Canucks' Quinn Hughes meets with West Kelowna firefighters

It hasn’t even been a week since the Vancouver Canucks named Quinn Hughes as their captain, and he’s already making it look like a great decision.

On Friday, Hughes and some members of the Canucks executive team visited the West Kelowna Fire Department to show their appreciation for their hard work this summer. Thanks to the bids of Canucks fans, as well as a top of from team ownership and the Canucks For Kids Fund, the organization donated $250,000 to the Canadian Red Cross BC Wildfire Appeal.

The bid from Canucks fans featured once-in-a-lifetime experiences and prizes donated by owner Francesco Aquilini, his family, and community partners between August 31 to September 8. The auction was able to raise over $72,000.

“As many know, my grandfather was a New York City firefighter for more than 30 years,” Hughes said. “Hearing stories from him and my family undoubtedly had an impact on me growing up, so when Jim [Rutherford] asked me if I wanted to be here today, I was honoured.”

Rutherford was one of several members of the Canucks staff who accompanied Hughes on the visit and was quick to voice his appreciation of all the hard work the West Kelowna Fire Department put in this summer.

“We can never say thank you enough to the fire departments for their courage through this horrific wildfire season,” Rutherford said. “To be here with Quinn and to hear their stories, reminds us all of how important these brave people are to families across BC. The fact that we are in the Okanagan this weekend at the Penticton Young Stars event allowed this all to happen today.”

Hughes was officially named the captain of the Canucks this past Monday, becoming the 15th to wear the ‘C’ in franchise history. They finished the 2022-23 season without a captain after trading Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders in January.

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