Huge screens bring Stanley Cup excitement to Metro Vancouver hockey fans

A handful of single-seat tickets are expected to be snapped up within minutes when they go on sale this morning ahead of the Vancouver Canucks' Stanley Cup joust with the Boston Bruins.

But the City of Vancouver is offering some alternatives to hockey fans who don't have the nearly $200 dollars for single-seat tickets or the average $1,000 for a seat in the rafters of Rogers Arena.

The city has approved two open-air game-viewing locations, including a huge screen mounted on the back of a truck parked on Granville Street between Georgia and Robson streets, in the downtown core.

As well, a second large screen will be added in the 700 block of Hamilton Street, where thousands of fans gathered under the giant screen mounted on the side of the CBC broadcast centre to watch Vancouver defeat San Jose to advance to the final.

The City of Surrey holds its family-friendly celebration site at Central City Plaza on game days throughout the Stanley Cup final, while in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, Abbotsford's new arena will broadcast games three, six and seven -- although confident Canucks fans doubt the last two will be needed to clinch the cup.

Game One of the series is set for Wednesday evening in Vancouver, Game Two goes Saturday, while games three and four are slated for Boston, on June 6 and 8 -- with all the contests starting at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.