It was 1915 at one of Canada’s first indoor ice rinks, the Denman Arena, where the Vancouver Millionaires lifted the Stanley Cup. Named after the same man for whom Stanley Park has its title, it’s been an interesting 95 years of hockey in this town ever since.
Denman Arena from the Rowing Club in Stanley Park – Archives item #: CVA 99-2080
Winning the Stanley Cup for Vancouver wasn’t a big deal in 1915. When our Millionaires won the Cup March 26, 1915 — 98 years ago today — the story was buried on Page 7 of The Vancouver Sun, with no reference on the front page. [Chuck Davis]
At that time the city was less than 30 years old. The second Hotel Vancouver was being constructed, the first Georgia Viaduct was put in place, and the Vancouver Exposition became a permanent fixture at Hastings Park (and as we know it, the PNE). Hockey sure looked different then too.
It wasn’t until brothers Frank and Lester moved out West and formed the Pacific Coast Hockey Association with family lumber money that rules of play as we know them appeared on the ice. They also initiated the construction of the Denman Arena in Coal Harbour and Victoria’s Patrick Arena.
Contributions the Patrick brothers made to the game:
- The forward pass
- The blue line
- The penalty shot
- The boarding penalty
- The playoff system
- Kicking of the puck (except into the net)
- Allowing goalies to fall to make a save
- Crediting of assists on goals
“That’s just to name a few, but 22 of the changes implemented by these brothers are still in the modern day NHL rule book, shaping the game that’s still played today. In fact, they helped build the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from near scratch to one of the best leagues to play in at the time.”
John put this information together over on our podcast site back in November:
If you walk by the site of Denman Arena, where this action took place and where the Vancouver Millionaires won the Stanley Cup against the Ottawa Senators in the 1915 finals you won’t see much. There is a modest sign card, a bus stop, and a parking lot for Devonian Harbour Park.
“I kept thinking that this is such a Canadian version of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”. Instead of paving paradise to put up a parking lot, the rink burned down so they stuck in a parking lot. Of course, Coal Harbour has a tad more history to it than that, especially since the arena met its end in 1936.”
I’ve covered the stories of Denman Arena and the great Cyclone Taylor before, but it’s at a time like this that we need to celebrate our hockey history in this town. Sure, it’s been a heck of a while since a Vancouver player raised Lord Stanley’s Cup but I think it’s well overdue for another spin around our rink.
New to DVD there will be a special screening of It’s Complicated starring Maryl Strep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin next Thursday from at the Shangri-La Hotel’s Blue Moon Theatre.
This is an exclusive event to promote the DVD (and Blu-Ray) release coming up on April 27th and the only way in is to win. Luckily I have two tickets up for grabs for one lucky winner.
To enter the contest, submit your funniest relationship complication in the comments below (in 100 words or less).
The winner and their friend will enjoy beverages, nibble on hors d’oeuvres, watch the film, and walk away with a special goodie bag from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
The event will run from 1:00pm – 5:00pm on Thursday April 22nd.
The contest will end Monday April 19th at 9:00am. The winner will be selected and notified by email that will include further details for the screening party on Thursday.
Update The contest is now closed and Agasel is the winner, congratulations!
At the 2008 Vancouver International Film Festival I watched as BC filmmaker Cameron Labine collected the International Film Guide Inspiration Award for Control Alt Delete. The film that takes the line “I love my computer” to a whole new level was awarded for its “unique visual style, daring content and expansive execution by an emerging filmmaker”.
Now being released in theatres, Control Alt Delete, starring Tyler Labine (Reaper) is screening April 21st at Tinseltown and I have ten double passes to give away along with a cheeky prize pack. You can preview the trailer although be advised, it contains explicit adult language and content.
To enter to win one of ten passes, leave a comment on this post stating why you love your computer (don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be the same way that Labine’s character loves his). You can also enter by posting the following on Twitter:
I’ll leave this open until 5:00pm tonight. Passes (along with the prize packs) will be couriered to the winners so please enter a valid email address and check your inbox for your prize notification.
Update The winners have been drawn and they include: Chaminda, Stefan, Jenn, Jeremy, alickle (Twitter), avon78 (Twitter), Carries, Kelly, Robyn, and annavancouver (Twitter). Thanks everyone!
To celebrate Earth Month Starbucks Canada is offering free coffee to those who bring in their reusable travel mugs on April 15th.
I had a poll up in 2008 asking how many people used travel mugs but I’m curious to see if there has been an increase over the last two years.
Tomorrow’s offer is limited to participating stores so be sure to ask when you arrive for your caffeine pit stop. The offer is valid for brewed or iced coffee.
Since 1985 Starbucks has been offering 10 cent discounts on travel mug fill-ups. They have made it a goal to ensure 100% of their cups are reusable or recyclable by 2015.
This is the fifth year that they have Free Coffee Day and hopefully locations across Vancouver will be taking part.
This weekend is the 20th annual Women in Film & Television Festival. Each year there are screenings, workshops, and plenty of social opportunities to mingle with movers and shakers from the West Coast.
As proven by Kathryn Bigelow’s Academy Award for Best Director on March 7th, women thrive in front of and behind the camera.
The festival features a weekend of short films from 35 first time and veteran female filmmakers produced in countries such as New Zealand, Egypt, USA, Saudi Arabia and Canada. This stellar line-up of short documentaries, animation, drama, and a feature film also includes the presentation of two major filmmaker awards, pitching sessions, free filmmaker industry panels, and exhibitor showcase with networking lunch presentations from local industry companies.
Things kick off Saturday April 17th at 7:00pm with Opening Night at the Vancity Theatre. Earlier in the day there will be an exhibitor showcase from 9:30am – 4:30pm and then again on Sunday from 9:30am until 3:00pm. There will also be panels from 4:00pm – 5:30pm on Saturday and again on Sunday April 18th from 10:00am until 11:30am.
Let’s not forget the actual film screenings as well, which will take place both Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the festival is open to the general public all weekend and the exhibitor showcase is free to the public (register at the door).
Ticketed events include the screenings, the panels, the opening reception and the awards ceremony. You can purchase tickets for these events online or pick up a full festival pass.
I have two Festival Passes to give away which will get you and a friend into all of the film screenings this weekend. If you would like to enter to win the passes, please leave a comment or re-tweet the following:
This will be a quick contest and the passes are getting printed up for this weekend as we speak. I’ll run this until tomorrow morning at 9:00am.
Update The winner of the passes is Brenda, congratulations! Unfortunately I didn’t have a working email address for the 1st winner drawn.
Fine print: Approximate value of each pass is $45.
