Rob The Hockey Guy

The Canucks lost their season opener in a shootout last night, but I’d like to focus on something else. There are a lot of changes inside of Rogers Arena. In case you haven’t been there yet this year, lets take a look.

New Beer

Molson is gone from Rogers Arena. That means that Rickard’s Red is gone too. In its place? Budweiser and Alexander Keith’s. Something just seems wrong about Budweiser being at a hockey game. You think Budweiser and you think football, don’t you? Well, Budweiser is now in control of both of Vancouver’s major sporting venues (they acquired the rights to BC Place). And with Budweiser comes the Budweiser Girls. I think they handed out sunglasses at one point, but for most of the night they were just kind of hanging out until a guy came by to chat them up. Show a little more pep, ladies!

No More Coca Cola

Coca Cola is out, Pepsi is in for the first time at Rogers Arena. Personally, I couldn’t care less but I’m sure everyone has a Coke snob in their life.

New Flat Screen Televisions

Finally the old box TVs are gone from the concourse. This is something that I complained about a lot last season. They’ve given the concourse a lot of life.

New Designs All Over the Place

Walls that previously were plain and grey now have subtle Canucks designs on them (mostly of current and former Canucks). There are a whole bunch more subtle upgrades too (too subtle to mention), but they’re a nice touch.

The Golden Goal Over and Over Again

This is a cool new feature. On the 300 level concourse there’s a spot where you can watch Sidney Crosby’s golden goal over and over again. There were about 30 people watching it when I walked by.

New Banners

The Canucks are starting to get a modest collection of banners in the rafters at Rogers Arena. Of course, the banner that everyone really wants isn’t there yet though. But the Canucks now display the 2010-11 Northwest Division and Western Conference Champions banners.