City to reveal 2012 playoff plans today
Posted Mar 27, 2012 10:25:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Today the City of Vancouver is laying out its plans on how to prevent a repeat of last year’s Stanley Cup Riot.
City Manager Penny Ballem will be updating council on Vancouver’s 2012 playoff strategy, as well as how well the recommendations from the Riot Review are being implemented.
The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association says it’s still too soon for its members to get behind the kind of mass celebrations seen last year.
“We don’t think there’s a sufficient deterrent there for that kind of behaviour and I think it would be foolhardy for us to, as a collective, to try to do anything like we did last year,” explains Executive Director Charles Gauthier.
In fact, today’s planning is expected to focus on smaller-scale celebrations.
The events of June 15th caused millions in destruction, but Gauthier says it’s the unseen damage that is harder to repair.
“Psychological scars that both employers and employees that were there that night will continue to deal with and I think those are far more reaching,” he adds.
A technical briefing is set for 12:00 p.m, involving the City, TransLink, Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver Coastal Health and other partners’ operational staff.
At 1:00 p.m., Mayor Gregor Robertson, Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Doug LePard, and Stanley Cup riot report co-author John Furlong will provide an update on progress to-date on riot review recommendations and unveil initial plans for 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs celebrations.
Ballem will make her presentation during this afternoon’s regular council meeting at 2:00 p.m.
Time to move on
Are you a die-hard Canucks fan who is still stinging from last year’s loss in the Stanley Cup Final?
If you are, one psychologist says it’s about time to move on.
“Start a new hobby and focus your energy on something other than just hockey,” explains Derek Swain. “It’s just a game and fans need to put that into perspective and try to realize that there are much more important things in the world to be stressed about.”
For the most part, he says fans are over what happened last season and are looking forward to the upcoming NHL playoffs with optimism.
