Go Canucks Go

So the weekend is upon us and this is a pretty special one in the Canadian calendar. It is Canadian Thanksgiving (more on that one later) but also the start of the NHL Hockey Season. Hockey is life in Canada (pretty much the same way football/rugby is in the UK) and I have pretty much no choice in who I can support during my time here in Canada. I LOVE the Mighty Ducks (Ducks Fly Together) but it is all about the Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks are the only MAJOR sporting franchise in Vancouver, they have no NFL, MLB or NBA teams. The Vancouver Whitecaps are part of the MLS (football) but I wouldn’t class this as a major sport in the US. Due to this that love/fanaticism for hockey is only enhanced. Despite this they have never won the national championships (the Stanley Cup) although they have got to the final twice. The last time, in 2011 the Canucks were beat at home by the Boston Bruins and it resulted in a mass riot throughout the city causing millions of dollars of damage to downtown Vancouver. Consider Canadians say sorry to you at every opportunity this was a big deal.

Sam’s eldest sisters (Charlotte) boyfriend Dave is the social media manager for the Canucks and he managed to get Charlotte 2 tickets for the season opener against the Edmonton Oilers. With Dave physically working the event I got the spare ticket! Wooo!

The Oilers are one of the most successful NHL teams famous for having the ONLY player I’d ever heard of (well apart from Coach Bombay) prior to meeting Sam in Wayne Gretsky. The Oilers and their young ‘whizz-kid’ 20 year old captain (Connor McDavid) are highly favoured this year so it was going to be a tough start for the Canucks despite their victory over the same opposition 2 weeks previously during pre-season.

After the beginning of the season introduction to the roster AND the standard Canadian national anthem (I don’t think that will catch on in the UK) its GAAAAMMMEEE TTTIIIMMMEEEE. The Canucks got off to the worst possible start conceding in the first 70 seconds but found their way back to eventually win 3-2. The Canucks are a young team and many think they have NO chance this season but you can only win a game at a time and they beat a highly fancied Oiler team.

#weareallcanucks