Fans braved economic woes and a January slump to support the Canucks in downtown bars last night as Vancouver claimed a 2-1 win over St. Louis.
At Speakeasy, celebratory spirits kicked off the game. While the bar was busy, it was far from overflowing. But the mood was upbeat, with folks erupting when Vancouver got an early lead, as Daniel Sedin knocked in the game’s first goal.
“The architecture of the Canuck’s goal scoring angles are awesome — the first line have these beautiful plays,“ said Daniel Belanger, who watched the game from the bar, Roberto Luongo’s Number One stitched across his back. “I think since Sundin has gelled with the team, things are different. We now have a solid line that’s able to complete plays.”
The team is riding high on 11 straight home wins — a fact not lost to the half dozen fans outside of G-Sport who stood to watch the second period unfold on a mounted big-screen TV.
A few blocks away at Two Parrots, servers clad in hockey jerseys passed around plates of wings. The packed room erupted as Sami Salo scored the ’Nucks second goal.
On Tuesday, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson declared April 14 Canucks Day — one of the factors that drew Kimura Nava, who’s visiting from Cancun, Mexico, to watch the game at Wings.
“This is my first playoff game, and my second day in Vancouver,” said Nava. “The game’s great so far — go Canucks go!”
