Annual charity game draws large crowd but starts more than an hour later due to travel issues Giants and Victoria Royals have getting off Vancouver Island after their Friday matchup there
Saturday’s wild windstorm even whipped up a ruckus for the Vancouver Giants’ game.
Vancouver’s matchup with the Victoria Royals was their annual Teddy Bear Toss charity game at the Langley Events Centre and drew an announced crowd of 4,522, tying a season-high for the Giants.
The vast majority of fans were in their seats for the scheduled 7 p.m. opening faceoff.
There was one major problem. The Royals weren’t in the building just yet.
The Giants had dropped a 4-0 decision Friday in Victoria. The plan was for both teams to trek back to Langley Saturday morning in preparation for the second half of the home-and-home set, but the wacky weather caused B.C. Ferries to postpone early sailings.
When the boats started up again in the afternoon, the Giants got on a 3 p.m. ferry from Victoria, while the Royals opted for a 3:15 p.m. departure from Nanaimo’s Duke Point. Vancouver arrived at the LEC at 5:35 p.m., but Victoria’s journey was slowed when their ferry had trouble docking in Tsawwassen, getting stuck on a breakwater for a time.
The Royals made it to the rink by 7:10 p.m., and the puck drop wound up being at 8:08 p.m.
The final horn came at 10:32 p.m., with the Royals securing a 6-3 win.
Further complicating matters on the night was the fact the LEC lost power because of the storm for about four hours in the afternoon. The electricity came on at 4:15 p.m., but the pre-game buffet in the arena’s banquet hall that normally opens at 5:30 p.m. was bumped to a 6:30 p.m. start because they had lost so much cooking time.
The fans, of course, did have some extra time on their hands to wait for food. The Giants brass did what they could to pivot overall on the night, including putting the minor hockey game originally slated for the first intermission on at 7:15 p.m. to offer up some viewing entertainment.
“It’s definitely a weird day,” Vancouver winger Tyler Thorpe, 19, said afterwards. “It’s not fun, but it’s just one of those things. Stuff goes sideways sometimes.”
Thorpe, a Richmond native who’s a Montreal Canadiens prospect, scored the Teddy Bear goal, taking a centring pass from Connor Levis and snapping one past Victoria netminder past Jayden Kraus from the slot at 7:05 of the first period to create a furries flying frenzy from the crowd.
The Teddy Bear Toss has become a staple of junior hockey across the country. Fans are asked to throw a stuffed animal on the ice when their team scores their first goal of a particular game around the holiday season. The stuffies are gathered up and given to charity.
No word on how many teddy bears hit the ice Saturday, but the Giants staff and volunteers did a miraculous job getting things cleaned up quickly. The break was a mere nine minutes, keeping a long night at the rink from being any more longer.
“When you score do you remember right away that it’s the Teddy Bear goal? Yes and no. You score and then you get hit with a teddy bear,” Thorpe explained.
Thorpe added another marker just over five minutes later to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead. Victoria bagged three straight to take the lead, but Vancouver tied it at 3-3 late in the second period on sophomore defenceman’s Colton Alain’s first WHL tally.
Despite their travel woes, Victoria controlled play much of the game. They outshot Vancouver 10-5 in the third and 33-15 on the night. Royals centre Caleb Matthews bagged the winner at 12:55 of the third period, while 16-year-old rookie defenceman Keaton Verhoeff counted his impressive 12th of the campaign at 15:50. The Royals scored into an empty net later to extend the margin.
“Lots of credit to them. That’s a very tough game to play and they played especially well considering when they got to the rink. But I think we definitely should have had the upper hand on them,” Thorpe admitted of the Royals (17-10-3-2), who took a nine-point lead on the Giants (13-13-4-0) for second spot in the B.C. Division.
Vancouver’s last Saturday home game before the Victoria contest was Nov. 23 against the Spokane Chiefs, and the final horn came that night at 9:29 p.m. after a 7:08 p.m. opening faceoff.
@SteveEwen