If hockey fans need any evidence the hype over the Vancouver Canucks playoff run has dissipated, it is in the fact the Vancouver Police Department saw no need to provide a re-cap of Sundays game-related infractions to media.
There is no Game 3 re-cap because there was nothing going on downtown, wrote Const. Lindsey Houghton, a VPD media relations officer, in an email to the Courier Monday. There were no stats.
The first two games of the series with the Los Angeles Kings, which were played at Rogers Arena, saw the VPD release statistics for liquor pour-outs, public drinking and other violations.
Game 1 ended with four liquor pour-outs and six tickets for liquor consumption and traffic-related offences. Game 2, a Friday night, saw 16 liquor pour-outs and 39 tickets for a variety of traffic and liquor-related offences.
Sunday nights game, which was played in Los Angeles, ended with the Canucks falling 1-0 to the Kings, who are one win away from sweeping the team that collected the most points in the National Hockey League this season.
Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Los Angeles and because it is potentially a deciding game, the VPD expects more people to visit downtown bars and restaurants. Police will have an enhanced presence on the streets. But if the past three games are any indication, people might decide to stay home or go elsewhere because, especially for the two home games, we havent seen anywhere close to the number of people we anticipated, Houghton said. In fact, Friday was described as being slower than a regular weekday night without a game on.
While the Canucks inability to win is likely the main reason for the sparse crowds, police believe warning fans about liquor consumption and the ongoing round-up of suspected rioters from the Stanley Cup riot also affected the turnout.
The VPD has said those fans planning on bringing booze into downtown and drinking it in public would be intercepted by police, despite the B.C. Civil Liberties Associations concerns the searches would be illegal.
Prior to the beginning of this years playoffs, a Coquitlam man received a 17-month jail term for his participation in the Stanley Cup riot. Police continue to make arrests and have recommended 508 charges against 175 suspects.
We like to think its a deterrent, Houghton said in an interview of the jail term and the investigation. People see how committed weve been, how aggressive weve been with announcing charges.
If the Canucks end up losing Wednesday night, it will be a substantial savings for the police department, which estimated policing the playoffs, if each series went to seven games, at more than $1 million.
Setting up the so-called fan zones for the later rounds of the playoffs and the associated policing costs totalled $2 million. The VPD has yet to release the cost of the riot investigation.
Twitter: @Howellings
