The multiple riot reviews- one from the city, another from city policy, a third paid for by the province-confirms what we knew and forces others to acknowledge what they were reluctant to admit.
The rioters were predominantly young and male. The mayor, as ashes fell from the smoke of torched vehicles, pointed the blame on a "small number of hooligans." The police review again used the term "hooligan."
The Canucks distanced themselves from rioters wearing Sedin and Kesler jerseys. Mike Gillis and Roberto Luongo, for example, made a case these rioters were not "real" or "true" Canucks fans. Not so.
I can appreciate the distinction between good and bad behaviour. But in this case, it's a false positive. Canucks fans-real and true supporters of the hockey club- smashed glass, stole property and burned police cars. Canucks fans who contributed to the millions earned by the franchise will be charged.
Consider that those criminal charges are slow to come, in part, because rioters are hard to identify. "You have to imagine," began VPD Insp. Les Yeo Tuesday, "We have two, three, four, five hundred people wearing Luongo jerseys."
And none is a fan of the Canucks? Canucks fans, yes. Canucks problem, yes. Canucks fault, absolutely not.
"The Canucks were not responsible for what happened. Certainly they are a stakeholder in what happened but they are not responsible," sports business analyst Tom Mayenknecht told me this week.
The Canucks will target, encourage and promote responsible fan behaviour using their considerable financial means.
Continued Mayenknecht, "They're saying the right thing now, I do believe they could have said the right things even more openly and explicitly on June 16, the day after the riots."
Otherwise known as the time when we weren't all Canucks.
Twitter: @MHStewart
