Many Islanders were caught in Vancouver's riots on Wednesday night.
Karen Thompson, 45, from Victoria took her nine-year-old daughter Claire to Game 7 in Vancouver, hoping to relive "the magic of the Olympics."
They had planned to watch at Library Square. Instead, they took the ferry home after the first period.
There were too many drunks and not enough police, she said. "I didn't feel like there was any magic," said Thompson.
During last year's Olympics, people were attending for the right reason, said Thompson.
But for the Canucks' last chance for this year's Stanley Cup, people came prepared to riot with hammers, Molotov cocktails and matches, she said.
Intoxicated men and women were climbing on top of outhouses. People were throwing up. One man was talking about his friends planning to riot. And people were loitering in the streets, not even watching the game.
Because they left early, Thompson and her daughter avoided the post-game rioting.
Other Islanders weren't so lucky. Mike Edward, 23, returned from Vancouver with a bump on his head. "Someone threw a rock at a window and it bounced off and hit me in the head."
He tried to get out of downtown quickly, but it was crowded with people kicking in windows, he said. "Most of the people were idiots."
Many people found themselves looking on in horror. "We sat on the side of the road, watching in awe," said Langford resident Paul Obersteller, 30. "It was basically anarchy in the streets."
Eventually, it got too serious and he decided it was safer to leave downtown. He took the SkyTrain to South Surrey. As he left downtown, he could see smoke rising between the buildings, apparently caused by burning cars.
A crew of volunteers, partly led by a Victoria resident, has been helping to clean the streets. Smitty Smith, a Cowichan Secondary grad, started a Facebook group called Post Riot Clean-up — Let's help Vancouver. More than 10,000 people joined.
Graeme Yamagishi began volunteering at 9:30 a.m. and he didn't even go to Vancouver to watch the game. He went for a Kid Cudi concert Thursday night but witnessed the riot Wednesday.
He walked through three clouds of tear gas, saw looting and tipped-over cars on fire, and people smashing their way into the downtown London Drugs store.
He spent most of Thursday clearing broken glass from the streets. "It's amazing how fast they cleaned up," he said. Damaged store fronts were boarded and volunteers wrote positive messages about the city, such as "We love Van." "I'm glad to see people are still positive," said Yamagishi.
Victoria businessman Rob Reid was in Boston when the Bruins won. People were "hooting and hollering" but nobody got unruly, he said. He and fellow Canadians were on the street; he wore a Canucks cap and a friend wore a Canucks T-shirt. A few people hazed them but nothing was worrisome. "Everybody was out in the streets just hooting it up," he said.
Karen Thompson, 45, from Victoria took her nine-year-old daughter Claire to Game 7 in Vancouver, hoping to relive "the magic of the Olympics."
They had planned to watch at Library Square. Instead, they took the ferry home after the first period.
There were too many drunks and not enough police, she said. "I didn't feel like there was any magic," said Thompson.
During last year's Olympics, people were attending for the right reason, said Thompson.
But for the Canucks' last chance for this year's Stanley Cup, people came prepared to riot with hammers, Molotov cocktails and matches, she said.
Intoxicated men and women were climbing on top of outhouses. People were throwing up. One man was talking about his friends planning to riot. And people were loitering in the streets, not even watching the game.
Because they left early, Thompson and her daughter avoided the post-game rioting.
Other Islanders weren't so lucky. Mike Edward, 23, returned from Vancouver with a bump on his head. "Someone threw a rock at a window and it bounced off and hit me in the head."
Many people found themselves looking on in horror. "We sat on the side of the road, watching in awe," said Langford resident Paul Obersteller, 30. "It was basically anarchy in the streets."
Eventually, it got too serious and he decided it was safer to leave downtown. He took the SkyTrain to South Surrey. As he left downtown, he could see smoke rising between the buildings, apparently caused by burning cars.
A crew of volunteers, partly led by a Victoria resident, has been helping to clean the streets. Smitty Smith, a Cowichan Secondary grad, started a Facebook group called Post Riot Clean-up — Let's help Vancouver. More than 10,000 people joined.
Graeme Yamagishi began volunteering at 9:30 a.m. and he didn't even go to Vancouver to watch the game. He went for a Kid Cudi concert Thursday night but witnessed the riot Wednesday.
He walked through three clouds of tear gas, saw looting and tipped-over cars on fire, and people smashing their way into the downtown London Drugs store.
He spent most of Thursday clearing broken glass from the streets. "It's amazing how fast they cleaned up," he said. Damaged store fronts were boarded and volunteers wrote positive messages about the city, such as "We love Van." "I'm glad to see people are still positive," said Yamagishi.
Victoria businessman Rob Reid was in Boston when the Bruins won. People were "hooting and hollering" but nobody got unruly, he said. He and fellow Canadians were on the street; he wore a Canucks cap and a friend wore a Canucks T-shirt. A few people hazed them but nothing was worrisome. "Everybody was out in the streets just hooting it up," he said.
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