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Canuck fans to get public viewing parties 91Ƶ but far from Vancouver91Ƶs downtown

Memories of the riots of 2011 and 1994 too close for organizers to risk repeat
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Vancouver Canucks fans watch a car burn during a riot following game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup final in downtown Vancouver, on June 15, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Howe

The City of Vancouver will host viewing parties for the Canucks91Ƶ Round 2 playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers starting with Game 3 on Sunday.

Mayor Ken Sim and others have previously expressed concern about large-scale events for the playoffs, given Vancouver91Ƶs history of Stanley Cup riots.

But Sim now says a lot of thought and planning has gone into events set to take place at a park far from the downtown core, where hordes of drunken fans rioted after the Canucks91Ƶ Game 7 Stanley Cup loss to the Boston Bruins in 2011. There were also riots in 1994 after a Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers.

91ƵA lot of the individuals who were working on this year91Ƶs, you know, festivities, they were there in 2011 and so they had a lot of lived experiences, and from that came a plan that was put together with a lot of thought,91Ƶ Sim told a news conference on Wednesday.

Those organizers are not the only ones reflecting on Vancouver91Ƶs troubled relationship with the playoffs, as the Canucks enter Round 2 with a game at Rogers Arena tonight.

Simon Coutts said he remembered being 91Ƶheckled91Ƶ by passersby as he boarded up his bike shop on Vancouver91Ƶs Robson Street before the 2011 loss.

Simon91Ƶs Bike Shop had been in business since 1986, and Coutts said the 1994 riot made him take precautions when the Canucks made the final again.

91ƵIn 2011, I was out on the street every day. I was watching the parties, watching the people,91Ƶ Coutts said on Tuesday. 91ƵThere were just too many people out of control downtown and there91Ƶs drinking and all sorts of stuff 91Ƶ and then I guess you could say all hell broke loose.91Ƶ

Sim had previously acknowledged the riots at a news conference last month, saying the city had 91Ƶa history91Ƶ and it would need to make sure any playoffs viewing event would be very safe.

At the time, he said the city was 91Ƶnot just gonna say 91Ƶhey let91Ƶs throw a party, this time91Ƶs gonna be different, What we learned in the past was, that91Ƶs what they thought in 2011.91Ƶ

On Wednesday, Sim said this year91Ƶs plan takes pressure off the downtown core.

Sunday91Ƶs viewing party is at Oak Meadows Park, which can hold about 2,000 people, in the South Cambie neighbourhood, the mayor said.

Going deeper into the playoffs, Sim said community centres would also be open.

If the Canucks advanced to the third round, the city would look at the Pacific National Exhibition as a venue to allow up to 6,000 fans to gather, he said.

Sim said the whole city wanted to celebrate the team91Ƶs success this year, and their planning aimed to ensure fans could enjoy the playoffs 91Ƶresponsibly.91Ƶ

91ƵThis is an opportunity that doesn91Ƶt come up often, and we have an amazing team,91Ƶ he said.

91ƵIt91Ƶs also a time to show off the fact that Vancouver fans can celebrate in a family friendly, fun and safe way.91Ƶ

Ian Tostenson, the CEO of the BC Restaurant & Food Services Association, said in an interview on Tuesday that he supported a 91Ƶcautious approach91Ƶ to Stanley Cup celebrations given the city91Ƶs 91Ƶtrack record.91Ƶ

The viewing parties for away games, he said, offered a more 91Ƶcontrolled91Ƶ environment than inviting thousands of people downtown as happened in 2011.

91ƵBig events like FIFA and big concerts and stuff, we91Ƶre able to do that really well,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵI just worry that if we just kind of recklessly sort of go, throw some TV91Ƶs up and invite, you know, 20,000 people on Georgia Street again, I just predict there91Ƶs going to be trouble somewhere.91Ƶ

He said holding another large public viewing party downtown carried risks because if 91Ƶsomething goes terribly wrong, it91Ƶs just going to set us back years and I think we91Ƶve made some progress here.91Ƶ

For Coutts 91Ƶ a Canucks season ticket holder 91Ƶ lingering memories of the 2011 riot make him think a 91Ƶbig party91Ƶ isn91Ƶt a good idea, but family-friendly gatherings at Rogers Arena for away games have been both controlled and successful.

91ƵRight now, my feeling is a good feeling, so I don91Ƶt have the same feeling I had last time,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵNo one wants a repeat.91Ƶ

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