Even before the puck had dropped in the Canucks season opener that saw Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»lose 4-3 in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night, the club began the season with regret and appreciation.
Prior to the start of Thursday's game at Rogers Arena, representatives of local law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, and citizens joined the players on ice in recognition of their contributions on the night of June 15 the night that saw the Canucks lose the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins and the citys downtown erupted in a corrosive riot.
Among the group of citizens on ice were off-duty nurses Lisa Snider, Jennifer McDuff and Dr. Lourens Perold who treated wounded spectators along Granville Street. Also on ice was Ward Grant, who first posted the message "On behalf of my team and my city, I'm sorry," on the plywood walls of the Hudson Bay Company.
For fans at Thursday's opener, the tribute played as the Canucks way of getting one major point across: we do, in fact, appreciate our fans.
In fact, fans are the heart of this seasons Heart of a Canuck campaign and season theme.
The theme, as announced Tuesday, is a season-long initiative to celebrate and share local stories of "courage, honour, humility, integrity and passion" in British Columbia.
"I think that's really nice way of saying thanks for pitching in and helping out," said Jocelyn Aspa, 27, a Canucks fan from Commercial Drive, of the pre-game tribute.
"The Canucks do appreciate their fans, these guys are leaders," said Sean Waldnon, 22, of Canucks players' various children's fundraiser initiatives.
For others, there was a little more to the tribute.
"I think it's a nice idea. I can see that being worthwhiletrying to grab the every-man [] but lets face it, there are some pretty smart guys in management," said Vig Rubin, 44, from Vancouver.
The Canucks had come under question for their role following the riot and to whether or not the franchise should have made a contribution to cleanup efforts.
In large part, the Heart of a Canuck theme, while intriguing in timing, remained mostly disassociated with the June 15 for fans at the opener.
"I suppose it, in some way, is pertinent to those events but I also think the Canucks have as much of a responsibility as the city of Surrey does," said Kevan Mackintosh, 29, of Mount Pleasant.
As a part of the campaign, the organization is launching a Local Heroes Program which asks fans to nominate individuals that have displayed the "Heart of a Canuck" in their B.C. community. The prize: Canucks game tickets.
For fans, while the campaign is an admirable initiative on the part of the organization, the focus of the season lies on the ice.
We could see it as something to aspire to. Obviously it's our goal to go back and take the cup this year, said Mackintosh. I think we have a really good shot at it."
Twitter: @kimiyasho
