Washington, D.C. hockey fans to travel more than 4,000 km for Burnaby beer league

If you play beer league hockey, you know fans are pretty rare to see in the bleachers. But on Thursday, a group of guys visiting from Washington D.C. wants to change that.

Jared Elder and his hockey pals travel every year to catch an NHL game, but this year, the main event has rapidly switched from a Canucks game to a beer league game in Burnaby.

While the gang of late thirty to early fifty-year-olds often catch a junior or senior league game in addition to their NHL feature, their road trip from is now shaping up to be a little different.

“This is the first time that the idea of attending a random beer league — it’s outrageous as I say it — hockey game came to mind,” Elder said.

“As you get older, or become an adult, no one’s really there to watch your game. You may get guys that are taping their stick for the next game or waiting to get into the locker room.”

At first, Elder says his idea was to pick a random recreational rink’s schedule near Vancouver and “show up and probably just confuse people.”

But he says he soon realized it would be easier to coordinate the visit if he was working with someone on the inside. Enter: Dan Webster and the Big Rocks.

Webster was one of the first to respond when Elder made a post on Reddit asking if any beer leagues would be interested in having some extra – or any – fans in the stand.

“I think it’s going to be hilarious,” Webster said. “I’m glad I was one of the first to respond.”

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Since then, Webster has coordinated things on his end so his American friends can come watch the Big Rocks at what he calls the “best rink” in Burnaby’s Scotia Barn.

“It has actual bleachers,” he said excitedly.

“It’ll look a lot better than any other rink we play on for Jared and his friends to watch. Will the game translate? We’ll see.”

Webster says he’s warned the other team about their incoming fan base and is trying to rally as many people as possible around the game.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we get close to a dozen people, maybe more,” he said.

The Big Rocks are also attempting to raise money for the Canucks Autism Network, as part of the hype surrounding the game. Webster says he’s currently got $1,600 worth of raffle prizes and he’s raised $1,100 by selling raffle tickets so far.

If they raise enough money, Webster says his team gets the chance to have a Canucks alumni play on their beer league team.

“It’s a win-win. We raise money and Canucks Autism Network uses that money for their programs,” he said.

“And of course we get to play hockey, have a really good time, get treated like pros and get to play with the pros.”

The game will be followed by a tailgate party in the parking lot, with a food truck for any players or fans who’ve worked up an appetite from cheering.

In terms of the energy Elder says his crew is going to bring to the stands, he says it will be very loud, but family-friendly.

“We’re tame, generally tame. We can be boisterous without being obnoxious,” Elder said.

The puck drops at 7:45 p.m. at Scotia Barn in Burnaby on Thursday.

Details about how to sign up for the raffle can be found on PayPal’s Fundraiser hub, by searching up the words CAN 2024.

-With files from Srushti Gangdev