By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Canucks fans stormed New York's "Canadian Cabin" Wednesday night as their beloved hockey team was crushed by the Boston Bruins 4-0 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Fans began flooding Windfall bar on West 39th Street before 6 p.m. and by game time fans clad in green, white and blue had to be turned away from the line that stretched down the block.
"It's bonkers!" said Windfall's chef David Cioppa, who grew up in Vancouver's province of British Columbia and was inspired to transform the Irish pub into a Canadian-themed bar after last year's winter Olympics, when fans crowded into a handful of Murray Hill bars along Third Avenue.
The stretch became affectionately known as "Little Canada" by some.
But Cioppa said Canadians still had no regular place of their own.
So each Saturday night, he's transformed Windfall into "Canada Club," complete with hockey games fed from the CBC and what he claims is the city's largest Canadian beer selection, including the hard-to-get Alexander Keith's.
His menu includes Canadian classics like poutine (fries topped with cheese curds and gravy), Bloody-Mary-esque Caesar cocktail, as well as items for every region, including lobster rolls from the Maritimes and a burger towered with onion rings — an ode to Toronto's CN Tower. Much of the produce also comes from Canada, including the asparagus, lettuce and cucumbers.
He even mounted a red and white Canadian flag outside the bar three weeks ago.
"It's about Canadians watching hockey and it's an excuse to come together and feel like home," he said.
And Canadian expats seemed thrilled by the idea.
"It's exciting," said Brandi Halls, 31, who hails from Vancouver and now lives on the Upper West Side. She said she felt "goosebumps" when she first heard the Canadian National Anthem played at the bar.
While she was sad to be away from home for the final game of the series, she said having a place to watch with fellow fans made it better.
"It almost feels bigger here because we're all away from home," she said.
Ian Fichtenbaum, 29, who was born in Montreal and now lives in Murray Hill, said that, hockey aside, the bar has become a gathering place for Canadians who live scattered across the city and ordinarily "sort of blend in with Americans."
But when it comes to the Bruins, he said all New Yorkers are the same.
"Everyone is united against Boston," he said.
Even Bruins fan Greg Packer, 47, from Long Island, decided to brave rival territory by watching the game at the bar, and said he felt welcome despite being surrounded by die-hard fans who booed whenever the Bruins were mentioned by name.
"Being Canadian they're very friendly," he said.
As the game began, the bar was booming as fans bellowed "Go Canucks go!," waved flags and cheered.
"It's off the charts. I've never seen anything like it," said Mike Caver, 30, who hosts a local radio show dedicated to hockey that broadcasts from the bar. He said the enthusiasm even surpassed New York Rangers playoff games he's watched at Madison Square Garden.
But as the Bruins scored one goal after the next, the jubilation turned to tension, as panic set in.
By the third period, most had accepted that they were done. The game ended with a score of 4-0.
But unlike their counterparts in Vancouver, no riots broke out. Instead, bartenders broke out champagne to salve the wounds of defeat.
"We're going to come back and win next year," said Brooklyn's Sarab Lalri, 27. "We're coming back!"
