It's like that in pretty much every sport: the higher the ticket cost, the worst is the atmosphere.

More a sign of the times. The team is 31 out of 32 right now and the fan base has been through a lot over the last decade. Canucks fans are incredibly passionate, we are Canadian after all.

Introverts, suits, depressed shy geeks. Canadian culture of not making a scene. Team sucks. Mix of all that.

Obviously people getting priced out of attending, and affluent people who are going just so they can post on their stories that they are ‘at the game’ is a part of it. 

I do think different culture is worth noting.  When I’m at games, I’m loud when the team scores, there’s been a big save, or someone throws a big hit. In between those moments though, I’m focusing pretty intently on the game and therefore not cheering/singing/making noise.  I think this is pretty normal in North American sports.

Ultra culture does not exist in North America. Most of the lower bowl tickets are eaten up by corporate interests and don't really have any real fans. This year particular, the entire market has turned apathetic to the team and most of us don't really want the team to win right now (higher draft pick), which makes it worse

It does get loud during the playoffs, but that's because hardcores empty their wallets to go.

We are the worst team in the NHL this year and selling off every star player we have in hopes to rebuild in the next few years. There isn't much to cheer for yet.

Check out the Goldeneyes. Atmosphere has been awesome every game I’ve been to.

It’s quiet when the team sucks but 2024 was the loudest it’s been since 2011. I miss those vibes. Jerseys everywhere. Logos everywhere.

It’s quiet when the team is shit

Hey fellow Canucks fan! I think what you're experiencing is the difference between hockey fans in Europe compared to hockey fans in Canada/North America. While we certainly have some rabid fans here, in general we are nothing compared to what you're used to in Latvia. I say this as someone who has experienced euro hockey when I went to watch the World Championships a few yrs back. Granted that was a world tournament but my experience was still unbelievable. You guys in Europe are amazing with your non stop chanting and dancing throughout the ENTIRE game, EVEN IF YOUR TEAM IS GETTING BLOWN OUT. I was lucky enough to hang out with your countrymen on a bus heading to one of the games.... To say you Latvians are nuts is an understatement hahah that bus turned into a daytime CLUB with music and DRINKS FOR EVERYONE. I had the time of my life!!!

Edit: oh, also the Canucks suck this year so, that is making it even worse 😂

Once upon a time, Canucks fans were among the rowdiest. The move from the pacific colusieum to the then GM Place really hurt the crowd (cheap tickets, lower income neighborhood to expensive tickets in a rich part of town). Like you said though, come playoffs Vancouver fans tend to remember what they came from.

As for the rest of North America, before the Coyotes died, when they were playing in the Arizona State University rink, the crowd was incredible. College students getting in on 30 dollar tickets and half price beer, and the smaller stands filling up every night (and every single seat being an incredible spot) really did wonders for the place. I stand by my opinion that everyone who shat on Mullett Arena (including the league) never actually went to see a game there.

Everything is about money in North America. EVERYTHING. So the idea of not extracting every penny out of fans that they are willing to pay is a foreign concept. It sucks.

Go to a Maple Leafs game, the place is a library because tickets are so expensive and it's non rowdy fans

The Canucks have 4 wins and 15 losses (including OT losses) at home this season. There has been absolutely nothing to cheer about.

playoffs as you say are much better, but even at last playoff series against nashville personally I was expecting more craziness - it was still fun but honestly I've been to DEL games in germany with like 5-15k fans in the reg season and they were much louder and the atmosphere was awesome. Different cities definitely have different vibes though, as I remember watching a game in Chicago and the United Center was super fun. Honestly i think everyone here in Vancouver is just a little too jaded and think why bother getting excited when it will probably end in failure .. lol

If you want a loud atmosphere try out the Abbotsford Canucks, our AHL affiliate team. I went to one of their playoff games last May, it’s loud. Great hockey too.

For Vancouver sports in general, I’ve found Whitecaps games to be the loudest. BC Lions games are a lot more subdued but do have some noisy fans.

I’ve been to a few NHL arenas and Canucks fans are probably in the middle of the pack for loudness, though I haven’t yet been to a game this season.

I feel like it's gotten worse since cell phones are a thing

The energy was great when the team was consistently making deep playoff runs, pair a losing team with astronomical ticket prices and you're gonna only attract people that attend games as a show of status

Cheer for our favorite team being one spot above dead last in the NHL this year! Suck it Calgary. Odds are we suck too bad to make playoffs, obviously, but also manage to shoot our draft in the foot. Trading potential for first rounds is honestly one of the best choices now that we have no offensive depth, terrible defence, and an elite goalie that's performing well below expectations. Look at demkos last 10 starts if you don't believe me, you'll see a pull from injury, but besides the one shutout, his avg sv% is below .900 on most nights nowadays. Trade demko and Sherwood and kane, hope for a better year in the next few after prospects are brought up

Canucks are generationally bad this season. Fans here are very knowledgeable, and they recognize bad product when they see it. They’re not boisterous because there’s honestly no reason to be this season. But when the Nucks are good (intermittently), that barn is deafening.

Vancouver has a fan base but most of the crowd attending games in person, especially regular season games, are just spectators, not ‘fans’. They’re not so much emotionally invested as they are socially invested as if attending a game is some badge of status or accomplishment. If you want to cheer, then cheer. If it disturbs some spectator beside you, tough. Hope you’ve fully accepted ‘Team Tank’ and will cheer on short term losses in the quest for long term success. All it takes is patience.

Roger's Arena use to be loud during the Sedin era. Getting GCG chants going Arena wide was much easier. I blame the in-arena cheerleaders, as they use to have 4 drummers position positioned at 4 corners of the arena. Now its just Crazy P running from section to section, trying to get the crowd into it, one section at a time.

After 13 years of mostly failure, the fanbase is pretty jaded and miserable. When they have something to cheer about again, im sure it will change back to the glory days

All sports teams in Vancouver are now catered to family friendly atmosphere.

Back in the day, the BC Lions was a drunk fest and party. Now you will get thrown out.

I was told off by an old woman for talking to loudly at a Whitecaps game. Ruined the rest of the match for me. The same goes for the Canucks.

Just not worth it to attend anymore.

At Canucks games, instead of pumping up the crowd with exciting music, or music that makes sense given the context of what's happening in the game, we play songs like Set Fire to the Rain by Adele.

Also, a guy with a drum will come near you and bang it directly in your ear.

It's kind of a mix of everything, but ultimately it comes down to culture. Europeans are hardcore in their fandom with firecrackers, flares, chants and all of the things, whereas Canadians and Americans need to be prompted to start making noise for their team (unless it's a huge game, of course).

We kinda see it more as a game and an activity rather than actually going out to die for your team. 

That being said though ... The Canucks suck balls right now and there's not much to cheer for. That's part of it. And also, I'm guessing you just went to a game or watched one on TV.... Honestly it's the middle of the season and more often than not the games aren't really all that exciting. October is fun because everyone's fired up to start the season and March/April are fun because we're battling for playoff spots. January is kinda meh.

Like I said, combination of everything. 

The latter point of the Benning years was quiet.

Generally, as the team goes, the crowds go.

You should have seen the Canucks play in the Pacific Coliseum when they were bad then. late 80's and very early 90's. The team was constantly a bottom dweller and it was so quiet there, it was dubbed the Pacific Mausoleum.

Often then, if it was a bad team playing in the building I could go to the game, wait for the puck to drop and then buy tickets off a scalper for $10 each and go inside and enjoy.
Often my experience in the building was I was the loudest fan and I could be heard clearly around the rink.

I always tried to get everyone going but often it was like beating a dead horse.

I kind of miss those days, NHL hockey for $10 a visit was most affordable.

Mind you, my loudest crowd experience in any sport I personally visited was Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final against the Rangers. The crowd was so loud the sound was vibrating through my body.

It was an astonishing feeling.

This is just one of the seven stages of grief. This is normal, everyone is ok. Are we ok?

If you're talking about this year's crowd specifically, there's a big reason why. Crowd is worse this season because we suck rn. We are almost last in the league. I'm sure it was way different when you compare it to the year we made the playoffs and were doing amazing in the regular season.

If you want a more active hockey crowd, go watch the Goldeneyes. Our women's hockey team is very new. New fans, new team hype, decently price tickets, and all the excitement in the world. Plus they have five dollar beer and it's in the Pacific Coliseum! I would've said Abby Canucks as well but because they're doing just as bad as the Canucks rn, the crowd isn't really there (most of their best guys rn have been snatched by our big club).

Cdn rinks are sometimes like libraries sadly. Here people have had an NHL team for 50+ yrs and “Go Canucks Go” is the cleverest it gets. If you want more passion wait for the playoffs but when that happens I’d say the Habs or Oilers rinks are the best. Jets are good as well.

Still nothing close to some rinks like in Chicago, Boston, NYI and NYR…even Philly.

Last two games I attended...

Lower bowl, against Boston. Won 3-2 in OT after being down 2-0 with 10 to go. We were top of the Pacific at the time, had a ton of shots, and never looked out of it even down two. Atmosphere was great.

Upper bowl, against NJ, early last season when we couldn't get anything going at home. Lost 6-0. I was worried people would hear me yawning it was so quiet.

I got a box with my friends last weekend. We were wild as fuck compared to every box. Recommend with a good group for sure. Boxing day deal box worked put to $240 a person. Food and drinks extra, but the freedom of just being with your friends and having g your own private bathroom is sick. And most everyone brought their own mickeys in.

Long time Canucks fan. Been going to games since the early 2000s, but upper bowl/level seats only.

Went to a game in early December. First time ever in the lower bowl thanks to adult money, and yes I can confirm there are way too many affluent casual fans, at least in that dimension of the arena. I would say based on recent circumstances, there isn’t much excitement for the team, and if you sit in the lower bowl, there is just a weird sense of idleness among that crowd.

IMO it's a Vancouver thing Expensive city, expensive tickets, many smart high income earners who just aren't good at being raucous.

Vancouver. Try a Habs game

Atmosphere used to be way different, games were rowdy back in the day of the Pacific coliseum and cheaper tickets. 

I remember being worried about bringing my infant daughter to a game…she had the best sleep of her life

In Latvia hockey hits differently

There hasn't been a whole lot to cheer for in the past 14 years

I got shhhed when I cheered for the Canucks vs Arizona. I told them to F off, this is a hockey game and he gave me a death stare.

Vancouver Canucks fans, and I say this as one, are not great live fans. The games are too expensive so they appeal to a corporate crowd that comes late, or doesn’t come at all and passes tickets to friends. Or the upper bowl affordable seats with enthusiastic fans tend to have people who are judgmental and throwing up their hands like disappointed coaches.

There are also people who come for fun and to cheer good plays like you would think is the point, of course. I try to be in that spirit but I am also the judgy fan.

I think a lot of it is the feeling that the team is spiralling. When it’s a young group that can get better, it’s lots of fun to watch the Canucks

With all the losing who buys Canucks tickets

Many casual fans who went to Canucks games in the past have switched over to the Whitecaps instead.

Most of us real fans can't afford to go to that many games. Only rich people can afford to go to lots of games.

In general North America is pretty weak when it comes to sports audience enthusiasm and general loudness. Except probably big college events in the States, but I haven't experienced that personally.

NHL crowds can be summarized into two types:

1. "Go [team], go!"

2. "Let's go [team]!"

Of course, that all goes out the window when "Sweet Caroline" comes on in the third.