Canucks Playoff Atmosphere is Unbeatable

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Despite the Canucks losing in game four of their second round series to the Edmonton Oilers, it was somewhat a positive day for me yesterday. Yes, I was disappointed that the Canucks lost last night, but this was also my first NHL playoff experience. Although it was a watch party with no actual hockey happening on Rogers Arena ice, I was absolutely blown away by how much Rogers Arena was buzzing last night.

The puck hadn’t even dropped yet but the fans attending the watch party didn’t care. I don’t know if you know this but did you know that the Canucks still play “Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2 even at away game watch parties? I, of course, knew that so I was so hyped when I heard that iconic intro start playing. I was telling my friends before the game how hyped I was going to be when they played “Where The Streets Have No Name”. When that intro hit, it felt like I was a kid again watching some early 2010s Canucks playoff hockey. To witness that intro in person, it’s just something that dreams are made of.

Not even that, the puck still hadn’t dropped yet, and Canucks PA announcer, Al Murdoch, started reading the starting lineup for the game and when he announced Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs, Rogers Arena just popped. I have never heard or should I say felt a pop like that ever in my life before. It was pretty much like that for every name he announced. During the anthem, the fans there were just belting out every word of the Canadian anthem. Witnessing that kind of thing just puts a smile on your face.

Then finally, the puck dropped. But of course, the Oilers had to score 11:10 minutes into the first period to suck out the energy of Rogers Arena. At intermission, the score was 1-0 for Edmonton, but many fans there still had hope for their Canucks to tie the game. Nearing the end of the second period, the score remained 1-0 for the Oilers and it was looking like it was going to stay that way going into the second intermission but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had to snipe it past Arturs Silovs to double the Oilers’ lead and suck out the energy even more from the Rogers Arena crowd.

But did we give up hope during the second period? Nope. We all still had hope in the Canucks to pull off a comeback. They’ve done it before in this series, so we all thought it was very possible. It was looking more likely because Conor Garland brought the energy back inside the Rogers Arena crowd. Fans, including me, were waving their rally towels like madmen. I was waving my towel so fast my arm got tired in probably 30 seconds. The arena was buzzing and all you saw in the stands were fans waving their towels. It was pretty much a sea of white. And the noise level was crazy. I’ve been to Canucks regular season games and when they scored a goal I thought it was pretty loud but compared to when Garland put the puck in the back of the net last night, it’s just incomparable.

This brought even more hope back into the fans as the Canucks brought the score back within a goal. With less than 5 minutes to go in the game, coach Rick Tocchet decided to empty his net. Rogers was buzzing in the final minutes but then, guess who stepped up to bring Rogers Arena off their feet? None other than Dakota Joshua. Honestly, my voice is still recovering from how much I was screaming because of that goal. I’m sure I’m not the only one whose voice is still recovering. That goal was probably the loudest pop of the night.

However, that happiness didn’t last long as a minute later, Evan Bouchard had to break all of the hearts of the fans that were attending the watch party. I sat in silence for the next ten minutes. Although the Canucks couldn’t get it done in game four, I am still very happy that I got to witness the closest thing to Canucks playoff hockey action. I will probably cherish that night for the rest of my life.

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