Canucks Open Practice

My husband is the one who saw the opportuity to get tickets to the Canucks open practice and jumped on it. There was a limit of 4 per person, which was fine, my sister came with us. This was great because it meant someone could keep Evie entertained in the back of the car besides one of us for once.

A friend of mine saw that I was looking for a girls Canucks jersey, and gave us her daughter’s old one. I was able to get a matching headband made from Miss Maddi’s Cutie Creations. Yes I am that Mom who likes to have special outfits for some things like Christmas, and sporting events. Is that something only Mom’s of girls do?

We left with enough time to get there for when the doors opened at 10am, it was not reserved seating so you just found a seat where you could in the lower bowl. There was lots of options when we went in. I was happy we were able to get a seats near the aisle, and the other people who had been sitting in the same row moved so we were able to spread out a bit more and allow Evie to walk between us when she got restless.

There were lots of activity areas set up around the arena. Places to try shooting pucks into nets, colouring stations for kids, face painting, and photos with Fin. Some had long line ups, but once the practice started the line ups stopped quickly. This was perfect for us, as I decided I’d be the one to go out with Evie if she needed to walk around and take a break. Which she did. We found lots to do. She had a great time walking everywhere, and enjoyed colouring.

It was a very family friendly experience, and probably the only way we will ever experience the Canucks with a kid. Free tickets to watch, all we had to do was pay for gas to get there, and pay parking. I did however buy a bag of popcorn to keep Evie occupied at one point. She loves popcorn and will happily sit eating some. She had already downed her squishy food pack, and other snacks I had brought.

We brought the Ergo baby carrier with us for walking to and from the arena. Sure glad we did, as I would not have wanted to manuvre with a stroller, and I’d be worried just walking with her on the sidewalk on her own. Jason carried her, and we tried the back carry for the first time. She seemed to love it, despite the picture I got of her in it, she was smiling and looking and everything the whole time.

Is it worth it to go to this when you live farther out from Vancouver? I’d say yes. There were many families who came from all over BC. You make it a family adventure, especially if you have older kids you can do some other stuff downtown too. We would definitely go again.