Michael Buble on being a Canucks fan: ‘I’ve been in love my whole life’

Vancouver Canucks super fan Michael Buble. (Geoff Robins/CP)

Michael Buble has everything. Except a Stanley Cup.

“75 million records, Junos, Grammys, no Stanley Cups,” the Vancouver Canucks super fan said with a sigh during Sportsnet’s NHL Rewind Watch Party Saturday, which replayed Game 7 of the 2011 Western Conference quarterfinals between the Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks.

The four-time Grammy winner said he was in Italy on his honeymoon the night of this game, which saw the Canucks dispatch the team that eliminated them in each of the previous two playoffs.

“This game in particular, I was wasted,” Buble said of that night. “It would have been really quite early in the morning in Italy. I was on a balcony with a bottle of vodka or something. My wife had gone to sleep and I was terrified. I was terrified.”

The Watch Party was hosted by David Amber, Caroline Cameron and Steve Dangle, and Buble and Dangle bonded over the collective misery they’ve experienced as hockey fans.

“I’ve been in love my whole life and my heart has been broken so many times,” Buble said. “But I’ll never leave. I will stay loyal and be by their side.”

“We’re going to start calling you Dangle West,” Amber said with a laugh.

“I am Dangle West,” Buble replied.

On his favourite piece of memorabilia

Dangle, a big collector, asked Buble if he has any pieces of hockey memorabilia that hold a special place for him. Buble said as he’s travelled around the world performing shows, he’s collected pucks from local teams.

“I’m a Canucks fan but I love hockey, I really do,” Buble said. “I’ve got thousands of pucks from places that you’d never think. From South Africa, little towns in Spain or England that have little teams. I have them all.”

On the time he almost scored on Roberto Luongo

Being a Canucks super fan has some perks and for Buble, one of those perks was a chance to practice with the Canucks.

On the ice with full gear, Buble skated down on a breakaway against future Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo and almost scored. Almost.

“I shot the puck, it hit the post and then wiped out into the boards. Like a huge loser,” Buble recalled with a laugh. “I remember I came in, and Roberto is a big dude, and I was hoping he would go down early and I saw the room and yeah, it went off the post.”

Kevin Bieksa, who was on the ice for that practice, filled in more details later in the broadcast.

“He went headfirst into the boards, I thought he broke his neck,” Bieksa said. “We all made the gauntlet and we were tapping our sticks on the ice as he went down. You could see the adrenaline kick in and he started winding it up and building some speed. He went to go backhand deke Luongo… and Louie went to poke check him and he missed him and he caught his foot. Buble is going full speed and he goes past the goalie headfirst into the boards.

“We all just fall down laughing. We were worried at first but once we saw he wasn’t hurt it was the funniest thing I ever saw in a practice.”

You can watch the blooper in this video from the Canucks’ Youtube page.

On the 2019-20 Canucks

The Canucks bounced back in a big way this season before the shutdown and seemed poised to return to the playoffs after four seasons on the outside. Buble was asked about the current group of players and said he’s really excited to see what they can do.

“There were a few years where it just hurts and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Buble said. “And then all of a sudden… you start to see this core again.

“It’s great because once again as a fan, I can live on that. I can live on that hope. And even if we lose and even if it takes a few years, that’s better than not having that light at the end of the tunnel.”

You can watch the full interview from the Canucks Watch Party in the video player below, where Buble talks about his favourite goals in Canucks history, how his fantasy team is coping with the NHL shutdown and his role as owner of the Vancouver Giants.

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