Game for a game?

The excitement of watching the Canucks live

By Cheryl Minns, Arts Editor

If you like action and suspense, celebrities and drama, then forget the movies—the Vancouver Canucks offer that and more at their home games played at Rogers Arena. Anything can happen during a game, even an all-out line brawl during the puck drop, and some of the action will have you on the edge of your seat. While we’d all like to see a “W” at the end of the day, it’s hard to complain about going to a Canucks game because, after all, a hockey game is all about the experience.

Lately the Canucks have been undergoing a lot of changes, such as trading fan-favourite goalie Roberto Luongo and losing Daniel Sedin to a leg injury he sustained in the Heritage Classic game. But despite the setbacks and less enthusiastic crowds, the Canucks are still giving it their best effort and are well worth watching—at least that’s what this fan thought after taking in a weekend game.

Always among the highlights are the violent fights that break out in almost every game, much to the fans’ delight. Sometimes the fights look planned, like a rehearsed routine of throwing off the gloves and yanking on the opponent’s jersey, while other times various players will skate into an opponent or a group of them will charge the goalie. If anyone ever thought Canadians were polite, these games certainly disprove that theory—at least when it comes to hockey.

But with fights come injuries and substitute players such as Canucks prospect Darren Archibald, who’s filling in for Sedin. He’s no silky Swede, but he did score his first NHL goal on March 8, which shows the future of the team could be promising even while fans mourn the team’s loss of past favourites.

Luongo’s departure from the team wasn’t all that unexpected, but getting familiar with new starter, Eddie Lack, might take time as fans realize they can no longer be comforted by the idea of a Luongo shutting the door. That hasn’t stopped crowds from showing their support though, with cheers of, “Go, Eddie, go!” heard throughout the arena indicating that fans are trying to embrace the new future.

Canucks games are worth experiencing in-person at least once because the arena atmosphere of thousands of fans cheering for one last goal with only a few seconds left in the game is exhilarating and will definitely get you on your feet cheering your heart out. So if you’ve got some time and the necessary cash, get ready for a whole range of emotions as the Canucks score goals, pick fights, take penalties, and face-off against NHL competitors in their race to secure a spot in this year’s playoffs.