Canucks rally to defeat Oilers 5-4 in Game 1 of playoff series
Canuckmania a boon to Island bars and pubs as NHL playoff buzz builds
Joel Chudleigh has seen how sports can affect the pub and bar business, from the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl in 2013 to the Toronto Raptors NBA championship run in 2019, and special licences to open in the wee hours for bleary-eyed World Cup soccer and rugby fans.
Now a rare Vancouver Canucks run in the NHL playoffs has ignited interest across the province, from Sooke to Salmo and Duncan to Dawson Creek.
Chudleigh, sales and catering manager of the Sticky Wicket Bar in the Strathcona Hotel, said there has been a “definite uptick” in people coming in on Canucks game nights during the playoffs.
“We have had to open up our Clubhouse section on game nights to accommodate the crowds,” said Chudleigh, who has been in the business for 52 years.
“These moments are always special because they show what sports means to a community. I mean, sports is in our very name.”
The term “community” is flexible. For Island sports fans, it stretches from the provincial — the Canucks and B.C. Lions — to the regional, with the Seattle Seahawks and Mariners, to the national, with the Toronto Raptors and Blue Jays.
The Canucks flag was raised this week outside the legislature by Premier David Eby and Canucks goaltending legend Kirk McLean.
At Christie’s Carriage House Pub, meanwhile, there are Canucks flags and banners.
“The Canucks run has been great for us,” said owner Brock Carbery, who is the uncle of Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery of Victoria, whose Caps were eliminated in the first round.
“I don’t even have conflicted emotions anymore,” he quipped. “There were no Capitals fans around here, anyways, other than us.”
The stakes are high as the Canucks look to end a 99-year drought — the 1925 Victoria Cougars were the last B.C. team to win the Stanley Cup.
During a recent game in the first round against Nashville, almost all eyes at The Lakes Restaurant and Bar in the Holiday Inn on Elk Lake Drive were trained intently on the Canucks.
It’s a scene repeated this spring in pubs and bars across the province, many of which have Canucks jersey and other merchandise prizes. Most fans watch from their living-room sofas, of course, but sometimes big games just call out for being watched in a crowd of people.
“The Canucks playoff hype has been big for us and is still building,” said Brandon Petraroia, general manager of the Waddling Dog Pub in Saanichton.
“The diehard fans have always been there, but we’ve noticed it’s the fringe fans that have come out of hiding and are coming out to watch games,” said Petraroia, whose family have been Canucks, Lions and Seahawks season-ticket holders since the 1980s.
While the Canucks made it far into the playoffs in 2021, pubs were closed then due to the pandemic.
Prior to that, Vancouver went out in the first round in 2015, so this swirl of excitement hasn’t happened since 2011, when the team went to the NHL final, where it lost to the Boston Bruins, resulting in riots.
Canucks fans are hoping for better this time.
VANCOUVER — Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm each scored and contributed a helper for Vancouver, while J.T. Miller and Conor Garland also found the back of the net. Carson Soucy registered a pair of assists
The Oilers took a 4-2 lead into the final frame, thanks to two goals from Zach Hyman, and one each from Mattias Ekholm and Cody Ceci. Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl both had two assists.
After registering just five shots in the first period, Vancouver outshot the visiting side 19-7 across the second and third.
The Canucks got 13 saves from rookie goalie Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner stopped 19 of 24 shots for the Oilers.
Edmonton was coming off six days rest after ousting the L.A. Kings in a five-game, first-round series. Vancouver eliminated the Nashville Predators in Game 6 on Friday.
An early penalty proved costly for the Canucks. Vancouver was called for too many men just 40 seconds into the game and Edmonton’s potent power play got to work.
Nugent-Hopkins sent Hyman a pass across the top of the crease and the winger unleashed a one-timer from a sharp angle, tucking the puck in under the crossbar for his eighth goal of the post-season at 2:11.
Edmonton was 1 for 1 on the power play and Vancouver went 0 for 3.
The Canucks had a prime opportunity minutes later when Garland sprinted down the ice on a breakaway and tried to chip a backhanded shot up and over Skinner’s pad. The goalie read the play and poked the puck out of harm’s way.
Edmonton went up 2-0 midway through the opening frame after Vancouver’s Ian Cole tried to bank a pass off the end boards, only to see Draisaitl scoop up the puck instead.
Draisaitl delivered a pass to Ekholm and the veteran defenceman launched a shot from above the faceoff circle, sending the puck soaring in over Silovs’ shoulder.
The assist was Draisaitl’s second of the game. He has points in all six of Edmonton’s playoff games this season, with five goals and seven assists in all.
The Canucks cut the Oilers’ lead to 4-3 during a stretch of 4-on-4 hockey midway through the third after Zadorov was called for cross-checking and Draisaitl was sent to the box for slashing. Brock Boeser sent a pass to Miller at the goal line and the puck bounced off Miller’s stick, then in over Skinner’s glove at 8:38.
Zadorov buried his third of the post-season 13:47 into the third with a long shot into the top corner that knotted the score at 4-4.
The crowd erupted 39 seconds later when Garland picked off a pass at centre ice and went oneon-one with Darnell Nurse. The winger fired a shot past Skinner from the bottom of the faceoff circle to put Vancouver up 5-4.