Waquoit]

I really struggle giving the NHL and Gary Bettman any of my money after they conspired to move the Whalers out of Hartford...

I don't think Lowell Weicker gets enough crap for what he pulled. He delivered the Whale to the rat-tailed bastard and in return he got a contract for his kid and years on the Compuware Board of Directors for himself.