It’s not just Vancouver Canucks fans feeling the blues about the team’s early exit from playoff contention this year.
The city’s bars and restaurants are also lamenting the loss of millions of dollars in revenue a playoff run could have generated.
“It hurts because definitely the city was electric last year,” said Murray Saunders general manager of the Shark Club, a popular sports bar just steps away from Rogers Arena.
“It was hundreds of thousands of dollars difference. The nights where they were playing here we would be full with a lineup down the street before the game … and then we would fill up with everybody to watch the game.”
The Canucks still have a handful of games left in the season but were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs when the Minnesota Wild defeated the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
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The elimination caps a season plagued with injuries and tough losses.
It also marks a dramatic reversal from last season, when the Canucks took home the Pacific Division title and came one game from advancing to the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs.
“It will hurt the downtown economy,” Saunders said.
“Whereas last year you could wander around the streets here and they were full, and you could feel it … Now it will be much less of a vibe down here.”
According to the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, downtown Vancouver businesses rang up an extra $3 million during every Canucks playoff game last year.
The industry is now hoping the wave of patriotism that has swept the country amid U.S. trade and annexation threats will push sports fans to support the next best thing: other Canadian teams.
Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg have all clinched a berth in the playoffs, while Edmonton is likely and both Montreal and Calgary are in the hunt.
The Black Frog Eatery, Vancouver’s so-called ‘Oilers bar,’ is obviously hoping to see Edmonton in the playoffs, but is also hoping fans turn out for other Canadian teams as well.
“As long as a Canadian team is there in the end we are happy and we are doing very well, and so are the Leafs … Vancouver fans need to pick a new team, and I feel like we’ll be getting a little bit of them in here now too,” server and bartender Cait Kennedy said.
“We kind of work the rest of the year holding out for this moment. It’s huge for us. The atmosphere in this place is just one of fun and chaos.”
While that might be cold comfort for fans who bleed blue and green, the city’s bars and restaurants say they’ll at least be ready to pour a beer for Canucks nation to cry into.
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