Riots Break Out in Vancouver Over Stanley Cup Loss

(Newsroom America) -- Scores of rioters took to the streets in Vancouver, Canada Wednesday evening following the Canucks' home loss to the Boston Bruins in the final Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Some three hours after the last buzzer, police were moving up streets in the city's downtown sector as cars burned and angry Canucks fans rampaged, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Crowds gathered at the intersection of Howe and Robson near a Chapters book store, the report said, as police closed in.

"What we're doing right now is bringing in hundreds of police officers," pokeswoman Jana McGuiness said. "The message is: You need to leave."

Baton-wielding officers dressed in riot gear began slowly pushing the crowd up Howe Street, the report said, in an effort to get them to disperse.

Meanwhile, several rioters - many masking themselves with bandanas - smashed shop windows and began looting some stores. A police helicopter overhead used a searchlight to track the crowd, said the report.

McGuiness said Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were also dispatched to the melee.

The Bruins blanked the Canucks 4-0 Wednesday, capturing the Stanley Cup and returning a hockey championship to the city for the first time in 39 years. The Canucks' dry spell, meanwhile, has lasted more than 40 years, ESPN reported.

© 2010 Newsroom America.

Contact Jon E. Dougherty