Glory days: Vancouver Athletes Discuss the 1970s Sporting Life
As a complement to the Museum’s Vancouver in the Seventies photography exhibition, MOV has assembled a panel of some of the region’s most lovable athletes from the 1970s – a decade that saw significant advances for professional and amateur sports in our city.
Join host, Vancouver Sun columist Iain Macintyre, as we explore the culture of Vancouver’s sporting scene from this era. Learn how the business of both professional and amateur sport has developed over the past few decades. Relive some of Vancouver’s high water marks in athletic achievement through the people who helped foster them. Our panel features former Vancouver Canuck defenceman Dennis Kearns, former Whitecaps FC player and current club president Bob Lenarduzzi, and former BC Lions placekicker/punter Lui Passaglia.
A Q&A will follow the panel discussion.
Please note due to illness, Lori Fung will not be able to attend.
Date: Thursday, March 23
Time: 7:00pm
Advance Tickets: * Adults: $15; Seniors, Students: $11; MOV Members: Free!
Tickets available at the door: **Adults: $18; Seniors, Students: $15; MOV Members: Free!
**BC Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps and Vancouver Canucks season ticket holders will be granted half price admission at the door. Please present documentation of your season ticket status at the front desk the night of the event.
* Online Tickets Sales will end ONE HOUR before the event begins. Remaining tickets on sale at the door / Visitor Services at the time of event.
Gallery admission included with event ticket. Come early to explore.
Bios
Dennis Kearns was born and raised in Kingston Ontario. Dennis played Minor and Junior B hockey in Kingston. Dennis' pro career includes playing in the WHL between 1967 through 1970 (Portland Buckaroos) and the CHL (Dallas Blackhawks). Between 1971- 1981 Dennis was a high scoring defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks. His 321 career point total was a Canucks record for defensemen that held for over three decades.
Bob Lenarduzzi excelled as a player, coach, general manager, director of soccer operations, and currently president, with Whitecaps FC for four decades. Playing with his hometown Whitecaps FC (1974 to 1984), Lenarduzzi was the North American Soccer League's all-time leader in games played with 312. A key member of Vancouver’s championship-winning team in 1979, Lenarduzzi was the only Canadian to win the North American Soccer League’s Player of the Year award. Internationally, Bob represented Canada 47 times as a player, helping them qualify for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico (Canada’s only showing in this prestigious tournament).
Lui Passaglia served as the placekicker/punter for the BC Lions for a record-breaking 25 years (1976–2000) and scored more points in that time than any professional football player in history! He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the BC Football Hall of Fame.
Iain MacIntyre has covered the Vancouver Canucks and the National Hockey League for the Vancouver Sun since 1991. In 2005, he was promoted to columnist. Iain has had the privilege of working under 11 sports editors! Iain has won several provincial and Metro Vancouver journalism awards for his writing, and his career highlights include covering Canuck Stanley Cup finals in 1994 and 2011, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the 2006 Winter Games in Italy, and the 2004 World Cup of hockey in Stockholm and Toronto, and chronicling the spectacular and tragically short career of Maple Ridge Indy Car driver Greg Moore.
September 9, 1979: The city celebrates with a victory parade down Granville Street for the NASL champion Vancouver Whitecaps, with goalie Phil Parkes (left) and captain John Craven (right) with the trophy. Photo by Ralph Bower, Vancouver Sun.
