I don't follow the NHL too closely, other than checking the Stanley Cup box scores in the newspaper and playing a hockey video game once in a blue moon, but...

I know it was a tough loss for Vancouver and all, but what does random destruction of property have to do with losing the hockey championship?

I will tell you.

There is a small terrorist group in Vancouver who did most of the destruction. Most people didn't have much to do with it, but were curious so a lot stuck around to watch. Those guys tried the same deal at the olympics, but luckily were neutralised. Unfortunately, this time they caused large amounts of damage to the city and its reputation.

Honestly, it had nothing to do with losing the game. They would have rioted anyways. The true fans had already gone home to cry about it, or had been gracious in defeat. Unfortunately, this group's actions have made Vancouver look like football hooligans, but for hockey.

There were two fatalities or critical injuries, depending on the story. One was a guy from Boston who got thrown off a bridge, and the other was a 6 year old girl who got injured by the crowds due to ignorance. All the rest have minor injuries or are completely safe.

As for property damage, about 16 cars were blown up, lots of windows smashed in stores and merchandise stolen, and a building or two were set on fire.

The rioting stopped at about 6 in the morning. I saw people on the morning news starting to clean the trash from the streets.

I'm happy that nobody I knew was hurt. It was pretty scary stuff. I live about an hour or two outside of Vancouver, and a lot of people at school went to watch the game, so I got a lot of first-hand accounts, and stories from those who stayed up to watch the news later than I did.

Please don't think badly of Vancouver.

One of the random tweets I saw summed it up pretty nicely, something about it basically just being a bunch of troublemakers who cared little about the game and just wanted an excuse to stir up stuff. And even after these incidents, there's still little doubt that Vancouver crime looks a whole lot nicer than what we have in Jacksonville...