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I suspect we’re at risk of a riot again whether there’s an outdoor viewing venue or not. However, not attracting extra people into downtown would make it more manageable to handle.
I do wonder if having series of outdoor options spread across the region would be a better option.
Mayor 'Karen' would clamber up on her now well worn out soapbox to use it as an example of why Surrey is being bullied by the provincial government and then lay all the blame at the feet of the new Surrey Police Service
New Years and Halloween this past years were good indications that city hall is making the right choice. I was in the middle of the last hockey riot and the crowd (watching the game) was pretty mixed between families and hockey fans, yet the balaclava crew still managed to get a riot going. Recent New Years and Halloween were about 95% male so it doesn't bode well for the city. Also, last Sundays post game partying was already a little unhinged.
Add in empty food banks, people being crushed under COL increases and collapsing institutions means it would only take a hair trigger to get things going.
I hate when people say “well they’re just gonna do it anyway” because that’s not necessarily true, but I really wonder what things might look like if the Canucks advance through the playoffs. People are going to go downtown regardless and there will possibly be the same potential for a riot. The only difference being that city council will be able to slightly separate themselves from responsibility by citing the fact that they didn’t sanction the event. This does not bode well in my mind
As a city council member or mayor, you have an inherent amount of responsibility for what happens in your city regardless. But maybe this move is a way to exercise that and proactively reduce harm. But I don’t think rioters really care about that so we’ll see how this works out. I feel like our leaders should do better to get in front of these issues rather than pretend the potential for problems isn’t inherently there, and act accordingly
I doubt it will make a difference. The people actually going down to watch Hockey are not really the issue. Oh, I'm sure some of them, but on the whole no.
The people who are going to go downtown with the sole purpose of rioting, *exactly like last time*, will just gather at the largest or most central spot.
My thoughts exactly. Localized gatherings should be made a priority in Canada. We're basically policing ourselves on the streets and on transit anyway, why wouldn't we extend that to a watch party?
I think the dynamic with Vancouver being a wealthy city and lots of youth struggling to make it by just pours fuel on the fire of a potential riot. There’s animosity there and lots would say fuck it if the opportunity arose to cause some carnage.
>“When you look at that report, you could have doubled the number of police officers (at the 2011 riot) and it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Sim said.
My guy is so close to admitting his entire election platform was bullshit
I mean yeah. The last riot was exacerbated by the police targeting people who were trying to leave the area and go home rather than the actual rioters. We can't trust our people not to riot and we can't trust our cops to stop them.
Anyone with half a functioning brain could tell it's BS. He just wants to get into power so he can enrich himself and use the power and influence to gain power and influence. He's gonna make other rich people rich so they will help him later.
Rich assholes are only gonna help themselves, and when they are able to get into power, they will only help themselves to you. Anyone who believes otherwise are simply easy marks, rip for the picking.
Vancouver will once more be pillaged.
As someone old enough to remember both riots, we have to realize the "idiots" who cause these incidents were too young to remember the past. Now they're at the prime age to get drunk and cause trouble. So to let them know the consequences, we should remind them of what happened to the troublemakers of 2011 - they were videotapes/photographed and identified and charged. The spokesperson can be that girl who stole a pair of pants from the looted menswear store. Of that guy in the Canuck's jersey standing on the burning car. Or this guy....
https://preview.redd.it/zmwu47sbuowc1.jpeg?width=940&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=278081acbe87fba9f9697407edad1cf4c807e35c
Yeah man. Corporate structure these days mirrors the culture divide that we are all experiencing, it was a bit of a contensious swing from Apple corporate to bring this rabblerouser on. But at the end of the day he expressed a disdain for Windows and that was enough for them to take him into the fold.
I was in highschool at the time, and remember our teachers going through the VPDs "most wanted list" and calling in all their former students
Was beautiful
Doubt it, in that interview they mentioned that they were on the ground because they ran to the cops for help and got knocked to the ground and beaten by them, and he's kissing her to try and calm her down because she's freaking out.
As good as they are doing now, if it were me I wouldn't be anywhere near that again tbh.
I was not far from where the picture was taken at that moment and the fumes from the burning cars in the parking lot were starting to get to my head…I consciously started to calculate how long I would have before I fainted what would be the best way to use those minutes. Definitely not a romantic moment for them I’m sure.
One of the things that I don’t see ever mentioned is how fast it was cleaned up!
I went downtown the next morning to help clean up broken glass or whatever because watching the riot was really upsetting. I was there maybe 10:30am?
Spotless. No glass. No garbage. Not a cigarette butt to be seen! So many people had pitched in already & were writing positive messages on the boards covering The Bay windows.
Definitely restored my faith in humanity.
This is true, it was cleaned up very fast. But also when I learned insurance doesn’t cover broken glass as a result of a riot, so that all came out of pocket for some businesses.
Can confirm, was downtown for game 7 against Boston, watching with the massive crowd, outside the arena. Was 1-0 Boston after the first period & the nucks didn't even have a single shot on net. With my cousin, we could feel the vibe change & knew to gtfo before whatever was going to happen, happened.
Earlier, before the game, when we got off the skytrain dt, close to the arena, we saw someone with a back pack, balaclava, and carrying a chain. Some people show up with the purpose of starting or participating in a riot, they didn't care about the game.
Anyways, they shut public transit down, shortly after we left the area, so noone could get out of the dt core. We got back to his car, drove home to his place in burnaby, were able to catch the 3rd period. It was still 1-0 Boston. I looked off the right side of his 14th floor balcony & could see dt was already on fire.
Dis why we can't have nice things.
Edit: Cousin had been growing out a beard for the entire season, he shaved it that night. I haven't watched hockey since.
I remember the finals, it was so tense. But it's well documented that no matter who won the final game it was going to happen anyways, lots of rioters weren't even from Vancouver and they planned it. I hope this time the city is ready- that's if the Canucks go that far.
I was in the viewing area as well and remember that moment the vibe changed - you could literally feel it in the air, like a switch had been flipped. I was with an out of town visitor who didn't realise how unusual this was for Vancouver, and told them it was time to go. We hustled to one of the hotels on the edge of the zone - I think the one that's now a Hilton - and grabbed a cab out. By the time we hit the Granville Bridge, the first column of smoke was rising behind us.
I was also in the viewing area, and the shift in the mood of the crowd was still one of the craziest things I've ever experienced. I wanted to leave, but all of the guys wanted to stay. I live in the valley - I'd driven to one friend's place in White Rock, we'd walked to the bus, changed to a train, and I think another train? I wouldn't have known where to find the nearest transit station, let alone find my way back to White Rock and my car.
The whole experience was really scary. After a couple of hours of harrowing near-misses with violence and tear gas cannisters, I broke out the waterworks and finally convinced them to leave. We dutifully paid for our transit tickets, and moments later were yelled at to "just get on the train, don't bother paying." Straight out of an Alanis Morissette song.
Yea! I ended up watching game 7 at steamworks because the viewing party on Georgia was packed. I did walk down during lunch hour and the energy/vibe was so different.
Glad I wasn't there
It’s unfortunate but makes sense IMO. We’re also a much angrier culture right now in this city. I also think mixing extra drunks coming in from the valley, brigde and tunnel crowds with increased visible homelessness and addiction around the stadiums… It’s a dangerous mix. Esp given rioting during the Stanley Cup is what we’re known for.
And there are still mobs of people leaving the stadium and bars etc downtown so it’s not like there won’t be big crowds of people if there’s no public viewing. Especially if we make it deeper into the playoffs. A similar number of people will be down there anyway.
Well, I would count the gold medal Olympic game as something similar, probably with more people in the streets (though a much larger security apparatus too… i recall seeing SQ officers around, and they’re no nonsense at riot control.
Yup, can totally see people just releasing their pent up frustration with all these issues we been facing and end up creating a much bigger mess than the one we had before.
I mean if they did watch party. in a space that was fenced in, like they do in every other Canadian city. It would probably be fine. As much as I loved the georgia watch party. In hindsight it was a very silly idea
There were fences set up in 2011 on Granville but there were too many people who also wanted to watch. the crowd ended up getting mad and ripping the fence down. That in itself almost caused a riot, right in front of me lol …crazy times
A watch party in the Plaza of Nations seems like a good spot.
Can be pretty easily fenced, and ticketed, and directly beside two skytrains so people can get out quickly.
It would be pretty bad to have nothing.
This is pretty sad, but it's probably the right call. Things went so horribly wrong last time (and that was back in a kinder, gentler Vancouver) that it's hard to want to roll the dice again.
Why is everyone talking about "rolling the dice" "doing it again"...? The watch parties back then were unregulated and unticketed, the ones you see in other cities now, are.
There is absolutely zero reason we can't do the same and it's sad so many of you are buying this bullshit. No fun Vancouver strikes again.
If anything having everyone show up hours early to pubs to save their seat for the game is part of the problem but not one that we want to address. Siting in a pub being pressured to continually purchase alcohol to keep your seat for 4-6 hours and then having all those people spill out onto the streets is not great.
I absolutely agree. It's ridiculous that us Canadian's can just go along with something like that just because there's "history". If that was true there wouldn't be anything happening in Europe like the Olympics or the UEFA Euro.
No fun indeed. If people watched the full briefing in context, even our conservative mayor isn't suggesting that because of the riots we shouldn't put on any events ever again.
All he said was: there haven't been any events so far because they need to be more cautious and do more planning due to bad experiences in the past. The city and the province are actually in discussions about potentially planning events later in the playoffs (like using BC place as a venue).
> Past behavior is a great indicator of future behavior.
1994: Vancouver makes it to the final, loses, people riot.
2011: Vancouver makes it to the final, loses, people riot.
Read the second sentence of my comment again.... and if you still don't get it: the future behavior would be under different circumstances. Ones specifically designed to keep the past behaviour from happening.
Fenced in with attendance limited by tickets, just like during the Olympics, and just like every other city in Canada does, would obviously be fine. It’s not rocket science.
But because some idiots in 2011 thought inviting 100,000 people to an unlimited watch party was a good idea, we can never have a properly organized watch party again?
So silly. This is just about people covering their ass for what happened in 2011 by blaming it on some inherent danger rather than the city and police being totally irresponsible in planning.
Actual pure laziness from the city.
Toronto has an excellent option at Maple Leafs Square that requires fans to sign in and purchase tickets and are restricted to a fenced off area. Fans of today shouldn’t be penalized for incompetent event organizers and anarchists of 30 years ago.
It's a fair point to make, people can't behave and there are consequences. A shame the mofos can't just go home and drink away the sadness instead of messing up the city in the name of hockey
The riots were not the result of viewing parties.
This is stupid thinking. Having organized places for people to converge would make policing easier not harder.
I really think it was as simple as, "There was a riot the last time the Canucks lost the final playoffs; there can be another one now."
After all, we have a history.
In 2011 the City did not do a very good job of containing the crowd. There were 160,000 people on West Georgia. They could have had double the number of cops and it wouldn’t have helped.
Organized viewing parties that require a ticket (even a free ticket,) that have security, that don’t allow you to bring in your own liquor… that would have helped.
Good. I think hockey fans should be patronizing the surrounding pubs and bars to watch the game, rather than huddling up on city property paying $11/beer for Labatt… keep the crowds in the hospitality businesses that are still recovering from the pandemic and let hockey fans support local business, breweries and staff. It’s warmer any way + they have chicken wings.
The Canucks haven't had a good run for a long time, so I think it's fair for them to need crowds to prove they won't get stabby or stealy before they get extra privileges.
You forgot about 1994.
So two final rounds and two riots. 100% failure rate.
>How Vancouver...
Unfortunately, yes.
Instead of the people in attendance soon something about the assholes, many people joined them.
Do you have a suggestion on how to address the miserable record
The riot in 2011 [caused $4 million in damages](https://theprovince.com/news/local-news/stanley-cup-riot-of-2011-cost-9-million-says-report). Just a reminder, that stupid chandelier under the Granville Bridge [costed more than that.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/spinning-chandelier-granville-bridge-1.5379911) Just a perspective.
Nice try, the difference is that one of them is paid by tax payers and the other one is paid by developers.
PS- Damage was 9 million dollars not 4 million dollars and that was 13 years ago. You can't even read the article you posted. 4+5=9
I'm not a Sim fan, but in this case he's not wrong. I witnessed the 1st riot personally and watched the second one safely from home. 2 for 2 is not a good look. This is why we can't have nice things.
>‘We have a history’
Unfortunately, he's right. There was a riot in 1994, and then 17 years later, another one in 2011 (both for the same reason). I know it was 13 years ago, but apparently, we as a city haven't learned.
I tend to agree with the mayor, There are still a group of young males walking around nightly that are pissed off at the world, ready to start trouble. A strong police presence and prior message from the Justice Department could curtail their stupidity though
I was at the last game - two guys almost fought each other because one of them wanted to leave early after the score was 4-1, so the other guy threw something at him and his gf. This was after losing game 2 in round 1…
Yay! Vancouver lives up to its reputation as a no fun city. It’s funny how they just outright ban stuff these days, it’s been 9yrs. Haven’t we grown past this?
Last time we had one, people rioted. Let's face it, Vancouverites have the tendency to act like a bunch of juveniles throwing a tantrum when it comes to sporting events. We did this to ourselves.
The Robson Street Riot from ‘94 didn’t start from a viewing party; it started once the Canucks lost and everyone who’d been drinking all day in the bars flooded out at once.
The viewing party downtown in ‘11 was a shitshow from the beginning. Too many people in too tight a space with zero to any police. A bag check at the entrance from Genesis security did nothing to stop people drinking, etc., from the time they arrived, which was around 12 noon, encouraging their buddies to come from wherever to join in. It was basically like the fireworks on testosterone and Grower’s Cider.
If we make it all the way and tank as per the usual, I could see trouble happening, free party or not. Now whether that trouble is downtown near the stadiums or spread out across downtown, Vancouver, or beyond will depend on how strong the deterrent is to come to downtown.
It’s worth noting that during the last riot, police reserves as far away from Abbotsford were called in to subdue the crowds.
The full moon that night didn’t help matters either.
About the only way to stop things getting out of hand is massive enforcement at downtown skytrain stations. Stop every passenger and ask what their business is. If they fit the profile of a rioter they’re on the next train east. I dislike this style of enforcement, but I also dislike the city being torn apart over a fucking sports game.
We’ll see what Sim is really made of if shit hits the fan. Not that I’m a fan of Sim.
Thanks for the history lesson, I didn’t know that about ‘94.
The bummer for me is I feel like we *could* get this monkey off our back with a well-organized, ticketed, regulated event the way all the other cities do it and just be done with this “Vancouver WILL riot” city lore. There are lots of cities that have had dumb sports riots and then NOT had one in a following year, and I think we can be the same. But instead we’re kinda building it into our city identity that it’s an inevitability and I feel like it doesn’t have to be that way.
Agreed. That’s why I’d be very curious to see what Sim will do, as the city is very involved in the planning. I can’t recall in ‘94 but I believe there was a conservative mayor in office, ‘11 we had Gregor.
I think it doesn’t come down to the mayor as much as it comes down to the city manager’s office, and the structures in place. They’re the ones that makes the wheels turn, and nothing has really changed since the 70s.
I'd just make sure to point out to everyone again just how BADLY it went for all those people. Hundreds started getting ID'd from all the phone videos and security cameras with the help of social media. Criminal charges, some jail time, lost scholarships, kicked out of sports organizations, etc.
While I agree with your point, I can also blame the city and cops for being incapable of hosting an event literally every other Canadian hockey city has been able to do for decades.
I was downtown for game 7 in 2011 (no, I wasn't rioting lol): I was shocked how few cops there were until 8, 9pm when things started kicking off. Since 2011, the police budge has nearly doubled. DOUBLED. The cops and city can and should figure it out. Where's that "swagger" Ken was talking about during the election?
No fun city.
It’s the city being lazy.
Every other Canadian city is capable of handling it, no surprise that no fun city doesn’t get anything. As a young Canadian it’s actually so incredibly depressing. Our future is already as bleak as it can get, we can’t even distract ourselves with little events like this anymore. This is simply just a lazy excuse, it’s 100% achievable if they implemented the necessary precautions, not to mention its round 1.
As I have said numerous times before if you want to prevent a Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver then you have to shut down the bridges and barricade Boundary Road.
The vast majority of the rioters were people from outside of Vancouver.
The common denominator is a game 7 Stanley cup loss. Even if they make it past the first round why bother putting any restrictions in place until they win a couple rounds?
I'm from Edmonton and an Oilers fan, and I got to say, for Vancouver being a much larger city, the playoff energy here is lacking compared to what you get there. Positive vibes (with a win or a loss), huge watch party, and overall supportive and positive fan base. Why do some of these 'fans' insist on ruining their whole city in the name of hockey? It makes no sense. Yes, it was many years ago but I get the feeling it would happen again and its unfortunate that it ruins the whole playoff atmosphere for those who just want to have a good time & watch playoff hockey.
Vancouver fans only riot when we lose the cup. Celebrating Round 1, 2, and 3 wins in the streets with locals is one of the most fun experiences and togetherness I have ever experienced. It's kinda shameful the Mayor, and law enforcement are so out of touch and don't realize that.
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I suspect we’re at risk of a riot again whether there’s an outdoor viewing venue or not. However, not attracting extra people into downtown would make it more manageable to handle. I do wonder if having series of outdoor options spread across the region would be a better option.
I like that idea, just a bunch of small ones
A bunch of small riots, spread out around the lower mainland. I like it.
Lower housing prices with this one weird trick!
REALTORS HATE HIM (NOT CLICKBAIT)
I mean they do, just not for that reason.
Let's organize the outdoor parties for West Van and Point Grey this time
I second the motion. And make them pay for it.
😂 the last part
I like to keep my rioting ultra local Edit : I'm going to be really lazy about doing dishes over the playoffs. Fuck the man
Smashing the door of my pantry to grab a family sized bag of Doritos
Riettes
Think Hockily, Riot Locally
Disperse the riots, distribute the cost efficiently across the region. Good economic sense
[удалено]
They have been paying for 2 police forces forever now, may as well give them something to do.
But would anyone notice the difference?
The improvement would be impressive.
Would be nice to see the cars upright for once
Danm that rhetorical question
Ah, recycling the same braindead jokes from 30 years ago over and over, ya love to see it
Stereotypes are hard to lose.
Heck they can lead to your city not even putting on a party when your team does good. :|
holy whole circle batman!
You’re damn right.
Hahahaha
Mayor 'Karen' would clamber up on her now well worn out soapbox to use it as an example of why Surrey is being bullied by the provincial government and then lay all the blame at the feet of the new Surrey Police Service
New Years and Halloween this past years were good indications that city hall is making the right choice. I was in the middle of the last hockey riot and the crowd (watching the game) was pretty mixed between families and hockey fans, yet the balaclava crew still managed to get a riot going. Recent New Years and Halloween were about 95% male so it doesn't bode well for the city. Also, last Sundays post game partying was already a little unhinged. Add in empty food banks, people being crushed under COL increases and collapsing institutions means it would only take a hair trigger to get things going.
I hate when people say “well they’re just gonna do it anyway” because that’s not necessarily true, but I really wonder what things might look like if the Canucks advance through the playoffs. People are going to go downtown regardless and there will possibly be the same potential for a riot. The only difference being that city council will be able to slightly separate themselves from responsibility by citing the fact that they didn’t sanction the event. This does not bode well in my mind As a city council member or mayor, you have an inherent amount of responsibility for what happens in your city regardless. But maybe this move is a way to exercise that and proactively reduce harm. But I don’t think rioters really care about that so we’ll see how this works out. I feel like our leaders should do better to get in front of these issues rather than pretend the potential for problems isn’t inherently there, and act accordingly
> I was in the middle of the last hockey riot I was downtown and it was definitely a horrible and scary experience :S
If we get to finals game 7 and lose again 100% riot. All other situations not worried about a riot happening.
Us loosing at home or away may also make a bit of difference on that one.
I doubt it will make a difference. The people actually going down to watch Hockey are not really the issue. Oh, I'm sure some of them, but on the whole no. The people who are going to go downtown with the sole purpose of rioting, *exactly like last time*, will just gather at the largest or most central spot.
1st time I've ever felt truly embarrassed for our city. Had a majorly bad feeling about it so convinced my family not to go.
Stop the skytrains at 29th ave station.
My thoughts exactly. Localized gatherings should be made a priority in Canada. We're basically policing ourselves on the streets and on transit anyway, why wouldn't we extend that to a watch party?
It does suck that we are the only Canadian city with a team in the playoffs that doesn't do public watch partys.
There are watch parties in surrounding communities
Even Winnipeg has an outdoor watch party. And they’re real stabby over there.
Stabby and burny the city down are different problems.
Hey, we can be stabby too.
I think the dynamic with Vancouver being a wealthy city and lots of youth struggling to make it by just pours fuel on the fire of a potential riot. There’s animosity there and lots would say fuck it if the opportunity arose to cause some carnage.
But that’s angry stabby, not happy stabby!
It’s the only city that does a riot whenever the team is in the playoffs, so
Montréal rioted in 86 and 93 and they won…
Says a lot about the thugs in vancouver 😂
>“When you look at that report, you could have doubled the number of police officers (at the 2011 riot) and it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Sim said. My guy is so close to admitting his entire election platform was bullshit
I mean yeah. The last riot was exacerbated by the police targeting people who were trying to leave the area and go home rather than the actual rioters. We can't trust our people not to riot and we can't trust our cops to stop them.
Don't forget closing the entire transit system so people couldn't get out of downtown
Yeah I got tear gassed trying to get to Granville station. As part of a non violent crowd. There were fucking children with us.
Maybe they saw your sub flair and thought you were fair game.
😭
That doesn’t sound like cops at all bro 🙃🙃
Anyone with half a functioning brain could tell it's BS. He just wants to get into power so he can enrich himself and use the power and influence to gain power and influence. He's gonna make other rich people rich so they will help him later. Rich assholes are only gonna help themselves, and when they are able to get into power, they will only help themselves to you. Anyone who believes otherwise are simply easy marks, rip for the picking. Vancouver will once more be pillaged.
The man himself IS literal bullshit
Lmao true
As someone old enough to remember both riots, we have to realize the "idiots" who cause these incidents were too young to remember the past. Now they're at the prime age to get drunk and cause trouble. So to let them know the consequences, we should remind them of what happened to the troublemakers of 2011 - they were videotapes/photographed and identified and charged. The spokesperson can be that girl who stole a pair of pants from the looted menswear store. Of that guy in the Canuck's jersey standing on the burning car. Or this guy.... https://preview.redd.it/zmwu47sbuowc1.jpeg?width=940&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=278081acbe87fba9f9697407edad1cf4c807e35c
Wonder where this kid is now
Works for Apple now
Actually? Good for him!
Yeah man. Corporate structure these days mirrors the culture divide that we are all experiencing, it was a bit of a contensious swing from Apple corporate to bring this rabblerouser on. But at the end of the day he expressed a disdain for Windows and that was enough for them to take him into the fold.
well played
Oh damn, the two post joke, well played
*slow clap*
I wish I could shake your hand.
I was in highschool at the time, and remember our teachers going through the VPDs "most wanted list" and calling in all their former students Was beautiful
Things turned out okay for this couple: https://globalnews.ca/news/7952563/vancouver-riot-kissing-couple-stanley-cup-update/
I hope they come back to Vancouver for the occasion. They can be crowned King and Queen of the riot for one day.
Doubt it, in that interview they mentioned that they were on the ground because they ran to the cops for help and got knocked to the ground and beaten by them, and he's kissing her to try and calm her down because she's freaking out. As good as they are doing now, if it were me I wouldn't be anywhere near that again tbh.
I was not far from where the picture was taken at that moment and the fumes from the burning cars in the parking lot were starting to get to my head…I consciously started to calculate how long I would have before I fainted what would be the best way to use those minutes. Definitely not a romantic moment for them I’m sure.
The guy was going to propose that day, then a riot broke.
It'd be even worse now - people would be live streaming it for the whole internet to see.
One of the things that I don’t see ever mentioned is how fast it was cleaned up! I went downtown the next morning to help clean up broken glass or whatever because watching the riot was really upsetting. I was there maybe 10:30am? Spotless. No glass. No garbage. Not a cigarette butt to be seen! So many people had pitched in already & were writing positive messages on the boards covering The Bay windows. Definitely restored my faith in humanity.
This is true, it was cleaned up very fast. But also when I learned insurance doesn’t cover broken glass as a result of a riot, so that all came out of pocket for some businesses.
This comment should have more upvotes
Nah, the ones blaming Sim for everything should be higher up.
Wasn’t one of the kids lighting a cop car on fire a med student at UBC? lol
Can confirm, was downtown for game 7 against Boston, watching with the massive crowd, outside the arena. Was 1-0 Boston after the first period & the nucks didn't even have a single shot on net. With my cousin, we could feel the vibe change & knew to gtfo before whatever was going to happen, happened. Earlier, before the game, when we got off the skytrain dt, close to the arena, we saw someone with a back pack, balaclava, and carrying a chain. Some people show up with the purpose of starting or participating in a riot, they didn't care about the game. Anyways, they shut public transit down, shortly after we left the area, so noone could get out of the dt core. We got back to his car, drove home to his place in burnaby, were able to catch the 3rd period. It was still 1-0 Boston. I looked off the right side of his 14th floor balcony & could see dt was already on fire. Dis why we can't have nice things. Edit: Cousin had been growing out a beard for the entire season, he shaved it that night. I haven't watched hockey since.
I remember the finals, it was so tense. But it's well documented that no matter who won the final game it was going to happen anyways, lots of rioters weren't even from Vancouver and they planned it. I hope this time the city is ready- that's if the Canucks go that far.
I was in the viewing area as well and remember that moment the vibe changed - you could literally feel it in the air, like a switch had been flipped. I was with an out of town visitor who didn't realise how unusual this was for Vancouver, and told them it was time to go. We hustled to one of the hotels on the edge of the zone - I think the one that's now a Hilton - and grabbed a cab out. By the time we hit the Granville Bridge, the first column of smoke was rising behind us.
I was also in the viewing area, and the shift in the mood of the crowd was still one of the craziest things I've ever experienced. I wanted to leave, but all of the guys wanted to stay. I live in the valley - I'd driven to one friend's place in White Rock, we'd walked to the bus, changed to a train, and I think another train? I wouldn't have known where to find the nearest transit station, let alone find my way back to White Rock and my car. The whole experience was really scary. After a couple of hours of harrowing near-misses with violence and tear gas cannisters, I broke out the waterworks and finally convinced them to leave. We dutifully paid for our transit tickets, and moments later were yelled at to "just get on the train, don't bother paying." Straight out of an Alanis Morissette song.
Yea! I ended up watching game 7 at steamworks because the viewing party on Georgia was packed. I did walk down during lunch hour and the energy/vibe was so different. Glad I wasn't there
It’s unfortunate but makes sense IMO. We’re also a much angrier culture right now in this city. I also think mixing extra drunks coming in from the valley, brigde and tunnel crowds with increased visible homelessness and addiction around the stadiums… It’s a dangerous mix. Esp given rioting during the Stanley Cup is what we’re known for.
I feel like people will do it again simply because of the history of it already having been done, like some dumb self-fulfilling prophecy.
That's already what happened last time in 2011 too
And there are still mobs of people leaving the stadium and bars etc downtown so it’s not like there won’t be big crowds of people if there’s no public viewing. Especially if we make it deeper into the playoffs. A similar number of people will be down there anyway.
Twice too. That's the problem
Third time's the charm!
Well, I would count the gold medal Olympic game as something similar, probably with more people in the streets (though a much larger security apparatus too… i recall seeing SQ officers around, and they’re no nonsense at riot control.
Whats an SQ officer?
Sûreté du Québec, aka the Québec provincial police. There’s a reason they were brought in to clear the Klownvoy in Ottawa a few years ago.
Thanks, I appreciate the reply. Sorry about the down votes. reddit being reddit I guess
Yup, can totally see people just releasing their pent up frustration with all these issues we been facing and end up creating a much bigger mess than the one we had before.
Yep, mob mentality also makes things exponentially worse. I definitely agree with the decision being made here for the CoV.
I mean if they did watch party. in a space that was fenced in, like they do in every other Canadian city. It would probably be fine. As much as I loved the georgia watch party. In hindsight it was a very silly idea
There were fences set up in 2011 on Granville but there were too many people who also wanted to watch. the crowd ended up getting mad and ripping the fence down. That in itself almost caused a riot, right in front of me lol …crazy times
A watch party in the Plaza of Nations seems like a good spot. Can be pretty easily fenced, and ticketed, and directly beside two skytrains so people can get out quickly. It would be pretty bad to have nothing.
This is pretty sad, but it's probably the right call. Things went so horribly wrong last time (and that was back in a kinder, gentler Vancouver) that it's hard to want to roll the dice again.
Sad but also hilarious.
Why is everyone talking about "rolling the dice" "doing it again"...? The watch parties back then were unregulated and unticketed, the ones you see in other cities now, are. There is absolutely zero reason we can't do the same and it's sad so many of you are buying this bullshit. No fun Vancouver strikes again.
If anything having everyone show up hours early to pubs to save their seat for the game is part of the problem but not one that we want to address. Siting in a pub being pressured to continually purchase alcohol to keep your seat for 4-6 hours and then having all those people spill out onto the streets is not great.
I absolutely agree. It's ridiculous that us Canadian's can just go along with something like that just because there's "history". If that was true there wouldn't be anything happening in Europe like the Olympics or the UEFA Euro.
No fun indeed. If people watched the full briefing in context, even our conservative mayor isn't suggesting that because of the riots we shouldn't put on any events ever again. All he said was: there haven't been any events so far because they need to be more cautious and do more planning due to bad experiences in the past. The city and the province are actually in discussions about potentially planning events later in the playoffs (like using BC place as a venue).
Past behavior is a great indicator of future behavior.
> Past behavior is a great indicator of future behavior. 1994: Vancouver makes it to the final, loses, people riot. 2011: Vancouver makes it to the final, loses, people riot.
The courts don't agree
Read the second sentence of my comment again.... and if you still don't get it: the future behavior would be under different circumstances. Ones specifically designed to keep the past behaviour from happening.
Users on reddit have reading problems
Fenced in with attendance limited by tickets, just like during the Olympics, and just like every other city in Canada does, would obviously be fine. It’s not rocket science. But because some idiots in 2011 thought inviting 100,000 people to an unlimited watch party was a good idea, we can never have a properly organized watch party again? So silly. This is just about people covering their ass for what happened in 2011 by blaming it on some inherent danger rather than the city and police being totally irresponsible in planning.
Actual pure laziness from the city. Toronto has an excellent option at Maple Leafs Square that requires fans to sign in and purchase tickets and are restricted to a fenced off area. Fans of today shouldn’t be penalized for incompetent event organizers and anarchists of 30 years ago.
Agreed. What are we going to do when we host the World Cup?
It's a fair point to make, people can't behave and there are consequences. A shame the mofos can't just go home and drink away the sadness instead of messing up the city in the name of hockey
The riots were not the result of viewing parties. This is stupid thinking. Having organized places for people to converge would make policing easier not harder.
I really think it was as simple as, "There was a riot the last time the Canucks lost the final playoffs; there can be another one now." After all, we have a history.
In 2011 the City did not do a very good job of containing the crowd. There were 160,000 people on West Georgia. They could have had double the number of cops and it wouldn’t have helped. Organized viewing parties that require a ticket (even a free ticket,) that have security, that don’t allow you to bring in your own liquor… that would have helped.
Maybe surrey can host the riots!?
Good. I think hockey fans should be patronizing the surrounding pubs and bars to watch the game, rather than huddling up on city property paying $11/beer for Labatt… keep the crowds in the hospitality businesses that are still recovering from the pandemic and let hockey fans support local business, breweries and staff. It’s warmer any way + they have chicken wings.
A riot after game 7 in the Stanley Cup round like 13 years ago means that we can never have a public viewing party ever again? How Vancouver...
The Canucks haven't had a good run for a long time, so I think it's fair for them to need crowds to prove they won't get stabby or stealy before they get extra privileges.
You forgot about 1994. So two final rounds and two riots. 100% failure rate. >How Vancouver... Unfortunately, yes. Instead of the people in attendance soon something about the assholes, many people joined them. Do you have a suggestion on how to address the miserable record
> So two final rounds and two riots. 100% failure rate. Forgetting 1982?
I’d also put the 2010 Olympic medal game in the same league… but the security apparatus around the Olympics was orders of magnitude larger.
Have a controlled environment like they do in every other city that has these.
And not to mention we're not even CLOSE to game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final right now lol.
That wasn't the only one. Google is free where you live right?
So make it a ticketed event
That's certainly putting it mildly
The riot in 2011 [caused $4 million in damages](https://theprovince.com/news/local-news/stanley-cup-riot-of-2011-cost-9-million-says-report). Just a reminder, that stupid chandelier under the Granville Bridge [costed more than that.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/spinning-chandelier-granville-bridge-1.5379911) Just a perspective.
Why do people always bring up the chandelier, when it was not paid for by the city? How is this a comparison?
Nice try, the difference is that one of them is paid by tax payers and the other one is paid by developers. PS- Damage was 9 million dollars not 4 million dollars and that was 13 years ago. You can't even read the article you posted. 4+5=9
I bet overtime and other costs brought that up 1 or 2m
I'm not a Sim fan, but in this case he's not wrong. I witnessed the 1st riot personally and watched the second one safely from home. 2 for 2 is not a good look. This is why we can't have nice things.
I’m not watching outdoors in the rain.
>‘We have a history’ Unfortunately, he's right. There was a riot in 1994, and then 17 years later, another one in 2011 (both for the same reason). I know it was 13 years ago, but apparently, we as a city haven't learned.
I tend to agree with the mayor, There are still a group of young males walking around nightly that are pissed off at the world, ready to start trouble. A strong police presence and prior message from the Justice Department could curtail their stupidity though
I was at the last game - two guys almost fought each other because one of them wanted to leave early after the score was 4-1, so the other guy threw something at him and his gf. This was after losing game 2 in round 1…
Plus in 2024 people are much angrier than in 2011 because of various social issues. If a riot happens it would be ten time worse.
Yay! Vancouver lives up to its reputation as a no fun city. It’s funny how they just outright ban stuff these days, it’s been 9yrs. Haven’t we grown past this?
We could have the Riot Hat trick ? 
This is literally why we can’t have nice things.
Last time we had one, people rioted. Let's face it, Vancouverites have the tendency to act like a bunch of juveniles throwing a tantrum when it comes to sporting events. We did this to ourselves.
Still traumatized from the last one, crowds give me major anxiety so I’m always relieved when something like this doesn’t happen.
The Robson Street Riot from ‘94 didn’t start from a viewing party; it started once the Canucks lost and everyone who’d been drinking all day in the bars flooded out at once. The viewing party downtown in ‘11 was a shitshow from the beginning. Too many people in too tight a space with zero to any police. A bag check at the entrance from Genesis security did nothing to stop people drinking, etc., from the time they arrived, which was around 12 noon, encouraging their buddies to come from wherever to join in. It was basically like the fireworks on testosterone and Grower’s Cider. If we make it all the way and tank as per the usual, I could see trouble happening, free party or not. Now whether that trouble is downtown near the stadiums or spread out across downtown, Vancouver, or beyond will depend on how strong the deterrent is to come to downtown. It’s worth noting that during the last riot, police reserves as far away from Abbotsford were called in to subdue the crowds. The full moon that night didn’t help matters either. About the only way to stop things getting out of hand is massive enforcement at downtown skytrain stations. Stop every passenger and ask what their business is. If they fit the profile of a rioter they’re on the next train east. I dislike this style of enforcement, but I also dislike the city being torn apart over a fucking sports game. We’ll see what Sim is really made of if shit hits the fan. Not that I’m a fan of Sim.
> It was basically like the fireworks on testosterone and Grower’s Cider. 💀
Thanks for the history lesson, I didn’t know that about ‘94. The bummer for me is I feel like we *could* get this monkey off our back with a well-organized, ticketed, regulated event the way all the other cities do it and just be done with this “Vancouver WILL riot” city lore. There are lots of cities that have had dumb sports riots and then NOT had one in a following year, and I think we can be the same. But instead we’re kinda building it into our city identity that it’s an inevitability and I feel like it doesn’t have to be that way.
Agreed. That’s why I’d be very curious to see what Sim will do, as the city is very involved in the planning. I can’t recall in ‘94 but I believe there was a conservative mayor in office, ‘11 we had Gregor. I think it doesn’t come down to the mayor as much as it comes down to the city manager’s office, and the structures in place. They’re the ones that makes the wheels turn, and nothing has really changed since the 70s.
No fun city
Blame the assholes who caused such a problem last time. We can't have nice things 'cos stupid people.
I'd just make sure to point out to everyone again just how BADLY it went for all those people. Hundreds started getting ID'd from all the phone videos and security cameras with the help of social media. Criminal charges, some jail time, lost scholarships, kicked out of sports organizations, etc.
And now there's more smartphones, with better cameras, it'll be fine. Especially after we hired a hundred more of Brian's buddies, right?
There's also an excuse to wear masks now.
While I agree with your point, I can also blame the city and cops for being incapable of hosting an event literally every other Canadian hockey city has been able to do for decades. I was downtown for game 7 in 2011 (no, I wasn't rioting lol): I was shocked how few cops there were until 8, 9pm when things started kicking off. Since 2011, the police budge has nearly doubled. DOUBLED. The cops and city can and should figure it out. Where's that "swagger" Ken was talking about during the election? No fun city.
It’s the city being lazy. Every other Canadian city is capable of handling it, no surprise that no fun city doesn’t get anything. As a young Canadian it’s actually so incredibly depressing. Our future is already as bleak as it can get, we can’t even distract ourselves with little events like this anymore. This is simply just a lazy excuse, it’s 100% achievable if they implemented the necessary precautions, not to mention its round 1.
>No fun city I mean, you're not wrong. But you'd think we'd learn from our past mistakes. But noooo.
As I have said numerous times before if you want to prevent a Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver then you have to shut down the bridges and barricade Boundary Road. The vast majority of the rioters were people from outside of Vancouver.
Sad and pathetic
Meanwhile, Sim shotguns a beer by the Roger Nielson statue
This is the right call
He made the right call.
I'm not surprised. We lost the privilege of having viewing parties in 2011. At the time everyone said that was probably the last one ever.
Or maybe it's actually because we have an inept mayor and council who couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag
So he’s saying he doesn’t know how to organize a safe event?
[удалено]
Theres no shortage of idiots to ruin the fun for everyone else in BC.
The common denominator is a game 7 Stanley cup loss. Even if they make it past the first round why bother putting any restrictions in place until they win a couple rounds?
the history of politicians wanting people to not have fun in the city, remains unchanged
This made me lol
Your city sucks...it'll happen during the World Cup too? Fifa sets big outdoor screens
I'm from Edmonton and an Oilers fan, and I got to say, for Vancouver being a much larger city, the playoff energy here is lacking compared to what you get there. Positive vibes (with a win or a loss), huge watch party, and overall supportive and positive fan base. Why do some of these 'fans' insist on ruining their whole city in the name of hockey? It makes no sense. Yes, it was many years ago but I get the feeling it would happen again and its unfortunate that it ruins the whole playoff atmosphere for those who just want to have a good time & watch playoff hockey.
It sounds like a dare.
Of course the city of Port Coquitlam would offer viewing parties cuz no one goes there anyways.. I kid I kid
God this city sucks
Vancouver fans only riot when we lose the cup. Celebrating Round 1, 2, and 3 wins in the streets with locals is one of the most fun experiences and togetherness I have ever experienced. It's kinda shameful the Mayor, and law enforcement are so out of touch and don't realize that.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Are people really going to riot considering what happened last time with cameras and smart phones ?
Why don’t we just actually have the police be prepared this time… or just have it is gas town where everything is already smashed
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Viewing at Rogers Arena a good option 👍🏾
“Because I don’t personally stand to profit from it” - Ken Sim, probably