Minutes after Zdeno Chara lifted the Lord Stanley's Cup well above his head, angry Canucks fans took to the streets and began flipping cars and setting fires.
Shortly thereafter, horrific pictures surfaced on the internet, erasing the stereotype for many that Vancouver was a calm, polite city.
Some fans and writers, though, are out to gain back some respect.
A number of fans wrote letters to the Boston Globe apologizing to the city of Boston and one columnist echoed similar thoughts.
"I would like to congratulate the Boston Bruins on a game well played for the Stanley Cup," Lindy Bellamy, a Canucks fan from Abbotsford, British Columbia, wrote to the Globe. "And most of all I would like to apologize to the Bruins hockey team and the people of Boston for the outrageous behavior and disgusting sportsmanship shown by a small few that caused so many problems in riots in the city of Vancouver after the game."
Another Vancouver fan shared similar thoughts in a letter to the Globe.
"These are not hockey fans," Sarah Forrest wrote. "These are trouble makers who would have rioted whether we lost or won the game. The true fans of Vancouver are disgraced by what is going on in our city."
Esteemed Vancouver Sun columnist Cam Cole went into more detail.
"Most of the hundreds of thousands who crammed into streets, lined up for last-minute liquor or to get into watering holes, were too young to have suffered all 39 previous years of Canuck disappointments, but they were ready to erupt, nonetheless — in joy or sorrow, delirium or anger, depending what transpired up on the giant screens scattered through the downtown area.
"Now we know which way it went," he added. "Shame on us."
