Most fans only get to sit in the seats at their first National Hockey League game.
Not Thomas Burton.
He got to lead the Vancouver Canucks onto the ice at Rogers Arena at his first-ever NHL contest.
Burton, who turns 11 Saturday, is the goalie for the North Okanagan Black Knights atom hockey team, winners of three tournaments plus the regular season and playoff championships in the North Okanagan Super League.
Team manager Lisa Jameson entered Burton’s name in B.C. Hockey and Canucks Centre for B.C. Hockey’s Stand On Guard contest, where minor hockey players are given the chance to stand on the blue line in full gear with the Canucks’ starting lineups during the playing of the national anthems.
Because Burton is a goalie, he stood beside Canucks starter Cory Schneider before their March 5 home game against the San Jose Sharks.
“I found out the week before,” said Burton, who was joined for the big trip by his dad and goalie/team assistant coach, Luke Burton, and his nanny and papa, grandparents Vyvian Burton and Dan Sapergia.
“My dad and (Knights coach) Randy Zbytnuik were the ones who told me. It was after school and I was at my friend Jordan Zbytnuik’s house. Randy drove up in his truck, got out and had this big smile on his face.
“When he told me I was like, ‘Really?’” I went home and told my dad and we celebrated with dinner.”
Of course, a mid-week Canucks game meant a couple days off of school for Burton, a Grade 5 student at Armstrong’s Highland Park Elementary.
After checking in with the family at a Vancouver hotel and dinner out, Burton got his gear ready and was told to report to Door 16 at Rogers Arena.
When they finally found the right door, Burton and his family walked in and found an all-girls team.
“We panicked for a bit, thinking we might be in the wrong room or might have made a mistake,” laughed Burton. “But they were there for an intermission game.”
A Canucks marketing person named Rod found Burton and escorted him to a dressing room, where he dropped his gear. He put on his chest protector and Knights jersey, and went and watched the Canucks’ pre-game warm-up from behind Schneider’s goal.
After warm-up, Burton got fully dressed and was led to a door where the Canucks would be coming out and onto the ice. Head coach Alain Vigneault said hello and asked Burton if he planned to stop some pucks out there. Burton laughed and said, “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
A signal from Rod would indicate when Burton was to run out in his pads and skates, leading the Canucks onto the ice.
Burton saw the signal and made his way to the ice entrance, which is where he saw, oh, about, 18,000 fans in the stands.
“I looked at all the people and was really nervous and thought I was going to fall,” smiled Burton. “But I didn’t fall.”
Burton got to skate “six or seven laps” with the Canucks before settling in beside Schneider, who leaned over and talked to the fellow netminder.
“He asked me how long I’d been playing hockey and how my season was going,” said Burton, who lists Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings as his favourite goalie. “He said ‘Good job and have a great end of the season.’”
Burton was then introduced as part of the starting lineup by Canucks P.A. voice John Ashbridge, then skated off to undress and join his dad in row four behind Schneider for the game, which the Canucks lost 3-2 in a shootout.
“It was a pretty good game and Schneider played really well,” said Burton, who now has a soft spot for the Canucks while being a diehard Edmonton Oilers fan. “My first NHL game was the best experience of my life. It was fun. I can’t wait to go to another game.”
Burton thanked Jameson and his coaches for entering his name in the contest.
