Just blocks from Canada Hockey Place, could LiveCity Downtown be the next best thing?
While the swine flu epidemic never materialized, hockey fever has officially struck Vancouver. Today, men’s quarterfinal action got underway. The energy level downtown, in the midst of an already exciting Olympics, cranked up yet another notch. On the streets, a sea of fans in Brodeur, Luongo and Crosby jerseys converged on Canada Hockey Place, intent on witnessing Canada reclaim Olympic glory.
Just one problem – getting inside. The hockey stadium holds a mere 19,300 fans. This shortage of tickets has led to some frenzied scalping over the last week. It looks to be a seller’s market. On nearly every street corner this afternoon, groups of men huddled, discretely exchanging big wads of cash for a few coveted tickets. Offers of $1,000 or more for seats seemed pretty commonplace.
Short lines mean easy access to LiveCity Downtown.
In other words, there was no way I was getting inside Canada Hockey Place today. Fortunately, there are plenty of places around town to watch the game, from sports bars to the Olympic houses and pavilions to the Vogue Theatre on Granville Street, which is showing sports live on its 40-foot HD screen. But, considering how much Canadian pride was on the line today, I decided to preview the screens at LiveCity Downtown, home of the Canada Pavilion.
In contrast to the massive queues earlier in the Games, the line-up to get into LiveCity Downtown this afternoon was a manageable 15 minutes. Inside, I joined a crowd gathered in front of the giant outdoor screen showing the USA-Switzerland quarterfinal. With Vancouver’s spring-like weather a distant memory, we stood rubbing our hands against the cold as the first period came to a close with the teams deadlocked 0-0.
If you don't mind the cold, the giant outdoor screen offers live hockey action.
During the intermission, I ducked inside Live@LiveCity Downtown, which promoters bill as a “licensed, chalet-style lounge.” It turned out to be a beer tent, plain and simple. But it was warm inside, with plenty of good-old Canadian snacks on offer, from poutine to seafood chowder. Best of all, there were big screen TVs hung from every possible surface.
As the second period started, I found myself sitting in an ocean of red jerseys. Still smarting from Sunday’s loss, the crowd groaned every time the U.S. squad shot on goal and cheered as overmatched Switzerland tried to counter. The beer was flowing and anticipation was high as the period ended with neither team on the scoreboard.
Beer, poutine and hockey awaits inside the dining tent at LiveCity Downtown.
It was then that I had another Olympic moment. A burly, bearded guy with a Canada hockey jersey swaddling an ample belly sat down next to me, holding a beer in both hands. He looked at the screen, turned to me and said, “Best seat in the house.” I started thinking and realized he was exactly right.
There I was, enjoying beer and hockey just blocks from Canada Hockey Place in the middle of the Olympics. The air smelled like poutine, everyone was wearing red and white and – in the midst of whatever other problems were going on in the world – everyone was jubilant. Pretty hard to beat.
A Canada fan watches the U.S. defeat Switzerland in quarterfinal hockey play.
The U.S. went on to beat Switzerland with a pair of goals in the third period. With Canada advancing past Russia in quarterfinal action tonight, I’m looking forward to more Olympic hockey action in the coming week. And, as I’m sure the price of tickets will easily eclipse the $1,000 mark, I’ll be looking for places to watch the games.
Any suggestions? What’s the next best thing to Canada Hockey Place in Vancouver?
