Everything Is Better With A Villain

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

Without Captain Hook, Peter Pan is a guy in green tights with a small knife playing the flute.

Without the Joker, and to a lesser extent the Penguin and Catwoman, Batman would be seen as a rich guy with some heavy abandonment issues, assaulting people in the street.

The point is everything is better when there’s a clear and identifiable villain – the world of sports is no different.

During the course of a long season, motivation is needed – and not just for players. Fans get much more excited when the Moncton Wildcats and Saint John Sea Dogs face off because it’s a clear and identifiable rivalry, each team’s fans can cast the other squad in the villain role.

That’s why this season has been made special for the Sea Dogs by the Shawinigan Cataractes and vice versa. I know some people get annoyed by going back and drudging up the 2012 Memorial Cup bid, but it was the start of something that made this season memorable.

After winning a President’s Cup and Memorial Cup, the Sea Dogs entered the year with not a lot to prove. After all, they were the champions. However, you can’t tell me the thought of not being the host team for the country’s biggest junior hockey showcase wasn’t still gnawing at management, players and fans.

From early in the season players were tweeting with the hashtag #RoadtoShawi while fans were booing the Cataractes with gusto at Harbour Station. As if getting back to a President’s Cup or a shot at being the repeat Mem Cup champs wasn’t enough, Saint John now had a chip on its shoulder.

In this regard, the team seemed to be taking on the identity of the city in which it plays. Saint John the city, often times, feels like it’s getting the short-end of the stick when it comes to politics compared to Moncton and, to a lesser extent, Fredericton. Basically, the city feels like it’s being disrespected and, in certain instances, you could argue it doesn’t get its due.

Losing the Memorial Cup bid had the same effect on the Sea Dogs and its supporters. Many felt they lost out to tradition and seniority rather than a superior bid.

Whatever your thoughts on the situation, the result was a clear and identifiable enemy. The same case can be made for Shawinigan with Saint John cast as the villain. Cataractes fans have been waiting a long time for the right to host and Saint John hasn't been in the league 10 years.

The fact that a rivalry was born so quickly is remarkable given the only really memorable moment between the two was the first few seconds of a Feb. 9, 2008 matchup won 6-4 by the Cataractes. Sea Dogs forward Brett Gallant dropped the gloves with Ashton Bernard two seconds into the game followed by Mike Thomas dropping Martin Baca two seconds later. A linesman tried to help Barca off the ice, but he was so dazed by the fists of Thomas he tumbled back to the ice taking the ref with him.

Before those four seconds and after it – until this season – there wasn’t much to speak of between the teams.

However, both squads seemed to find a level of contempt for the other very quickly. Front office wise, Catarctes GM Martin Mondou has called into question the Sea Dogs draft strategies while Saint John president Wayne Long is still waiting for the league to tell him why his club lost the Memorial Cup bid.

On the ice, the two squads have had some great games with playoff-like intensity. Then there was the trade deadline. Saint John brought in free agent Charlie Coyle from Boston University to bolster its already talented forward group. The Cataractes countered by trading for the best available defencemen in the form of Brandon Gormley, Morgan Ellis and Jonathan Narbonne. This essentially creates an offence versus defence battle, pitting two diametrically opposed forces against one another similar to the hero-villain dynamic.

The squads have played some very competitive games this season and are fighting for the Jean Rougeau trophy. Saint John will become the only team in league history to win the trophy three years in a row if they can hold on to top spot and Shawinigan is the only team with a chance to stop this.

This all bodes well for a potentially epic playoff series should the two meet in the President’s Cup final, however, 14 others teams will try and keep this from happening.

It’s upstart versus establishment.

Offence against defence.

McNulty versus Rawls (a good Wire reference is hard to pass up).

The one thing it’s not is boring.