ICE HOCKEY:VANCOUVER CLEANED up yesterday morning after a riot swept through the downtown area when the city's team lost the National Hockey League championship, and officials began the more difficult task of trying to rebuild the city's international reputation.
Boarded-up store windows and scorched pavement where cars – including two police vehicles – were burned offered evidence for morning commuters of the rampage the night before by several hundred, mostly young and drunk, people.
On a board over a window at the Hudson’s Bay department store, someone had painted: “On behalf of my team and my city I’m sorry.”
The violence began to erupt in the closing moments of the game that saw the Vancouver Canucks lose 4-0 to the Boston Bruins in the deciding seventh game of the Stanley Cup series which Vancouver had been favoured to win.
The immediate financial damage of the vandalism was still being calculated, but news reports of the incident dented the positive image the Pacific Coast city had built last year when it staged the Winter Olympics.
Police have not disclosed the number of arrests or injuries. There were no reports of fatalities, although a man was badly hurt when he fell from a bridge close to where the violence occurred.
Thousands of people had jammed into the heart of downtown Vancouver in the hopes of celebrating the Canucks’ first Stanley Cup win, just as they had when Canada’s men’s hockey team won the gold medal at the Olympics last year.
But instead of a street party, the scenes brought back memories of a riot that erupted when Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup finals in 1994 and groups of mostly young men threw bottles, attacked cars and smashed store windows.
City officials had expressed confidence that post-game activity would not become a repeat of the 1994 mayhem because of the city’s Olympic experience.
But police quickly lost control of events, even after firing tear gas and pepper spray. A Reuters reporter saw at least a half dozen cars burning or destroyed by fire. Many more had been overturned or had their windows smashed by people jumping on them. Several stores were looted or damaged.
In contrast, the triumphant Bruins returned home to cheers from fans after winning their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.
The city will hold a victory parade tomorrow to celebrate a championship season that was capped by Wednesday’s 4-0 Game Seven victory.
Captain Zdeno Chara hoisted the 35lb trophy over his head when the Bruins’ flight arrived at Logan International Airport, and again when the team arrived by bus at the TD Garden arena in Boston’s North End to cheers from waiting fans.
“It’s awesome. It’s an amazing feeling. We are so happy and thrilled. It’s unbelievable. I’m so happy for the whole city and the whole organisation,” said Chara, who at 6ft 9in is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL.
Bruins fans, starved of a victory for decades, poured onto the streets around the stadium after Boston clinched the cup.
“It feels great. It’s a little surreal and I don’t think it’s totally set in yet,” said a tired-looking Tim Thomas, the Boston goalie who became only the second US-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup play-offs.
The Bruins join a winning tradition in New England, where all four major professional teams have won championships in the past decade.
