A Tim Thomas victory tends to be a sensitive subject in Vancouver.
The Florida Panthers goaltender returned to Rogers Arena on Tuesday for the first time since backstopping the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup victory over the Vancouver Canucks in 2011.
Florida won, 3-2, thanks in part to the Cats netminder stopping all three shootout attempts.
What is strange, though, Thomas' return and eventual triumph set off a Twitter war between the Canucks and their Pacific Division rival, the Edmonton Oilers.
It started with a Canucks tweet noting fans were taunting Thomas.
"THOOOOMAS, THOOOOOMAS, THOOOOOOMAS" #Canucks fans welcoming Tim Thomas back to Rogers Arena...
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 20, 2013
That led to the Oilers to jump in with a chirp.
@VanCanucks Who, him? pic.twitter.com/KF3SzVkQuG
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 20, 2013
The Canucks responded with some trash talk...
@EdmontonOilers - Maybe leave the trash talking to teams who make the playoffs? #sevenyeardrought
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 20, 2013
...then landed a jab by tweeting a picture of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward hoisting the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes defeated the Oilers in seven games in 2006.
@EdmontonOilers - Props on the jab though. We're actually big fans of goalies hoisting the Stanley Cup http://t.co/24PrRZRKmW
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 20, 2013
Edmonton, which has won five Stanley Cups, ended up with the last laugh. Vancouver has yet to capture a Cup in its 43-year history.
@VanCanucks You'll love this one then... Your turn? Oh wait... this is awkward... #sorry #hadtodoit pic.twitter.com/GpFuv6eVF8
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 20, 2013
The Florida Panthers ended up with the final say.
@EdmontonOilers @VanCanucks Yeah, him. pic.twitter.com/Mk0V9Y91BS
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 20, 2013
All because Florida's Thomas had a victorious return.
Erin Brown can be reached on Twitter @rinkside.
