I was down at Rogers Arena yesterday. The Vancouver Canucks hosted a media event to bring us up to speed on the construction at the arena and provide more details of the food and beverage program.
I'm writing about the tour for a couple of other outlets, so I'll link to those stories once they go up. I was most surprised to learn that this massive overhaul has basically been undertaken since the end of the season—largely at the behest of fans who were looking for an improved food and beverage experience.
Lots of work is still in progress at this point, with a goal of being ready for opening night of the regular season on October 11. The Canucks took over food service operations from Aramark on July 1 and have been operating their basic concessions since that time for concerts and other events.
The new concourse space that's part of the tower that's currently under construction looks like it'll be impressive. It's located between sections 101 and 122 off the lower bowl and will include a full bar, gathering area, a new set of stairs connecting level 100 and level 300 and two massive new washrooms that will increase the overall washroom capacity by about 30 percent.
Fans should be pleased to learn that hard liquor will now be available throughout the arena—not just in the club section and the suites—and that hawkers will be selling beer and some food items in the seating areas during the game.
The Calendar
Now that we're getting close to the onset of on-ice action, let's take a quick look at the important dates coming up between now and the beginning of the season:
September 11 - 15: YoungStars Classic in Penticton
The Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets will be sending their prospects to this four-day tournament. It'll give us a first look at new players like Jared McCann and Dane Fox and offer up some playing time to familiar faces like Nicklas Jensen, Frank Corrado and Mike Zalewski, who have already spent some time in the NHL.
The Canucks' first game is Friday the 12th at 7:30 against Edmonton. If I remember correctly, games were streamed on the website last year, so we should have an opportunity to watch and assess.
Click here for the schedule and more info. Full rosters have yet to be announced.
Practices will be free and open to the public. The Canucks' first practice is next Thursday, September 11th, from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
September 18: veterans report to Rogers Arena for medicals and fitness testing
September 19 - 22: training camp at Whistler
If you're in the area or can squeeze in a quick road trip, all on-ice practice sessions at the Meadow Park Sports Centre will be complimentary and open to the pubic. See for yourself if Bo Horvat looks like he's going to grab an NHL job this season!
Players will return to Vancouver on September 22nd, then play their first games of pre-season on the 23rd. That'll be a split-squad game with the San Jose Sharks, so half the team will travel down to the Shark Tank, while the other half will play in Rogers Arena.
If you look ahead to the regular-season schedule, you might be surprised to see how spaced out the games appear, especially in the first couple of weeks. After two seasons of compressed schedules due to the lockout and the Olympics, it looks like teams will get a chance to practice and rest a bit between games—which could give the Canucks a big boost.
The regular season begins in Calgary on Thursday, October 9, then the home opener will be against the Oilers on Saturday, Oct 11th. After that, the team gets five days off before visiting Edmonton for Game 3 on Friday, October 17th. Those five days are going to be wild, as we try to figure out what kind of team we have this season from such a small sample of games.
Most-Penalized?
I don't expect the Canucks to rank third-highest in penalty minutes again in 2014-15, but I did single out new arrival Derek Dorsett as the man who could claim Tom Sestito's crown as the most-penalized player in the league in this article I just wrote for Bleacher Report.
My guess is that Sestito's role will be diminished, to the point where he falls out of the top 10 in penalty minutes. Since Dorsett played his junior hockey with Willie Desjardins in Medicine Hat, I'm assuming that Willie's going to use him as much as he can in that fourth-line energy role.
My prediction's not that much of a stretch. Dorsett led the league with 235 PIMS in 2011-12 as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.