Scores injured in Vancouver riot
A car burns amidst a crowd following the Vancouver Canucks being defeated by the Boston Bruins in the NHL Stanley Cup Final in Vancouver, British Columbia. (June 15, 2011) Credit: AP
VANCOUVER, Canada -- Almost 150 people required hospital treatment and close to 100 were arrested after rioters swept through downtown Vancouver following the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Anna Marie D'Angelo said yesterday that three stabbing victims had been admitted and a man was in critical condition with head injuries after a fall from a viaduct. Rioting and looting left cars burned, stores in shambles and windows shattered over a roughly 10-block radius of the city's main shopping district.
It was similar to the scene that erupted in 1994 after the Canucks' Game 7 loss to the Rangers, but the latest violence shocked Canadians unaccustomed to such riots.
Police chief Jim Chu said nine officers were injured, including one who required 14 stitches after being hit with a brick and some who had bite marks. He said 15 cars were burned, including two police cars. A local business leader estimated more than 50 businesses were damaged.
Chu called those who incited the riot "criminals and anarchists" and officers identified some in the crowd as the same people who smashed windows and caused trouble through the same streets the day after the 2010 Winter Olympics opened.
"These were people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline," Chu said. "They had a plan."
In Boston, five men arrested during celebrations of the Bruins' win appeared in municipal court yesterday. Police said one man encouraged a crowd near TD Garden to turn on police and dared officers to arrest him. Authorities said he shouted obscenities, took off his shirt and threw his belt at the officers. He was arrested on charges including inciting a riot.
Ratings soar. Game 7 Wednesday night was watched by an average of 8.54 million people in the U.S., the most for an NHL game in 38 years, NBC announced. The mark was surprising given that only one American market had a team in the game. It was the highest viewership for a Game 7 in 40 years -- since the 1971 final between the Canadiens and Blackhawks.
