The hockey fans were left in disbelief by the mayor’s logic.
Vancouver is an expert at holding important world events. The city has shown that it can manage large audiences and international attention, from the extremely successful 2010 Winter Olympics to the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at BC Place. But the city’s mayor reportedly doesn’t want any of it when it comes to his own NHL club making a playoff push.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim gave a stunningly honest assessment of the Canucks and the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a recent interview with Kenneth Chan of Daily Hive. You had to do a double take when you read the statement.
Sim stated, “As a fan, I want to see the Canucks make a thrilling run to the Stanley Cup Finals and, hopefully, win in Game 7 in overtime. As the Mayor of Vancouver, I do not want them to play a single playoff game due to the safety concerns it creates.”
He continued by stating that the city would incur millions of dollars in costs due to the financial obligations of managing a lengthy playoff run.
Give that some thought for a minute. The mayor of one of Canada’s biggest cities, who is actively getting ready to host seven FIFA World Cup matches, openly expresses his wish that his hockey team doesn’t even make it to the playoffs. Not because he has doubts about the lineup. Not on account of a makeover. due to security costs!!!
Sim’s thoughts are clearly dominated by the memory of the 2011 Stanley Cup riots. One of the most humiliating chapters in Vancouver sports history is still that evening. But for a sitting mayor to declare publicly that the only alternative is to wish the team wouldn’t make the playoffs at all is a startling statement.
Vancouver would get a huge economic shot in the arm from a protracted playoff run due to retail spending, restaurant traffic, crowded hotels, and ticket sales. The security costs of managing crowds pale in comparison to the financial rewards of postseason hockey. It seems that every other major hockey market in North America can figure it out without their mayor hoping that the local team will just lose.
Sim’s position has previously shown itself in policy choices. He allegedly refused to host outdoor watch parties in the downtown core during the Canucks’ playoff run last spring, instead sending events to places such as Oak Meadows Park.
Sim’s question now is whether he will moderate his approach or continue to keep celebrations in the downtown area at arm’s length, given that the Canucks appear to be a solid bet to make the playoffs this year.
Vancouver hockey supporters are left with a strange reality: their city is prepared to greet the whole world for the FIFA World Cup, but it seems unable to manage its own team playing a first-round playoff game.
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