Puck Flies In Vancouver! - The Portuguese Element


November 11, 2002
Sunset Arena

Vancouver vs. Thunderbirds
(Juniors)

By Jose Ferreira - Adiaspora.com

On Monday evening, November 11, 2002, I had occasion to be present at an exciting game of ice hockey at the Sunset Arena, the Vancouver faced another formidable Vancouver team, the Thunderbirds on last.

This was my fourth visit to Vancouver on the trail of the vastly unknown Portuguese legacy to be uncovered in that part of the world. The stories, past and present, that have come my way on these trips, have left with the impression that it is doing quite well, thank you very much.

After having visited Portuguese associations and community clubs in British Columbia, Canada, and have partaken of their traditional religious festivals this summer, I have come to realize that the Portuguese are alive and an active part of life in BC, as this hockey has only served to confirm.

One of my personal friends, a fervent hockey fan, persuaded to look in on the game and find out for myself the delights of this adrenalin game. And there was lots of it running in the arena that evening. My friend had also informed me that some of the young promising hockey players playing that evening were luso-canadians, as was the case with Vancouver player No. 32, Andrew, which made it all the more interesting for me.

These young fellas went out there and gave it all they had, putting us poor aging folk to shame, with their agility, forcefulness, and iron will. The teams were very well matched but in the first half Vancouver seemed to have the upper hand having reached halftime leading by 3-1. But the Thunderbirds, doing justice to their team name, thundered back and placed the scoreboard at 4-4 at the end of the game.

As a happy spectator, I just happened to start up a casual conversation with the guy next to me, who seemed to be very excited with the proceedings. He filled me in as to the particulars of the teams on field, their ages, their track record etc. And the reason for his excitement … naturally he had a son playing for Vancouver. After a while I realized his face looked familiar and so I decided to formally introduce myself: "Oh, by the way my name is Jose Ferreira." He reached out his hand and replied: "I'm Glen Clark, former Premier of British Columbia.". I smiled and remarked: "Not Bad!".

I have done some traveling in my day, and wherever I happen to go I inevitably bump into someone Portuguese, or someone who has a Portuguese relative somewhere in their family tree, or knows someone who knows someone who just happens to be Portuguese. It seems we are everywhere!


Glen Clark & Jose Ferreira                     Andrew