If you correctly predicted that Wally Buono would become the BC Lions coach again, that several ex-Vancouver Canadians would star for the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League playoffs and that the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds would become national college football champions again, you may claim your prize for the most unlikely hat trick.
Such was the surprising 2015.
In 2016, the Vancouver Canucks will continue to fall short on-ice and at the box office as the rebuild under hockey operations president Trevor Linden continues.
Ticket prices have fallen below $25 each for several games on secondary market websites like StubHub. Will the Sedin twins stick to their no-trade clause or be shopped around at the trade deadline or draft day?
Meanwhile, the Aquilinis’ race to surround Rogers Arena with towers, and make it the symbolic centre of downtown, will accelerate.
Over at the Pacific Coliseum, the only certainty is the January 28 BMO Top Prospects Game, featuring coaches Don Cherry and Bobby Orr. The only general manager in Vancouver Giants’ history, Scott Bonner, is leaving at season’s end to join the Sports Corporation agency.
The 2007 Memorial Cup champion Giants have missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons and attendance is averaging below 5,000. While looking for better results on ice, majority owner Ron Toigo is also hoping for a better deal with the Pacific National Exhibition.
“Our goal is to be at the PNE, our goal is to be at the Coliseum,” Toigo said earlier this season. “Having said all that, if opportunity came along for a new building that fit our demographic, then we’d certainly have to look at it.”
The Lions played an uninspiring 7-11 season under one-and-done head coach Jeff Tedford, who helmed the team to its 19th consecutive post-season appearance. Rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings offers some hope for Buono’s second coming in 2016.
The league’s winningest coach will also need to assemble a coaching and scouting staff quickly to make the Lions a contender again.
Owner David Braley unloaded his other Canadian Football League franchise, the Toronto Argonauts, to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Bell (TSX:BCE) last spring. The Hamilton auto parts magnate, who turns 75 next May, would sooner hand the B.C. keys to a new owner than wait for Vancouver’s next turn as a Grey Cup host in 2020 or beyond.
Whether it’s tickets, merchandise or TV ratings, the Seattle Seahawks have captivated B.C. fans, at the Lions’ expense.
At the other end of the spectrum, the UBC Thunderbirds are poised to attract more cost-conscious fans to Point Grey in 2016 after the unlikely Vanier Cup championship led by quarterback Michael O’Connor. The Lions would be wise to resurrect two-for-one ticket deals and forge closer ties to the T-Birds.
It took the Vancouver Whitecaps five seasons to host an MLS Cup playoff game, but the novelty wore off quickly when the eventual 2015 champion Portland Timbers spoiled the show on the first Sunday of November. Uruguayan striker Octavio Rivero, who was supposed to be the replacement for 2013-departed Camilo Sanvezzo, didn’t provide the necessary scoring down the stretch.
The club needs to find a global name to lead the attack and help make 27,000 the new 21,000 at BC Place. If he doesn’t find a star before the season begins in March, president Bob Lenarduzzi and elusive owner Greg Kerfoot will certainly be scouting Euro 2016 and Copa America.
In an Olympic year, the new $10 million Richmond Olympic Experience – ROX, for short – will become a hot destination at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The interactive Olympic museum, the first fully sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee in North America, commemorates the 2010 Winter Olympics and beyond and is a worthy bookend to the BC Sports Hall of Fame and its 2010 gallery.
The Road to Rio stops at BC Place March 12 to 13 for the first of at least four years of the Canada Sevens HSBC World Rugby Sevens World Series. Already a hit with corporate ticket buyers, this event has the potential to be as big an international tourist draw as the Grey Cup is for domestic.
Speaking of tourism, that is the raison d’être for the North America’s Masters Games August 26 to September 4. The City of Vancouver and Sport BC are hoping to draw 7,500 athletes aged 29 and up to play in 27 sports and fill hotels, restaurants and bars. Sport BC and the BC Sports Hall of Fame both celebrate their 50th awards shows in 2016; the latter will honour Buono, Steve Nash and Arthur Griffiths at the June 9 induction ceremony. The former celebrates the future on March 10.
As the Parq casino hotel complex rises on BC Place’s west side for a 2017 opening, the BC Lottery Corp. will be confronted by further competition.
The daily fantasy sports craze, led by Draft Kings and Fan Duel, includes new local player Fantasy 6. The debate in New York and California is skill versus chance. Meanwhile, will the “real change” promised by the Justin Trudeau Liberals mean the single-event sports wagering bill will finally make it through the Senate?
The only sure bet in 2016: sellouts at Nat Bailey Stadium. The 2015-enlarged, 1951-built Little Mountain ballpark has relied on celebrity appearances by Hall of Famers to spark interest in seasons’ past.
The Blue Jays’ summer and fall of 2015 reignited baseball interest across the country and Northwest League C’s alumni – Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna, plus outfielder Kevin Pillar – were keys to the success.
For the first time since the late 1990s, when it was on the Triple-A Pacific Coast League circuit, the Nat can be considered a serious nest for the future of Major League Baseball.
