On March 10, the Vancouver Canucks beat the New York Islanders 5-4 in front of more than 18,000 fans at Rogers Arena.
Bo Horvat and Tyler Toffoli were among the Canucks’ goal-scorers and J.T. Miller netted the shootout winner.
The game between two teams vying for a playoff spot marked the last time that anything about the Canucks’ 2019-20 season felt close to normal.
Like just about every other aspect of our lives, the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the world of sports in 2020.
For many, the pandemic became real when the NBA suspended its season on March 11 after one of its players, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the coronavirus.
The National Hockey League suspended its season the following day, leaving the Canucks and their fans in limbo.
The NHL eventually started to plan a return to the ice in June, and Canucks owners campaigned to make Vancouver one of two “hub cities” that would host games with no fans in the stands.
The league ultimately settled on Edmonton and Toronto, as health officials in B.C. had concerns about what would happen if someone within a team quarantine ended up testing positive for COVID-19.
When the Canucks did take to the ice this summer, they defeated the Minnesota Wild in a play-in series.
After dispensing of the Wild, the team upended the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues 4-2 in the best-of-seven opening-round series — the only Canadian franchise to make it to the second round.
It was Vancouver’s first playoff series win since 2011, when they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup final.
In the second round, the Canucks forced the Vegas Golden Knights to a seventh game.
The Knights defeated the Canucks 3-0 win in Game 7, eliminating the last Canadian team from the NHL playoffs.
Goaltender Thatcher Demko looked like a star in the place of starter Jacob Markstrom.
Markstrom was one of a number of Canucks players to leave during the offseason. Other departures include Tyler Toffoli, Chris Tanev, and Troy Stecher.
The Vancouver Whitecaps also faced a season like no other.
Major League Soccer teams had played just two games before the season was suspended in March. The league regrouped to hold the MLS is Back tournament in a bubble in Florida last summer.
Most clubs returned to local markets to complete a truncated season, but the Whitecaps ended up playing their home matches in Portland, Ore., due to Canadian rules around quarantining for 14 days after leaving the country.
The club finished ninth in the western conference with a record of nine wins and 14 losses.
Meanwhile, other Vancouver sports franchises didn’t even get to start their season.
The BC Lions never got to take the field at BC Place, as the Canadian Football League suspended games in August.
The league has released its 2021 schedule with the hopes of kicking off the season in June.
The Vancouver Canadians cancelled play in June.
The team recently announced it will be the high Single A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, and will play a 132-game season. Since 2000, the team had only played a 76-game schedule in the short-season Northwest League.
Earlier this month, the Western Hockey League said it had once again delayed the start of the 2020-21 regular season.
In June, the league announced an optimistic start date of Oct. 2, with a 68-game schedule, though that was later pushed to Dec. 4, then Jan. 8.
Now, it’s unknown when league play will begin.
There is also no start date for the BC Hockey League, due to provincial health orders that place restrictions on sports for athletes under the age of 19.
Games, tournaments, and competitions are temporarily suspended for teams while individual drills and modified training activities can continue.
— With files from Doyle Potenteau, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
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