Cowan: Segment of Canadiens fan base crosses line with attacks on Kirby Dach
Canadiens fans are among the most passionate in the world of sports.
That passion heats up even more when the team reaches the playoffs, and there are some fans who can go overboard — especially the “keyboard warriors” on social media.
After the Canadiens lost 3-2 in overtime to the Lightning in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday in Tampa, some fans started attacking Kirby Dach on social media for a couple of mistakes he made that led to the winning goal.
It got so bad that Dach decided to shut down his Instagram account.
Dach did make a lazy flip of the puck from behind centre ice that resulted in an unnecessary icing call with less than eight minutes left in the first OT period. He then failed to get out to the blue line to cover his man on the point after Alex Newhook lost the ensuing faceoff. J.J. Moser was able to skate into the right faceoff circle and score the winning goal to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1.
Game 3 is Friday at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports).
Everybody makes mistakes at their job, but most don’t have 20,000 fans watching in an arena and more than a million more watching on TV.
Dach made a couple of mistakes and deserves criticism for his play. But when fans go overboard and make things personal to the point where a player has to shut down his Instagram account, that’s too much.
I was very fortunate to have legendary Hall of Fame hockey writer Red Fisher as a boss and mentor when I first started at The Gazette. Fisher would always say: “Criticize, but be fair.” I’ve never forgotten that.
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NHL players know when they’ve made a mistake and expect to be criticized by the media and by fans. It’s part of the job. As Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis often says: “It’s a game of mistakes.”
Dach’s mistakes in Game 2 hurt the Canadiens, but he’s not the only one on the team who made mistakes.
“You never want to see a guy go through that,” defenceman Kaiden Guhle said after practice Thursday in Brossard when asked about what happened to Dach on social media. “It’s one play in the game, and it’s a game of mistakes. It’s tough. I feel for the guy, but we still got lots of games to go. I’m sure he knows maybe he made a mistake, and it’s the game of hockey for you.”
I asked Guhle at what point he thinks the criticism goes overboard.
“You could probably answer that,” he said. “I’m not sure what was said. I’m not sure really what happened. Social media’s tough. It’s a big part of our world now and people can say whatever they want.
“We’re human beings,” Guhle added. “We know when we make mistakes and it’s tough. But … we do play a professional sport and we’re professional athletes, and they do have entitlement to say what they want to say. You never want to see guys go through that. But we are athletes and social media is a big part of everyone’s life, and people are entitled to say what they want to say.”
I asked St. Louis what he would say to Canadiens fans who go overboard and start lobbing personal attacks at players.
The coach took a deep breath and paused for a few seconds before saying: “I don’t know … it’s tough for me. We need all hands on deck — fans included. We’re not perfect. Guys are going to make mistakes, but I can tell you that we have good intentions out there. I would say: ‘Let’s stick together.’ “
When asked if he had spoken with Dach, St. Louis said: “Of course.” The coach added that he wishes his players didn’t follow social media — “especially in this market.”
That’s easier to do for a 50-year-old coach who didn’t have social media as an NHL player to say than it is for a young Canadiens player who has grown up with social media and doesn’t really know life without it.
Defenceman Arber Xhekaj is on social media and said he has been the target of personal attacks in the past.
“There’s a lot of talk, but I don’t really care,” he said. “Just like Marty says: ‘If you’re not going to ask those people for advice, why do you care what they have to say about you?’ That’s the way I look at it.
“We’re all trying to play. We’re all trying to play for this team and this fanbase and this city,” Xhekaj added. “I don’t think we’re trying to do anything wrong. I don’t think it’s good to look at that stuff, even when you’re winning or you’re doing well or you’re not doing well. There’s a lot of people who have their opinions and they’re allowed to express their opinions.”
I asked Guhle what he would say to Dach.
“Nothing, really,” he said. “It’s part of it. I’m sure he knows he made a mistake and we just got to live with it and move on. We got a game tomorrow.”
Fans sometimes need to remember it’s only a game — and the players are human.
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