Sports

Playoffs raise riot memories as Canucks viewing parties announced – CBC.ca

Published

4 months ago

May 8, 2024

Simon Coutts remembers being “heckled” by passersby in 2011 as he boarded up his bike shop on Vancouver’s Robson Street before the Canucks’ Game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss to the Boston Bruins, which would spur hordes of drunken fans to riot.

Simon’s Bike Shop had been in business since 1986, and Coutts said the Stanley Cup riot in 1994 made him take precautions when the Canucks made the final again.

“In 2011, I was out on the street every day. I was watching the parties, watching the people,” Coutts said on Tuesday. “There were just too many people out of control downtown and there’s drinking and all sorts of stuff … and then I guess you could say all hell broke loose.”

That night is on his mind again as the Canucks begin the next round of the playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

WATCH | CBC archival footage of Vancouver’s 1994 and 2011 Stanley Cup riots

A look back at Vancouver’s 1994 and 2011 Stanley Cup riots

4 hours ago

Duration 1:17

In 1994 and again in 2011, chaos erupted in downtown Vancouver after the Canucks lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

He’s not alone in reflecting on Vancouver’s troubled relationship with the playoffs. Mayor Ken Sim acknowledged the riots at a news conference last month, saying the city had “a history” and they would need to make sure any playoffs viewing event would be very safe.

“We’re not just gonna say, ‘hey, let’s throw a party, this time’s gonna be different,'” he said.

“What we learned in the past was, that’s what they thought in 2011.”

Viewing parties

On Wednesday morning, Sim told reporters there would be a viewing party for Game 3 of the series on Sunday evening at Oak Meadows Park, and community centres and libraries were also looking into hosting events.

Sim said if the Canucks make it to the next round of the playoffs, there will be viewing opportunities at the PNE in East Vancouver.

Vancouver Coun. Pete Fry said the city wants to spread viewing parties throughout the city rather than force fans into the downtown core. Additionally, the plan is to keep it family-friendly.

“We’re hoping to meet people where they’re at,” he told CBC News.

The City of Vancouver will host a viewing party for Game 3 of the Canucks-Oilers playoff series at Oak Meadows Park on Sunday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

He said past riots are on the city’s mind, which is why there won’t be a “big activation” right downtown.

Other Metro Vancouver cities, including Delta, Maple Ridge and New Westminster, have already made plans for playoff viewing parties.

Ian Tostenson, CEO of the B.C. Restaurant & Foodservices Association, said in an interview that he supports the Vancouver mayor’s “cautious approach” to Stanley Cup celebrations given the city’s “track record.”

“Big events like FIFA and big concerts and stuff, we’re able to do that really well,” he said. “I just worry that if we just kind of recklessly sort of go throw some TVs up and invite, you know, 20,000 people on Georgia Street again, I just predict there’s going to be trouble somewhere.”

He said holding another large public viewing party downtown carries risks because if “something goes terribly wrong, it’s just going to set us back years and I think we’ve made some progress here.”

WATCH | Former police chief reflects on Stanley Cup riots:

Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riots, 10 years later

3 years ago

5:49

Ten years after the streets of Vancouver were flooded with rioters after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, Ian Hanomansing talks to the former police chief about that night and the role cellphones played. He also catches up with a couple who went viral after being photographed kissing on the ground.

‘A different atmosphere’

On June 15, 2011, the day of Game 7, a Vancouver Police Department spokesperson said there was “a different atmosphere” in the city compared with 1994, and that police were confident there wouldn’t be another riot after the success of the Olympics a year before.

A report produced after the 2011 riot, entitled “The Night the City Became a Stadium,” laid out how those predictions went up in flames.

“Vancouver tried to do a good thing and found itself in an almost impossible situation,” said the report, commissioned by the province and the City of Vancouver. “There were too many people, not too few police. No plausible number of police could have prevented trouble igniting in the kind of congestion we saw on Vancouver streets that night.”

Report authors John Furlong and Douglas Keefe said alcohol and binge-drinking that night “were like gasoline on a fire.”

“Alcohol fuelled nasty behaviour and triggered law-breaking that surprised and galled us all.”

Police combed through CCTV video and asked the public for help in identifying suspects, resulting in hundreds of criminal charges.

‘No one wants a repeat’

Coutts says he remembers the fires, the broken windows at The Bay, London Drugs and a neighbouring pizza shop — and the “intense” moments when rioters tried to pry off the plywood he’d put up to protect his bike store.

He said his daughter called him “bawling,” imploring him to come home, but he stayed to protect the store.

Police confront rioters in downtown Vancouver on June 15, 2011. (Geoff Howe/Canadian Press)

For Coutts, lingering memories of the 2011 riot make him think a “big party” isn’t a good idea, but the family-friendly indoor viewing parties for away games at Rogers Arena have been both controlled and successful.

“Right now, my feeling is a good feeling, so I don’t have the same feeling I had last time,” he said. “No one wants a repeat.”

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

5 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

6 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

6 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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