You’ve heard the comparisons between Vancouver and Toronto, and it usually starts with the weather. Torontonians think it does nothing but rain in Vancouver, whereas we know that’s not only not true, but we know for a fact their weather truly sucks snowballs. They think we’re a bunch of lay-about hippies; we think they’re a bunch of corporate-ladder desk slaves. We climb mountains after work. Torontonians think being active outdoors means getting wasted on a patio. The differences go back over a century. We’re used to it.
But when it comes to Vancouver-born traditions being outright swiped by Toronto without due credit, I take issue. Here’s the deal: I happened to be in Toronto earlier this month, right in the middle of the Blue Jays franchise-tying winning streak. Fandom was at a fever pitch. Forty thousand fans madly cheered on the Blue Jays in the Skydome, many of them… waving white towels.
WHAT?!? Waving white towels?? Wait, that’s OUR thing! I tried to explain this to my father-in-law, a huge Blue Jays fan, decked out head to toe, and he balked: “Ah, c’mon guy, Vancouver didn’t invent the white towel thing, give me a break,” all while waving an obnoxiously-branded Blue Jays white towel in my face. The outrage!
Please allow me to give the history lesson of the white towel in sports culture once and for all:
It all started in the spring of 1982, during the plucky Vancouver Canucks’ surprise run to the Stanley Cup Final. “The Moment” happened amidst an extremely violent semi-final series against the Chicago Blackhawks during which the Canucks notched an incredible 285 penalty minutes in five games, still a team record for a playoff series (Tiger Williams himself was responsible for 51 of those minutes). In the middle of game two in Chicago, the Canucks were on the wrong end of four consecutive penalty calls. Their usually reserved, curly-haired head coach Roger Neilson grabbed a white towel from a trainer, draped it over the butt end of a hockey stick, and with his right hand, raised it towards the rafters. It was a mock surrender, and a silent, yet very loud, insult towards the referee. The game ended in a 4-1 loss for the Canucks, who stacked up 106 penalty minutes in just that one contest. The league was furious about the towel stunt, fining the Canucks $10,000.
However, the move galvanized our Vancouver Canucks faithful back home in Lotus Land. When the Canucks landed in Vancouver, the sight that met them at the airport in the glorious spring of ‘82 astounded them: a throng of maniacal fans greeting the team madly waved white towels. Coach Neilson had no idea what he started. At the next game in Vancouver, Canucks fans waved white towels throughout the stands in solidarity while roaring our upstart Canucks onto the ice into a white blizzard of noise.
It was a Canucks first: a universal symbol of surrender turned into an ironic rallying gesture for victory by a brilliant coach with a flair for the dramatic. “Towel Power” was born, and helped push the Canucks into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time ever, and has been a proud Canucks playoff tradition ever since. That fateful moment in Chicago is now captured forever in a Roger Neilson statue outside of Rogers Arena. Get a picture!
But here’s the funny thing: since “The Moment,” now 33 years ago, waving towels en masse in support of a team has slowly but surely caught on not only throughout the NHL, but throughout the entire North American major league sports world (often referred to as “rally towels”). Even to the fickle fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. Very little credit for starting the towel trend ever comes back Vancouver’s way. So go ahead and wave those towels all you want, Toronto and wherever else, but just remember this: Roger Neilson and the Vancouver Canucks fan base started Towel Power. That’s our thing.
Happy Canada Day, and GO CANUCKS GO!
Grant Lawrence is the author of The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of the Reluctant Goalie, which charts the course of the Canucks’ three trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
Author's note: apparently, some clarification is needed. I am begrudgingly aware that Pittsburgh Steelers fans used a yellow "rally towel" in the mid-1970's. However, the Vancouver Canucks were the first NHL franchise to do it, the first major league Canadian sports team to do it, and the first to use a white towel. "Towel Power" is a term specific to the Canucks. The Blue Jays are Canadian, and using a white towel. The sentiment still stands: hands off, Toronto!
