Their attention was focused on Canada and the United States, but the crowd last night at the Metro Centre also came together to support a different, more distant nation.
Roughly 700 people attended Hockey Day for Haiti, a benefit event for the Canadian Red Cross in its efforts to aid the island nation devastated by last month’s earthquake.
The event began with a free family skate in the late afternoon, followed by an on-ice Canada Games demonstration, which featured everything from speed skaters to hockey players. The festivities then continued with a somewhat chaotic mascot hockey game.
But by the time the puck dropped in Vancouver around 8:45 p.m., all eyes were focused on the Silvervision screen at centre ice and the highly anticipated Canada-U.S. men’s hockey game. The stands on both sides of the red line were awash in red jerseys, face paint, and noise makers as about 400 fans took in the encounter.
While most in attendance would have preferred the game took place in front of them, the crowd showed no less enthusiasm than in Vancouver when Eric Staal scored Canada’s first goal midway through the first period.
Funds
Roughly $3,000 was raised for Haiti at yesterday’s event.
