The watershed sports year of 1994 in this province is being celebrated by the sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame, beginning Thursday with commemorative events in Victoria and Vancouver.
The Hall of Fame鈥檚 newly installed Definitive Moments in sa国际传媒 Sports History gallery opened in July and displays artifacts such as the Miracle Mile stopwatch, the 1979 Soccer Bowl trophy won by the Vancouver Whitecaps, the first Canucks NHL faceoff puck, pieces of the wooden goal posts from the sa国际传媒 Lions first CFL victory in 1954, and revealing moments from the lives of Steve Nash, Christine Sinclair, Nancy Greene-Raine, Terry Fox and Rick Hansen.
Part of the gallery鈥檚 mandate, funded by the province through a sa国际传媒 150 grant, will be to feature annual retrospectives. The inaugural one is highlighting the year 1994 and the Victoria Commonwealth Games, the Canucks鈥� run to the Stanley Cup final against the eventual Game 7 champion New York Rangers, and Lui Passaglia鈥檚 last-gasp, game-winning kick to win the Grey Cup for the sa国际传媒 Lions against the Baltimore Stallions.
The retrospective begins this morning with a commemorative event in Victoria at 8 a.m. at the Inn at Laurel Point. Officials from the 1994 Commonwealth Games organizing committee and former 鈥�94 Canucks and Lions players will attend both the Victoria function, and later in the day, a similar function at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
鈥淚t was a truly remarkable year in sa国际传媒 sport history in 1994 and one that will always be seen as something special by sports fans from across [the province],鈥� Victoria native Jim Lightbody, chair of the sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame, said in a statement.
鈥淎s story tellers committed to celebrating the athletes, coaches, builders, teams and pioneers who have become part of the fabric of our culture and heritage, we鈥檙e thrilled to have the chance to revisit these three defining moments and the memories they created for us almost 25 years ago.鈥�
Rugby legend Gareth Rees of Victoria, a sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame inductee, is a Hall of Fame board member and former chair of the Hall. He will speak on behalf of the Canucks today, but remembers well all three events.
鈥淚t was a landmark year in many regards,鈥� Rees said.
鈥淭he 1994 Commonwealth Games especially showed those of us in Victoria, and on the Island as a whole, that we can dream bigger and we can be bigger.鈥�
The Canucks and Lions added another layer to a memorable year. Even though the Canucks didn鈥檛 win it all, as Meat Loaf once sang: Two out of three ain鈥檛 bad.
鈥淵ou grow up on the Island following the big-league sports teams in Vancouver and Seattle. I鈥檓 a lifelong Canucks fan, and was overseas at the time, and remember hanging on every game long distance during the Canucks鈥� run to the Stanley Cup final in 1994,鈥� Rees said.
Rees鈥檚 penalty kicks and conversions helped lead sa国际传媒 to four World Cup appearances in rugby, including two as captain. So how can he not have a soft spot for fellow-kicker Passaglia in the other brand of tackle?
鈥淵ou love to see homegrown local guys from our province in moments such as that [1994 Grey Cup],鈥� Rees said.
The sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame, in sa国际传媒 Place Stadium, also will unveil an Indigenous Sports Gallery this week.
