Watercooler Blog

He started as an officer for FanSection’s Vancouver Canucks community.  Then he flew down to “Canada’s Basement” for a summer internship with us.  Now, Richard Loat is a poster boy for a new endeavor that the team is calling the Canucks Fan Zone.  Literally.  His photo can currently be found on billboards sprinkled around Skytrain stations, on the back of local buses and bus shelters, as well as online.

By this point, you might be wondering, “How can I reach this incredible level of celebrity?”  I’d smile knowingly, and then tell you to become an officer for one of our communities.  “But it can’t be that easy,” you’d reply.  You’d be wrong.

Back in November 2007, the Canucks were looking to extend their reach online through an innovative new marketing initiative. When they noticed that Richard was an officer for the largest Canucks community on Facebook through FanSection, they reached out to him.  Being the diehard hockey fan that he is, he jumped at the opportunity, which has been evolving ever since.  By the time he was done with his internship here, the Canucks had already asked him in for a photo shoot and were looking to make him a Fan Zone blogger, which you can now check out on the official Canucks web site.  As the cake topper, they gave him suite tickets to the September 23rd preseason game against the Oilers.  And voila!  A star is born.

Seriously though, despite the relentless teasing that’s taken place (surprisingly, more Zoolander-esque jokes than those of the crazy Canadian persuasion) on Richard’s behalf, it’s been a real pleasure to watch a fan like him be able to take the love he has shown for his team online, and transition it into the real world, too.