Vancouver Canucks: How I became a fan

My grandfather arrived in Vancouver from Italy in the late 1960’s. A few years after his arrival, the Vancouver Canucks would join the National Hockey League, turning my grandfather into a fan for life. His love for the Canucks turned me into the die-hard fan I am today.

The year was 1967. My grandfather, with his wife and daughter — my mother — arrived in Vancouver. Arriving from a small town in Sicily and not knowing a word of English is quite a daunting task. It was just what my grandfather felt needed to be done, as he searched for a better life for his family for generations to come.

In Italian, the word for grandfather is “Nonno”. I have only ever called my grandfather by this name, and doubt he would even respond if I said the word “grandpa” to him. For the duration of this article, I will refer to him by this name, as I have for my entire life.

The expansion draft took place on June 10th, 1970, and saw both the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres compile their first NHL rosters. As the Canucks were getting prepared for their first NHL season, my Nonno was getting prepared for his new life in Canada.

As he continued to try to learn the language, he found work any way he could. He found a push mower, (a lawn mower that is completely manual, no assembly, nor batteries required) and asked people around town if he could cut their lawns. He would do this all day and charge about two dollars a lawn, depending on the size of the lawn.

Nonno continued to be quite the quaint entrepreneur while he searched for a full-time job that could support his family for years to come. He would take little jobs as he continued to refine his English speaking skills, literally learning on the job.

Then one of his fellow countrymen, (referred to as “Paisano” in Italian) told him to come to work with him as a longshoreman on one of the many shipyards throughout Vancouver.

That’s the job Nonno took and worked the rest of his working days. He worked seven days some weeks and returned home around six o’clock every day, just in time to turn on the TV and see strange looking soccer players buzzing around on what looked like ice.

Obviously, hockey wasn’t very big in Italy, especially back then, so when my Nonno saw the Canucks playing on basic cable nearly every night, he began to grow quite an attachment to the team. As he learned English, he would watch Canucks games and learned the game of hockey. In turn, listening to the broadcasts on TV and the radio helped him learn English.

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As the years passed, his English grew stronger as he continued to live in Canada. He is now happily retired, and never misses a Canucks game.

For the duration of the 50+ years that my Nonno has been in Canada he has rarely ever missed a Canucks game. For my entire life, I have watched as many Canucks games as possible with him, eating pizza, and pasta all the while.

I didn’t know what was going on when I would watch the games at a young age. I didn’t know who the players were, but I knew I cheered for the Canucks and got happy whenever my Nonno would celebrate a Canucks goal.

We continued to watch the Canucks battle and as I got older, I began to really take a liking to the team. I fell in love with the team for real during the West Coast Express days, and loved to watch the team every single night they were on TV.

My favourite player was Ed Jovanovski. I don’t know why he was my favourite player in particular, but as a young lad, I took a strong liking to the big defenceman. I even had a t-shirt with him on it, winding up for a slapper.

With the success of the team leading up to the 2010-11 season, I, like many folks around town, became even more excited about the team. That’s when I bought my first Canucks jersey — a Ryan Kesler one with the 2011 Stanley Cup Final logo patch sewn on; fighting strap included.

When the team regressed in recent years, my Nonno and I didn’t quit watching the games, despite how painful some of them were to watch.

When you grow up watching the team like I did, with the strong influence of a parental figure loving the team just as much, you don’t jump ship when the going gets tough. As Billy Ocean would say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Hockey, and particularly this team, have allowed me to grow an unbreakable bond with my Nonno, and as his age increases while his health gradually does the opposite, he is always in great spirits, especially about the Canucks. Just last week he said to me, “The Canucks better win a cup soon. I can’t die until they win a cup.” Right you are, Nonno. Right you are.

That’s my story of how I became a fan. I understand this is a change of pace and content, but just thought I’d change it up a little.  Feel free to tell me your stories of how you became a fan in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you all.