Vancouver suburb braces for Mother’s Day and Canucks viewing party
VANCOUVER — In the quiet and leafy Vancouver neighbourhood of South Cambie, best known for its botanical garden, playoff fever is about to set in.
The neighbourhood is expecting thousands of Vancouver Canucks fans for a viewing party today at Oak Meadows Park, as the team faces the Edmonton Oilers for Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoffs series.
The location, across the road from the VanDusen Botanical Garden and far from the city’s downtown core, is not exactly a nightlife hot spot.
That’s the idea — before announcing the location, Mayor Ken Sim had said he was aware of the city’s “history” with the playoffs that included downtown riots in 1994 and 2011.
The goal at Oak Meadows Park is not a drunken eruption of fandom — Sim said on Wednesday he wants to show that Vancouver fans can celebrate in a way that is “family-friendly, fun and safe.”
Not everyone is happy about the event, at least not with its timing, which coincides with what is one of the busiest days on the South Cambie calendar — Mother’s Day.
Shaughnessy Restaurant on the VanDusen grounds is one of the neighbourhood’s few restaurants.
Owner Chris Chatten said a viewing party is a great idea, but it is “poor timing” to have it on
Mother’s Day. The restaurant is expecting 800 people on its biggest day of the year.
“It’s probably the worst day they could have picked to have a viewing party starting and that’s frustrating,” said Chatten, who has run the restaurant for more than 40 years.
“Mother’s Day is the single busiest day of the year for the restaurant.”
He said VanDusen is also plenty busy on Mother’s Day, attracting thousands of admirers for its spring floral displays. “It’s very busy, and it just creates a huge traffic jam,” said Chatten.
Johnny Tsoukalas also is expecting a busy Mother’s Day at his Greek restaurant, Johnny’s On Oak, but he’s excited about the game, too.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit overworked, but everybody will be having a great time. Hopefully they win,” said Tsoukalas, a Canucks fan.
The restaurant was packed for Wednesday’s Game 1 of the Canucks-Oilers series. “Everybody was going crazy,” he said.
He said he is expecting another fun night today.
Vancouver police spokeswoman Const. Tania Visintin said the department “definitely” supported the idea of neighbourhood viewing areas. She said that “family-focused gatherings” are “more conducive to maintaining public safety.”
>Canucks, Oilers face off in Game 3 today, Sports, B section