Robyn Izard is working her “dream job.” She’s right in the middle of the excitement of the Stanley Cup finals and is on a first-name basis with members of the Vancouver Canucks.
Izard, who grew up in Campbell River, scored a job as a massage therapist for the Canucks.
“It’s great, it’s a dream job,” says Izard. “We massage at Rogers Arena and I’ve seen the media attention get more and more intense as the team goes farther into the playoffs.”
Izard, who has been with the Canucks as an intern for the past couple of months, works on soft-tissue injuries and also provides the players with what she calls “maintenance stuff” to relax the muscles to prevent injury.
She has been working with the team on home practice days and has not travelled with the team or attended any games, although on occasion she has been given concert tickets.
She also has official team pants and a jacket, and she bought a Canucks jersey which the team signed.
Izard has worked with the players since round one of the playoffs, when the Canucks battled the Chicago Blackhawks, and has commuted back and forth from Vernon, where she lives now, and Vancouver.
Last Friday she received the best news she could have ever imagined.
The Canucks had decided to hire Izard to officially join its staff of therapists.
“I was asked to be a supplementary trainer so I don’t know yet how often I’ll be working, but I will be based out of Vancouver and I feel pretty honoured to have gotten the call,” says Izard.
What she does know is that her first day as an official Vancouver Canucks employee will be at training camp this September in Vancouver.
Which is, ironically, where she got her start with the team.
She first met the Canucks when she provided massage therapy for the players during their training camp in Penticton last September.
Izard, who graduated from massage therapy school in Vernon in January, was one of a few students who had the opportunity to attend training camp after a Canucks team trainer contacted her school looking for interested students.
“I got to know the guys at training camp and they’re great,” says Izard.
So when playoffs rolled around and the team was looking for two extra massage therapists, Izard jumped at the chance.
“I just applied and I figured ‘if you want something, you ask’ so I did because it had gone well the first time but I didn’t expect anything so I was surprised to be hired,” says Izard.
She plans to move from Vernon to the Lower Mainland sometime this summer but for now, Izard’s just enjoying it and soaking it all in.
“It hasn’t happened since I was a kid that they’ve reached this round so it’s definitely exciting to be around the team during the Stanley Cup finals,” says Izard. “I’ll remember it forever.”
Izard says her new job is also a big thrill for her family, particularly her dad, retired teacher Bruce Izard.
“My dad’s the ultimate fan and I think my dad’s been bragging about it. He’s proud, it’s cute,” says Izard. “I grew up watching the games with my dad and brother, so it’s pretty awesome.”