There’s never been any doubt in my mind that a Stanley Cup win by the Canucks would be bigger in Vancouver than the Olympic men’s hockey gold.
Well, I shouldn’t say “never.” When I walked from my office at Granville and Cordova to our company’s Olympic hospitality lounge at Smythe and Expo Boulevard on the afternoon of Feb. 28, 2010, I had some doubt. Because that was freaking huge. Way bigger than I had ever imagined.
But I stuck to my guns during an office debate about this early in the playoffs. My colleague said no way the street celebrations would be as big as the Olympics; I said absolutely they would be bigger. I said so because I’m a Canadian and a Canucks fan (my colleague is not), and I know which championship I wanted more.
So here was Granville Street about two hours after Alex Burrows blew by Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara to score a wraparound 11 seconds into overtime last night at Rogers Arena:
– Vancouver Police Department
This was Game 2, mind you.
Before I write what I’m about to write, let me first appease the hockey gods my acknowledging that this could all still go sideways.
There.
Those shoulder-to-shoulder crowds downtown are the result of one simple fact: This city now officially believes this is going to happen. The only thing that can stop it is the Bruins’ somehow finding a way to score enough goals to win four of the next five against the Canucks. Even those of us who are intimately familiar with Canucks history will admit that is unlikely. What we saw last night was simply a city that doesn’t know whether this Cup will be won at home or on the road, celebrating a 3-2 win on its own turf on the last Saturday night of hockey season.
