Canucks anthem singer: O Canada for Game 1 was a “goosebumpy moment”

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Elizabeth Irving is apparently liking the idea of group participation with the national anthem.

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Irving, who’s only 20 but has been singing O Canada at Vancouver Canucks’ games for a decade now, held up the microphone Sunday night for the crowd to belt out a few lines of the song before Game 1 of the opening-round playoff against the Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena.

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And it appears she could go that route again for Game 2 against the Predators tonight at Rogers.

“I did have it planned,” the Coquitlam native said Monday when asked adding that move to her usual repertoire. “It’s something that has been done before by previous anthem singers, by other anthem singers around the league. 

“It’s something (the anthem) I always thought was unique. The anthem isn’t necessarily a show. It’s a shared experience between myself and the fans in the building. To be able to share that moment with them was really important to me, and, honestly, it hit the nail right on the head because it was such a goosebumpy moment for everybody in that building.” 

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It was the Canucks’ first home playoff game since 2015 and the night brought the emotion. The players and coaches talked about the fan reaction and atmosphere after the game and during the off-day Monday.

Irving was the same, saying how singing the O Canada before an announced crowd of 68,781 at a Seattle Seahawks’ game earlier this season paled in comparison.

“Honestly, I’m at a loss for words,” she said of Sunday night. “It was one of those moments that you think could only happen in a dream and then it becomes a reality and it’s such a surreal experience.

“The energy was different. I’ve done hundreds of anthems at Rogers Arena by this point. No anthem was as special or magical.”

Irving says that her parents have told her that she was “singing before talking,” and that it was her “first way of communicating.” Her folks enrolled her at Lindbjerg Academy of Performing Arts, and her love of music has never wavered. She’s done musical theatre, she has her own YouTube channel.

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Older brothers Jamieson and Jonathan both played hockey growing up. She was a self described “rink rat,” and sports was always around the house. The national anthem mixed sports and music for her.

“I’ve always been a part of a family that’s very patriotic and seeing the anthem happen before a game was always cool,” she said. “It’s something I’ve thought from a very young age that ‘I want to be there, I want to do that.’

“For me, I think the anthem is such a special and pivotal moment before a game. I think it’s a moment where everybody in the crowd gets to come together and start the game off right. And it’s such a prideful moment. In a world where there’s a lot of separation and negativity, the anthem is about togetherness and positivity.”

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A 10-year-old Irving was singing the anthem before Coquitlam Express games — Jonathan was a winger with the team at one point — and that stint led to her trying out for a gig with the Canucks. She sang her first anthem at Rogers Arena on Nov. 2, 2014, when Vancouver hosted the Predators, oddly enough. She’s remained in the anthem singer rotation ever since.

She’s attending Capilano University, studying behavioural analysis, with working with people on the autism spectrum being her ultimate goal.

“It’s something that I can incorporate my music into, which, honestly, is the best case scenario for me,” she said. 

Mark Donnelly was known for having the crowd sing a portion of O Canada when he was doing anthems for the Canucks. The team cut ties with him in 2020 when he announced that he would be singing the anthem during a downtown Vancouver rally to protest COVID-19 restrictions.

@SteveEwen

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