Fans bring the party as Canucks win Round 1 in Stanley Cup playoffs

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The roof of Rogers Arena didn’t come off Friday night, but plenty of rivets were under tremendous pressure after the Canucks scored with 99 seconds left to win their first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup.

“And there weren’t even any players on the ice, that was crazy!” Donnie Chartrow said as he left the packed party to watch the Canucks’ Game 6 clincher.

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Outside, delirious fans were high-fiving and chanting “Silovs, Silovs, Silovs,” in honor of the Canucks’ rookie and third-string goaltender. Arturo Silovs who had just recorded a 1-0 shutout.

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Fans swarmed Global News reporter Troy Charles as he attempted to present his postgame report under a giant pillar with giant photos of quinn hughes and Thatcher Demko; It’s hard to believe his viewers at home could hear him.

It was a party atmosphere that started with a bang: the Canucks’ pregame presentation on the state-of-the-art scoreboard set the stage, followed by O Canada sung by Emma Currie and 18,000 fans exploding in noise at the opening showdown.

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Dave Babych, a Canucks alumnus who was on the team that lost in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, had turned on the siren to start the party and couldn’t move more than a meter or two between periods. across the esplanade before. another handful of fans wanted selfies with him.

“This is amazing,” Babych said. “When the Canucks asked me (to sound the siren) I thought a couple thousand fans might show up, it just shows the fan support this team has.”

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The club estimated that the 50/50 could reach up to $250,000, a figure they normally reach for regular season home games; Friday’s total was $312,740. Alcohol sales were down compared to live game nights according to servers, but the fact that tickets were $15 and puck drop-off was at 4pm meant it was very family-friendly.

When the Lion King’s Circle of Life song played and fans were asked to hold their little ones up, there must have been at least 300 babies and toddlers up, while the arena concourse had probably never seen so many parents carrying little ones. pink backpacks for your children. girls in a playoff game.

“I’ve been a club seat holder for 35 years and the atmosphere here is as good or better than any game I’ve ever sat in at the 300 Club,” Pete Morrish said between the first and second periods, in the observation party. with his family after his 24-year-old son Henri bought the tickets.

“This is great,” Henri said. “It’s fantastic to see so many fans come. “And the tickets were cheap.”

For Robin Morrish, it was her first viewing party: “From now on I’m going to every party I can get tickets for,” she said, “because it’s like being at a real game.”

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Ajit Bhatti was there with a large contingent from Surrey, which included his four- and two-year-old children.

“We’re big fans, it’s a great introduction for kids to become fans, and 4 o’clock is a great time to start, before the kids get tired.”

A Canadian flag so big it makes the Husky Maple Leaf station look like a shoulder patch made its way around the lower bowl, people were waving, it was easy to forget that you were watching TV, that there were no players on the ice below .

The only sad note was that Kieran Liversidge won’t be able to use his Game 7 tickets now.

Standing with a friend in Nashville Predators jerseys, fans booed good-naturedly as they passed between periods with the game still on the line.

“I’m a big fan of Pekka Rinne,” Liversidge said, referring to the former Predators goalie who was a Nashville star. “If he makes it to Game 7, I can be the villain again.”

On the other hand, Silos and the scorer Pius Suter They were heroes and thousands of Canucks fans went home happy, ready to attend a Game 3 party in the next round, when the Canucks will travel to Edmonton.

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