Welcome to the latest edition of True Blue 2016! The tradition that puts the spot light on YOU the fans and YOUR stories! One of my favourite things about hockey is talking to other fans about how and when they became a fan and hearing them light up about their favourite hockey memories. No two stories are the same, everyone has their own unique story. If YOU would like to join the tradition and have YOUR Vancouver Canucks or Utica Comets story featured, simply send me an email to nucksaid@gmail.com with the subject line: TRUE BLUE.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Kelsy Wright (soon to be Roberts)! This is her TRUE BLUE story in her own words: [Pictures also provided by Kelsy]

“How did I become a Vancouver Canucks fan? Well…I’ve got my wonderful father to thank for that! I started watching Canucks games with him when I was only 3 months old! I know some people say: “that doesn’t count, you’re not old enough to decide for yourself.” I have to disagree with that because I’ve been watching the Vancouver Canucks ever since! Through thick and thin, through every win and every loss!

Almost 22 years as a Canucks fan, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have changed it for the world! I don’t care whether they win the cup or not. I know that’s “every hockey teams’/players’ end goal” but everything happens for a reason and the day that they DO in fact hoist Lord Stanley over their heads, the victory will be just that much more wonderful!

Over the years I’ve seen some of my favourite players moved, time and time again -and it never gets any easier. I said I was done when they traded Bertuzzi and Jovanoski. Then I said I was done when they traded Alex Auld and Markus Naslund signed with New York. Then I said I was done when Mitchell and Ohlund left. Then I said I was done when they let Mason Raymond and Max Lapierre go. Then I said I was done when they traded Schneids and Lou. Then I said was done when they traded Kesler and Bieksa. THEN, I said I was more than done when they traded Eddie Lack…

But, here I stand, still behind my boys in blue and green! I guess I stick to hockey so truly because it was the one thing that always connected my dad and I! He moved to Calgary six years ago, and I felt absolutely broken for the first two years without being able to see him every weekend! — Hockey kind of turned into something that I could sit down and watch, and feel like myself. Through the years I had MANY people bully me, and judge me, all because I was such a die-hard fan. But it also gave me some of my closest friends!

Year after year, I wished and wished that I would get to attend a LIVE Canucks game, but year after year, that wish never came true. UNTIL this year! On January 6, 2016…I FINALLY got to step foot into that glorious hockey arena[Rogers Arena] and I FINALLY got to see some of the guys I had spent YEARS watching on television and dreaming about seeing in person. — But the ONE person, I had been dying to see in person more than anybody else in the National Hockey League was Eddie Lack. Though he may have only been on the team for a couple short years, that man made such an impact on me (and many others) so quickly, that I knew he had a very bright future ahead of him. So, to see that wonderful man, with such a contagious smile in person this past January, I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning! I’m willing to admit that he made me cry, happy tears of course! He’s one of the VERY few ‘celebrities’ that have ever interacted with me, especially over Twitter! Seeing him in person on the ice, was an absolute dream come true, and I left the arena in tears knowing he was heading back to Carolina.

(Below are pictures from both Canucks games that I attended during the 2015-16 regular season):

I sit here and think about all the years that I’ve spent cheering on this wonderful team and can’t help but smile knowing that my 2-year old son is on the same track that I was on. He’s only two years old and can already pick out the Canucks logo from every other NHL logo out there. He loves everything to do with hockey and I couldn’t be more proud! When he was younger and teething, he would spend all day fussing and crying but as soon as I’d turn on the Canucks game, he would instantaneously quiet down and completely zone into the game. He knows to cheer when the Canucks score and hasn’t missed a goal yet! It’s amazing knowing that I’m going to have this connection with my son, as I had with my father!

I honestly don’t know what I would do without our boys in Blue! I was born a Canucks fan, and I’ll most definitely die a Canucks fan!

-Kelsy.”

First, Kelsy, a BIG thank-you for taking the time to share your #TrueBlue Canucks story with me and allowing me to share it with everyone else! I’m with you 110% on the fact that trades of favourite players or when they sign elsewhere never gets any easier, no matter how often it happens. For me, it was the Luongo trade that was an absolute heart-breaker. There’s something about this team that keeps me coming back every season.

No matter how a season ends…win or lose, playoffs or no playoffs, I will still be supporting the Vancouver Canucks every single year. And when the day does finally come that the Canucks win their first cup, it will be an incredible moment to experience.

In case you missed it, here’s the link to the first edition of #TrueBlue 2016:

https://nucksaid.com/2016/05/04/true-blue-2016-nucksaid/

As always, until next time, nuck said.

Sarah E.L.