Hockey fans take on their friends in cyberspace

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Canucks will try to redeem themselves tonight against the LA Kings.

It’s only Game 2, but emotions are already running high among friends and foes of the Canucks, thanks to rampant trash talk on social media sites. When it comes to supporting their team, fans sometimes seem to take things too far in the Twittersphere and Facebook.

Psychologist Dr. Joti Samra is reminding fans during this playoff run that it’s just a game. “Really, whether a team wins or loses does not have an impact on our day-to-day life in a significant way. They get carried away.”

She knows fans can be passionate, but notes you should keep in mind what you say on social media can impact personal relationships.

“Things like Facebook, where you can unfriend somebody… It’s so quick and easy to get caught in the moment. Emotions are high, perhaps there is alcohol involved. To just do this knee-jerk reaction, that unfortunately can get misconstrued,” explains Samra.

She has this advice to ensure you don’t cross the line with a hurtful exchange of words:

“Take a deep breath. Anytime we have any intense emotional state we get this urge to just respond quickly and we do it without thought.”

The Canucks and the Kings are at Rogers Arena tonight; the puck drops at 7 p.m. Listen to News1130 for game updates every 10 minutes on the fives and goal alerts when they happen.

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