Which is worse: The stench of defeat, or the taste of tear gas?

It's probably a stretch to call Vancouver the epicenter of evil in the world, when there are cities like Tehran, Pyongyang, Beijing and Northfield that can compete for the title, but the little Canuckers really made a bid for the top spot Wednesday night.

First, their hockey team completed an epic collapse in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, losing 4-0 to the Boston Bruins.

(The Bruins, by the way, were picked to win the Cup back in April here, by a pretty astute blogger. Read down to the last paragraph. I'm just sayin'....)

While the soulless Canucks stretched it out to seven games, it was pretty obvious Boston was a better team. After Vancouver opened the series by sneaking out a pair of one-goal wins, the Bruins won four of the last five games by a combined score of 21-4. The series may have turned in Game Three, when Canuck defenseman Aaron Rome took a typical Vancouver cheap shot and sent Boston's Nathan Horton to the hospital with a concussion. Horton was unable to return, and the same can be said for Rome, who received the longest suspension (four games) in the history of the Cup Finals. From that point on, the Bruins pretty much dominated.

Then, after seeing their team lose 4-0 Wednesday, the always-classy Canuck fans stood in their arena and booed the presentation of the Stanley Cup. Some Canadians I heard on ESPN Radio were quick to claim they were only booing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, but that's a flat-out lie. After Bettman handed the Conn Smythe Trophy (for playoff MVP) to Boston's Tim Thomas, and after he then handed the Cup to captain Zdeno Chara, they kept right on booing as the Bruins enjoyed the traditional skate around the rink. It was a pathetic, classless display.

(I think I have a little extra credibility on this subject, because oldest son Travis and I were in Met Center in 1991 when the Pittsburgh Penguins hammered the North Stars to clinch the Stanley Cup. We stayed in our seats, watched the presentation, and applauded Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and the others as they paraded the Cup around our rink. The fans at the Met had an appreciation for the history of the Cup, and for what we had just witnessed.)

At the same time, according to Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun, Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini was "directing the same coarse, four-letter obscenity repeatedly at reporters" trying to interview him in the locker room.

Not content with making asses of themselves IN the building, the Canuckleheads went outside and began torching their own city. Now, I think the question of whether Vancouver SHOULD be trashed is a fair one, and worthy of discussion, but it's pretty unusual for the natives to begin the work themselves.

Above and below are some nice photos from the Vancouver Sun, showing the fans tipping over a car, celebrating the burning of a pickup and generally behaving like savages. Stores were looted, riot police were brought in, tear gas was put to its intended use. Vancouver General Hospital declared a "Code Orange" and began triage on the wounded. Perhaps someday order will be restored.

I'm actually kind of glad to see it, because some people think I've been too harsh on Vancouver and Satan's Team over the years. I think Wednesday night demonstrated that I've actually been too kind to this pile of jerks.

Stay classy, Vancouver.