You’ve probably never heard of the Big Rocks, but eight guys from Washington, D.C., are flying almost 4,000 kilometres to watch the Burnaby beer league team play this week.
The idea came as part of an annual hockey trip taken by a group of D.C. hockey buddies, said Jared Elder who’s organizing the visit.
Elder and friends have travelled to towns in Canada and the U.S. to take in an NHL game and a minor league or junior game in the area.
But, while scouting out games for the group’s Pacific Northwest visit, Elder had an idea.
“I thought, what if we just showed up to a random beer league hockey game?” he told the Burnaby NOW.
He plays beer league himself.
“There’s never anyone in the stands. You may have a wife, or girlfriend or a significant other that doesn’t want to be there, and they happen to be around, but you don’t really ever have any fans.”
He posted on Reddit to gauge the interest, and Dan Webster was one of the first to respond.
Webster, owner of Vancouver-based Container Brewing, has managed the Scotia Barn-based team the Big Rocks for about 10 years, told the NOW he thought it would be “hilarious” to have fans come out to a game.
“(I thought) I’m into this; let’s see if I can make our team be the team that they can cheer for.”
The two beer leaguers started talking.
Elder noticed the Big Rocks were already raising money for Canucks Autism Network.
“I was like, hey, why don’t we bring in this aspect that I’ve seen that you’re already involved in? And Dan just ran with it and got awesome raffle stuff to incentivize people to go. … It’s all for a good cause.”
Webster agreed: “Let’s try and make it a bit of an event after the game.”
Now Webster is hosting a post-game tailgate party Thursday, Jan. 25 with Midnight Joe’s food truck and a raffle with prizes like club seat tickets to a Canucks game, an autographed Canucks jersey and gift cards to local businesses.
All the proceeds will go to Canucks Autism Network.
What can fans expect from the game?
“Blue-collar, pack-a-lunch-pail, muckin’-and-grindin’, if I were to bet from this side,” Elder said with a laugh.
“Yeah! Pretty accurate,” Webster, a left winger, said. “Second or third from the bottom of the division.”
“We are the ultimate beer league.”
Webster started playing as an adult, as did about half of his team.
“In terms of style, yeah, blue collar, you know, just trying to score goals and trying to stay out of the penalty box. We’re not high flying. A couple guys have skills, the rest of us do not. We have a really good goalie, actually, so he’s really keeping us in it.”
Webster said the team helps each other out off the rink too – from new dads passing on baby items to one another to supporting a teammate who went through a house fire.
“It’s just about that camaraderie and making sure you remember what’s important in your life – those big rocks in your life,” Webster said.
“It’s just all about having a good time. That’s beer league.”
Webster also noted there’s no obligation for anyone to participate in the raffle; they can just attend the game.
“If they just want to come and cheer the team, for sure. Get that experience. Maybe there’s people who have no idea that there’s hockey at Scotia Barn, other people playing. They think that everything’s just at Rogers (Arena, home of the Canucks). No, other people play hockey too. If you want to come and see what it’s all about, get a sense of what it’s like.”
Elder and co.’s trips
Elder, who works for a cybersecurity startup by day and also runs a roller hockey league by night, described his group’s previous trips to Canada as “awesome.”
He said he and his friends tend to stop in smaller, lesser-known cities for their annual trips.
They’ve visited Trois-Rivières and Sorel in Quebec and Red Deer in Alberta, and even took in a Southern Professional Hockey League game in Tennessee.
“You kind of just drop yourself in the middle of a small town and a place you’ve never been, and I think that can be the most fun.”
“That’s when you know you’ve picked the right town is when people are kind of bewildered as to what brought you there,” Elder said.
“The question we get is like, why are you here? … Why did you choose this?”
His answer? “The hockey.”
Elder said watching small-town hockey gets you close to people with a similar passion for the sport.
“It’s just really, really cool to see how different people gravitate to a common game,” he said.
“You just get people who naturally gravitate to one of the best games in the world – the best game in the world.”
The Big Rocks vs. Spartans: Beer league hockey at Scotia Barn
When: Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Scotia Barn (6501 Sprott St., Burnaby)
Cost: Free to attend, raffle tickets available online
