Canucks fans raise enough money to fly "#FireBenning" banner over Vancouver
There are plans in place to fly a “#FireBenning” banner over Vancouver.
A group of Canucks fans are demanding change, calling for general manager Jim Benning to be fired.
“Canucks fans are demanding that the owners of the Vancouver Canucks fire Jim Benning and replace him with a management team that can build a Stanley Cup championship team immediately,” reads a GoFundMe campaign, started by a fan that goes by the name “Uncle Laleet” on Twitter. “The city of Vancouver has supported this team for 50 years and we are not supporting this three-ring circus any longer.”
Ok friends, the time for action is upon us. We need to raise a net sum of $1465 to fly a #FireBenning banner over Vancouver. Any excess funds will be donated to Canucks Place. Click to Donate https://t.co/1q002Yh5EG
— Üncle Laleet (@UncleLaleet) April 14, 2021
Over 70 donations have been received for a GoFundMe campaign looking to raise enough money to fly a banner in the sky in protest of the Canucks general manager.
They surpassed the $1,600 goal in under four hours.
At the time of writing, the group had raised $2,158, with the plan to donate excess funds to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.
The plan is to fly the banner in the sky for one hour.
“We are only doing this because we love our team and we want a Stanley Cup,” Uncle Laleet told Daily Hive. “We just want someone who can bring this city what we have been craving for 50 years.”
While nothing like this has been done by Canucks fans before — at least not in recent memory — these types of stunts are more commonplace overseas. In 2019, a plane flew over Manchester United’s home stadium displaying a banner that read “#GlazersOut,” as fans protested the team’s ownership. Two months later, another banner flew overhead in Manchester, this time calling for CEO Ed Woodward’s dismissal.
Many Canucks fans are upset at the team’s performance this season, as they are likely to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. Benning has been the target of much of that anger, as he has been in charge since 2014.