VANCOUVER — On many nights during the Canucks’ bleak, early years in the National Hockey League, the best Vancouver performer was anthem singer Richard Loney. At least, he was the most consistent.
For 2,000 games spread over four decades, the Vancouver school teacher and tenor showed up at the Pacific Coliseum, then Rogers Arena and delivered O Canada with as much grace as gusto, singing with clarity and dignity before Canucks games.
He went crazy a couple of times and wore a Canucks jersey under his suit jacket. Once during the 1982 Stanley Cup Final, his son Brian remembers, Richard waved a white towel after the anthems.