After nearly 600 days, Vancouver Canucks fans will be able to attend a regular-season game at Rogers Arena.
The arena will be operating at full capacity when the Canucks take on the Minnesota Wild Tuesday night, a day after the province lifted capacity limits on indoor sporting events in much of the province.
The NHL club can play in front of a full house, although tickets were still available as of Tuesday morning.
Those in attendance will be required to wear masks and show proof of vaccination.
Brian Conway, medication director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, said fans should expect things to be a bit different at Rogers Arena this season.
“This is a new normal,” he said. “I think if everyone goes with that frame of mind, then it’ll be fine.”
He said fans should have their vaccine card and ID on hand as they entire the stadium.
“We don’t want people congregating together in large numbers for an extended period of time while people are fishing for their certificate and fishing for their ID and their ticket.”
Once inside the arena, fans must wear a mask unless they are actively eating and drinking. Conway notes that voicing your support is an essential part of the fan experience, but it can be done with a face covering.
“‘Go Canucks Go’ sounds fantastic through a mask,” he said. “I’ve tried it, so I think everyone should get used to doing that and should practise before they go to the game.”
Conway also said fans should not congregate in large numbers at concession stands or on the concourse.
Cash will not be accepted at games as concession and retail stands have moved to contactless forms of payment.
The Canucks last played in front of fans on March 10, 2020, a 5-4 shootout win over New York Islanders.
Players say they can’t wait to finally play in front of hometown fans after going 3-2-1 on a six-game road trip to start the season.
“It’s crazy to think that we haven’t seen our fans in that long,” Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko said Monday.
“I know everyone’s excited about it, we’ve been talking about it. We were getting a little itchy on the road there, wanting to get home and play some home games here.”
Fans have a significant impact on games, said Vancouver centre Elias Pettersson.
“It’s like an extra player almost,” he said. “Last year made me realize fans play a big part in just getting you going in a game. So the fans, they play a big part.”
–with files from The Canadian Press
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