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As I passed through the turnstiles into the Pacific Coliseum with my four-year-old son to catch a Vancouver Goldeneyes game for the first time, one particular thought lingered in my mind. 

That was the vague but still resonant memory of going to the Coliseum with my own father to watch Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden, and the Vancouver Canucks. The stadium seems small now, compared to the monoliths of sports watching that we’re accustomed to in this day and age, but to my son, the spectacle was still massive. 

We arrived last night soaked to the bone from the torrential downpour and walked into a sea of blue and gold jerseys and good vibes. As the Goldeneyes played hard and stayed unbeaten at home (granted, they haven’t won on the road) with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Charge, here were five things that came to mind as I took in my first PWHL game. 

1. The place was rocking

Credit to the Goldeneyes faithful for packing the Coliseum on a particularly rainy Tuesday night and coming to have a good time. “Let’s go Goldeneyes!” chants and duck quacks were frequent, as season ticket holders and first-time attendees cheered on their squad. 

But the highlight of the night from a fan perspective had to be when Abba’s “Dancing Queen” was played over the loudspeaker and then, when play resumed, the crowd sung the song for at least a full minute. People were dancing in the concourse and in their seats as everyone sung in unison. A truly awesome fan moment. 

2. The Jenn Gardiner Good Times Tour continued

When the Goldeneyes announced their roster for the upcoming year, B.C.’s own Jenn Gardiner had to have been the most stoked member of the squad. 

““I have so many photos of when I was young in Canucks jerseys; I dreamed of playing with the Sedins and Markus Näslund, all those guys. So it’s cool for me to know that all the little girls can look up to female players that look just like them and have a ponytail as well,” Gardiner told the Straight before the season started. 

In the second period, Gardiner scored her second goal of the season by racing past a Charge player and deking out the goalie. It was a great moment and it was clear that it meant a lot to Gardiner to score (again) on home ice. 

3. Katie Chan showed out

Gardiner wasn’t the only hometown kid to impress on Tuesday night. Tsawwassen’s own Katie Chan scored the first goal of her PWHL career and was an absolute terror on the ice all night, forechecking hard and constantly causing Ottawa defenders to make mistakes. 

Chan firmly marked herself as someone to watch as the season continues. 

4. Better transit is a must

Getting to the Pacific Coliseum has never been particularly easy. Add torrential rain to that equation, and it gets even worse. 

And, of course, with the recent MOU signed by the city and the Vancouver Whitecaps to explore a new stadium in the area, it’s only going to get worse eventually.

Since the surrounding neighbourhood is absolutely riddled with “resident only” parking, it makes driving to the stadium a joke. The parking on-site isn’t exactly easy to navigate or plentiful either. 

The neighbourhood badly needs some sort of light-rail transit. Here’s hoping the city can make it happen in the next couple of years. 

5. The in-game experience is top-notch

Music from the video game 007: GoldenEye was smartly and hilariously played, and the entertainment between stoppages, like the video segments and the t-shirt toss, was well-executed and a lot of fun for fans. 

Sure, the screen in the middle of the rink feels from another time period, but it didn’t really matter all that much. The merch lines were full from the get-go, the sound was totally on point, and the crowd was frenetic. Not bad for an old coliseum that many left for dead. Go Goldeneyes.