In his fifth season with the Canucks, J.T. Miller said that seeing the fans waving their towels in a playoff atmosphere gave him a different perspective on what hockey means to the City of Vancouver.
“When we came out on the ice today was one of the more special things I’ve been a part of other than the birth of my children and my wedding. It’s hard not to get choked up when you see that, that literally is everything – that emotion, the noise, the towels,” Miller said.
Another Canucks’ player that’s been with the franchise for five years is Tyler Myers who agreed that stepping out onto the ice was a special moment.
“As I was stepping on the ice I got chills. It was everything we thought it would be and more and we’re very excited to get back at it for game two,” Myers said.
Head Coach Rick Tocchet talked about players being surprised at how loud the crowd was during game one and that some of the players told him after the game that they felt emotional hearing the fans support.
“I think going into this next game, I'm sure the crowd is going to be just as loud. We’ve got to have that same passion, same thing, same emotion, make sure we cut down on the penalties and some stuff system-wise we can be a little bit better and I think just be in check a little bit emotionally, but I you’ve got to feed off the fans, it’s great,” Tocchet said.
Veteran defenceman Ian Cole is heading into his 13th consecutive playoffs and has seen a lot over his long NHL career.
He said the atmosphere at Rogers Arena last night showed the appetite for playoff hockey in Vancouver and the fans were “fantastic.”
“It was a really great experience, it was a ton of fun, and I thought our guys embraced the moment really well,” Cole said.
You can’t help but feel the emotion from the crowd, but the 14-year NHL veteran says that he plays better when he blocks out the noise and it’s about learning to channel any energy into productivity on the ice.
“You step out here, and it's your fans, and the atmosphere is so great. It's like ‘Wow, this is amazing.’ Then you go to Nashville and you're like, ‘Whoa, this is so intimidating.’ Well, it's neither. It's great here, feel the energy, use it. And there, it's going to be loud, it's not intimidating, feel the energy, use it. It should be the same mindset, it shouldn’t matter where you're playing, it's going to be energy everywhere at this point of the year,” he said.
Elias Lindholm said he had goose bumps hearing the crowd during warmup. He tried to keep his emotions in check and said that scoring a goal on home ice was a great feeling.
“Just in the warmups, people are standing up and you’re fired up and you have to control your emotions a little bit and then you go out there for the anthems and so on. It’s great to have playoff hockey and obviously it’s a lot of fun,” Lindholm said.
There was no questioning what fans were cheering, every cheer, chant or chirp rang clear and loud. Fans finished PA announcer Al Murdoch’s sentences on cue for scoring and assists and “Go Canucks Go” cheers broke out as fans pushed for a game one victory as hard as the players played.
The Canucks win made it a special night for the fans and the energy from the fans made it a memorable night for the players.
And the best news is that we have even more to come as the Canucks are just beginning their march through the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Get loud, Vancouver. It’s your time to shine.
