As the Vancouver Canucks head into Game 5 on home ice tonight, fans young and old on the Peninsula are standing behind their team as they battle for the Stanley Cup.
Throughout the playoffs this spring, close to two dozen residents and staff at Crescent Gardens Retirement Community have been faithfully cheering on the home team.
With blue pompoms in hand and homemade signs hanging from their necks that read “We want the Cup,” the group of fans gathered Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of Game 4 between the Canucks and the Bruins.
Resident Ray Scorse, who said he has been cheering for the Canucks for decades, said the group that gathers for each game is a loyal one, and has yet to be discouraged by recent losses.
“It was kind of a downer,” he said, of Monday night’s 8-1 blowout by the Bruins. “But (the fans) never left, they stayed right till the bitter end.”
Scorse said residents and staff each have their own pick for best Canuck, and when the subject of favourites was brought up, response was varied.
“I’m from Germany, so I like Ehrhoff,” said one resident, sitting anxiously in the front row, while her neighbour chimed in, “We have to root for Luongo right now, we just have to.”
“Burr-ows! Burr-ows!” another resident, adorned in a Canucks #14 jersey, chanted from the back row.
While Scorse said the feeling throughout the retirement residence is that the Canucks will bring home the cup, the group is hesitant to look too far ahead.
“We haven’t planned anything out just yet, we’re still waiting,” he said. “But most likely, we’ll have a big celebration.”