Hockey

Today we were very luck to attend the opening game of the hockey season (I've been told not to refer to it as ice hockey). Our family friend Ryan managed to get cheap tickets through his work and was kind enough to offer us some. We went to the team shop earlier on in the day and got a tshirt for myself and a hat for Lewis. I think deep down we both wanted the proper home strip and probably will have one before the end of our stay in Vancouver. Before the game we went for dinner with Ryan and three of his friends, two of who were Calgary Flames fans (boo hiss), the opposition team. After a nice meal, we went to the Rogers arena for the game. The atmosphere was much more electric than that of the soccer. The national anthem was a pretty special moment. Note to selves, must learn more words than just 'oh Canada.' The flames went 1-0 up in the first period, after a penalty to benefit the Canucks went wrong and resulted in an own goal. In the third and final period, with 4 minutes to go and a lot of cheering from the crowd, the Canucks equalised. This meant over time for 5 mins with three on three. After 5 mins and no goals, it went to a penalty shoot out and the Canucks scored on the fourth to win (it appears much harder to score a penalty in hockey than in football.) The home crowd were extremely loud and proud of their side! Overall, it was a great game to be our first. Go Canucks go!!