For much of his life, Ken Bracko spent thousands of hours tirelessly volunteering in an effort to get fans to the Max Bell Centre to support his beloved Calgary Canucks.
It didn’t take nearly as much of an effort to fill the arena on Wednesday, as hundreds of the people whose lives Bracko impacted crowded in to pay their respects to Bracko, who died last week.
“He’d be happy to see this many people here (at Max Bell) but pissed off no one bought a 50-50 ticket,” Bracko’s son, Carey, said with a laugh.
Laughter was a staple of Wednesday’s ceremony, as friends, family and colleagues recalled Bracko as a man who loved playing golf, playfully teasing his grandchildren and helping young Calgarians pursue their sporting passions.