West Kelowna man wins $700,000 in record Canucks 50/50 draw

A lucky Vancouver Canucks hockey fan likely cheered up after the team’s Tuesday loss to the Kings when he won more than $700,000 in the 50/50 draw.

The jackpot hit more than $1.4 million, making it a new 50/50 draw record.

The Canucks said it’s believed to be a new world record for the largest 50/50 raffle.

The winning ticket holder was Gordon Schimpf of West Kelowna.

According to a Canucks news release Wednesday, Schimpf bought the winning ticket online at Canucks.com/ online5050 and gets a prize of $706,815.

The rest goes to Canucks For Kids, which helps children’s charities, including the Canucks Autism Network, Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.

“The biggest winners are the children and families from the Canucks Autism Network, Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation,” said Paolo Aquilini, president of the Canucks for Kids Fund in a statement.

Part of the reason for the record draw was that as of Nov. 20 tickets for the draw are available online at canucks.com/online5050.

Ascend Fundraising Solutions, the company that provides the system that runs the 50/50 sales, also donated $500,000 to the draw.

The previous record was the $1,014,555 raised at Rogers Arena during the Sedin twins’ final game.