Vancouver Stanley Cup Riots Cause ‘Millions’ In Damage, More Than 100 Arrests

In case you needed any proof that very little of Vancouver’s Wednesday night riots technically had anything to do with sports: multiple local businesses are claiming more than thousands of dollars worth of merchandise were lost to looters. In most American cities, this would inspire lots of people to start throwing around the word thugs, but at least hooligans is popping up.

British Columbia’s CTV reports the post-Stanley Cup mayhem and looting amounts to “millions of dollars” in damage done to a construction site, clothing store, coffee shop and dozens of other businesses.

Other than those two stabbing arrests, it looks like police have mostly just rounded up people suspected of raisin’ hell. Based on earlier reports that would indicate at least two knife crimes have yet to turn up any arrests, though I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of this part of the story.

Vancouver’s police chief says almost 100 arrests have been made, with about 140 people treated for injuries at local hospitals, including nine police officers, one of whom was hit with a brick. At least four of the injuries are serious, with three involving knives and one leaving a man in critical condition. Officials say there was more looting this time around than in ‘94, but the tiny bit of good news is that violence appears to have been slightly lessened.

The last time this happened in Vancouver, something like 200 people were injured, though that could also have something to do with the more overwhelmed police presence that was available at the time, as evidenced by there being only 50 arrests despite a similarly sized crowd.

When your city becomes an international focal point thanks to nasty rioting after a sporting event, it’s not easy to rebuild the image that was quickly tarnished in just a matter of hours. But that’s what people in Vancouver are trying to do Thursday morning, the morning after rioting tore apart the downtown core following Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Foinals between the Canucks and Boston Bruins.

The effort is two-fold. For starters, volunteers are swarming downtown in an attempt to clean up the damage. The effort is being organized through social media, most notably on Twitter by @VancouverClean, which has a pretty damn clever logo. Messages, gestures and scenes like this are common-place in Vancouver today.

At some point, the Vancouver riots have to come back to hockey. Then again, at some point, everything in Canada comes back to hockey -- even riot police wearing hockey gloves. Via Totally Cool Pix, a Reuters photo:

↵

Clearly that fan had a far less pleasurable rioting experience than our friends in this riot photo, seen making out in the street with the angry mob and police around them.

Of course, the riots aren’t all laughs. There was plenty of real destruction done and certainly injuries. Official reports on both of those are yet to emerge.

CTV reported several stabbings. The awning of a department store caught on fire after a car underneath it was engulfed in flames. Across the street from that scene, looting took place at various stores in the area.

It was just absolute mayhem in the streets of Vancouver on Wednesday night, and it’s likely that the damage estimates will come in well into the millions. Here are a few of the stunning photos from the scene, courtesy of our partners at the AP, the Canadian Press and Getty Images.

There’s a lot going on in the aftermath of the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver, and not much of it is good. It started almost immediately after Game 7 ended around 8 p.m. local time, as young men pelted the giant video board in the street where fans had gathered to watch the game. From there, riots only escalated.

This video via the Kurtenblog is from the start of the mayhem, and it’s perhaps the ultimate symbol of anarchy -- people smashing police cars.

Car fires in downtown Vancouver are threatening The Bay department store on Georgia Street near Granville as flames rise, smoke goes even higher and an awning hangs dangerously close to it all.

This photo of the situation via Gary Mason, a Globe & Mail reporter, shows the situation.

“It is extremely disappointing to see the situation in downtown Vancouver turn violent after tonight’s Stanley Cup game. Vancouver is a world-class city and it is embarrassing and shameful to see the type of violence and disorder we’ve seen tonight.

The vast majority of people who were in the downtown tonight were there to enjoy the game in a peaceful and respectful manner. It is unfortunate that a small number of people intent on criminal activity have turned pockets of the downtown into areas involving destruction of property and confrontations with police.

The Vancouver Police and Vancouver Fire Department are doing an exceptional job under challenging circumstances to maintain control of the situation and keep people safe, and emergency crews are working tirelessly to assist those who were injured.

The priority is public safety and ensuring that people can leave the downtown area to make their way home without further incident. Transit is operating at full capacity.

I urge the public to remain calm and to stay away from central downtown in order to assist police in restoring safety to our streets.“

Vancouver Police have urged people to hold on to any photos they have of folks that are rioting, as they will presumably use those photos in prosecution. Public transportation is running outbound from downtown Vancouver, but bus and train service is not running for people trying to get down to the downtown area.

Shortly after the ending of the hockey game around 8 p.m. local time, people began throwing objects at the giant video board set up on the street. From there, people began yelling “Riot! Riot!” before... well, rioting.

Cars have been overturned and set on fire, several business have been broken into and police are using force to attempt to disperse the massive crowds. Police have declared the intersection of Georgia and Homer Streets an “illegal assembly area” according to the Vancouver Province, and they are reportedly arresting anybody in sight as a result.