Vancouver Canucks fans were met with a royal surprise Monday night, with the unexpected appearance of Prince Harry for the game’s ceremonial puck-drop.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are in town for several days on a promotion and inspection tour in the lead-up to the Invictus Games, set for February 2025 in Vancouver and Whistler.
Harry is the founder and patron of the games, which see wounded, injured and sick veterans and active service members from around the world compete in a variety of sports.
The 2025 Vancouver games will be the first time the competition has incorporated winter sports.
“The Duke and Duchess, they are so hands-on and really want to be a major part of the games, especially the planning,” Invictus Games board member and Squamish Nation Coun. Wilson Williams told Global News.
Williams shared a box with the couple for Monday night’s Canucks tilt with the San Jose Sharks, and said the pair “really loved the vibe.”
But he said the appearance’s real value was in helping build momentum for the games as the clock nears the one-year countdown.
“You can feel the energy building and the momentum,” he said.
“The community and broader community of Canada is going to really get on board now, especially with them visiting, but being right on live television and really promoting the games and having Harry drop the puck as well.”
The appearance appears to have already paid dividends, according to Invictus Games CEO Dominic Reed, who is also in Vancouver for the preparatory visit.
“Just since last night, since the Canucks game, 98 people have registered for the volunteer program,” he said.
The delegation is checking on the progress at venues and working on development, Reed said, with particular attention to the Vancouver Convention Centre and the sites in Whistler.
The mountain community — former host to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games — will be critical to the event’s integration of winter sports.
“We’ve got, for example, you know, the new nation Nigeria, coming to do winter sports,” Reed said.
“I mean, that’s taking them completely into a different place. It’s offering them opportunities they never thought they’d have and I think there’s a real excitement about that.”
The Squamish, Musqueam, Lil’wat and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations are also partnering with Vancouver and Whistler to host the games.
The Invictus Games will see more than 500 competitors from more than 20 countries compete.
Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Minister Lana Popham said the province will be ready when they arrive.
“It was a real success,” she said of the delegation’s visit.
“They are of course very impressed with everything we have to offer in B.C., and now as we approach the one year out we are going to see a lot more excitement and we’re going to get into our places and we’re going to be ready.”
The Duke and Duchess are no strangers to B.C., famously making an extended stay on Vancouver Island in 2019, and Popham said it is clear “they love British Columbia.”
Harry’s puck drop also echoed another previous royal visit — this one by his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who also dropped the puck at a Vancouver-San Jose game 21 years ago while touring Canada for her Golden Jubilee.
The Invictus Games run from Feb. 8 to Feb. 16, 2025. You can find out more about the games and how to participate on the Invictus Games website.