Taking in my first game in Canada tomorrow! Pretty excited to spend the day in the city for the first time as well. Any recommendations on places to park for the duration of the day and a bar around the arena to watch the Rangers game before heading over?
Can't go wrong with the Shark Club.
http://www.sharkclubs.com/locations
Lots of options in downtown, however.
http://www.yelp.com/c/vancouver/sportsbars
Don't bother with Wings, though. That place sucks. Cheap chicken wings with a million different flavours...or at least they
say they're chicken. I did notice fewer pigeons in that block since it opened, just sayin'.
Don't bother with street parking; pony up the cash and stick your car in a parkade (plenty of places, not going to bother listing them) and make sure to take all your valuables with you. Vancouver's a very, very safe city for violent crime, but it's up there with the worst in Canada and the US for property crime. IIRC it was second only to Miami for car theft a few years ago.
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As for the game itself...dammit, the Canucks better come back with a decent effort tomorrow. Detroit and Chicago were embarrassments I'd rather not see again.