Camp has city Canuck crazy!
Some came to see their heroes skate before their very eyes. Some came to marvel at the size, speed and skill of some of the world’s top athletes. And some just came for Todd Bertuzzi’s gum.
A crowd of about 1,500 filed into Vernon’s multiplex Friday to witness the Vancouver Canucks open training camp for the 2003-04 NHL season.
“I’ve got Todd Bertuzzi’s gum,” shouted 13-year-old Tessa Lineker as she waited with friends outside the Canucks dressing room, hoping for an autograph after Friday’s practice session.
“He spit it out and I got some people to pick it up for me,” said Lineker, who plans to put the gum in a bag and hang it up in her room.
Niki Patrick-Kennedy, 15, skipped out of school Friday to watch her idol Bertuzzi and the rest of the Canucks.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and we go to school every day.”
Bertuzzi believes the camp has lifted spirits of Okanagan residents who have endured a stressful summer caused by forest fires.
“With everything that’s going on around here, it’s maybe a little break for people to come out and enjoy a couple of hours to watch a team they might not be able to go down and watch in Vancouver,” said the NHL’s premier power forward.
“Obviously, it’s exciting and we want to put on a little show for them here. Every year that I’ve been here, we’ve gone to different parts and it’s been fun.”
Head coach Marc Crawford was impressed with his training camp surroundings.
“We’re excited to be up here in Vernon. It’s our first time here. It’s a beautiful facility and the people in Vernon have been very gracious. I think it’s real positive to move the camp around.”
Joanne Taylor made the trip to Vernon with some of her students from KLO in Kelowna.
“We had a school contest. They had to answer questions about the Canucks. We’ve got 850 students and we picked 30 lucky kids,” said Taylor, whose brother is Canucks assistant coach Mike Johnson.
Eyes opened wide with amazement as the Canucks sped down the ice on drills, and heads shook in disbelief at the effortless accuracy of their tape-to-tape passes.
“I’m impressed with their skating and like the way (the practice) is organized. They don’t waste any time,” said Clem Watson, who sat with his wife Anne in their regular Vipers season-ticket seats.
“I wonder how they select the players, though. They all look pretty good to me.”
Greater Vernon Services Commission director Stan Field perched along the concourse railing, watching the action unfold on the ice.
“I’ve been a Canuck fan since their inception (in 1970). I go to all the Junior games and watch a lot of minor hockey. I spend a lot of time in arenas over the winter,” said Field, who said he’d never seen more vehicles in the multiplex parking lot.
“This is absolutely wonderful for our community. It’s good for minor hockey players to see these fellas in the NHL. It just generates excitement in the community. The timing’s right and it will certainly help promote our multiplex and the whole community.”
Jim Almaas enjoyed a day out at the arena with his 14-year-old son Tanner.
“It’s something you remember when you’re a kid,” said Almaas. “He’ll always remember the old man taking him out of school to go watch the Canucks.”
The 3,800 tickets for today’s Canucks alumni and intra-squad games have been sold out. The practice sessions are free to the public, running from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday from 8:30 to 10 a.m., and 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.
Canucks GM Brian Burke will be the guest speaker at Tuesday’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Prestige Inn, while Crawford and the Canucks coaching staff will take part in a town hall meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the Vernon Lodge.
