from David Ebner of the Globe and Mail,

Up Robson Street, the sidewalk was crowded. The Canucks Team Store, near Bute Street, was almost empty, four people inside. Three of those were the Adolph family, father Ivan and his wife visiting from Lillooet to see their 25-year-old daughter Ayla, who lives in town. Ivan, a hockey fan, had purchased two white Canucks playoff towels for $5 each. He's a Canucks backer but not wildly fervent and the current situation distresses him.

"Not really right now, just the way they're playing," said Ivan outside the store. He pinned blame on coach Alain Vigneault, and defended goaltender Roberto Luongo. "It's not Lui's fault."

Ayla said the mood of the city is the opposite of June, 2011, when the team nearly won the Cup. "That was a really good time," she said. "Now, nobody cares."

Certainly, fans are not fighting to buy tickets. Demand for Canucks tickets was already weak this spring. While the team claimed a sellout at the 18,910-capacity Rogers Arena for Game 1 last week, there were tickets available on Ticketmaster an hour before the puck dropped. For Game 5 on Thursday this week - if there is a Game 5, should the Sharks not complete the sweep - there were tickets available on Monday, good ones, too, if $411 for a seat in the fifth row seemed like an alluring purchase.

"The interest is nonexistent," said Mario Livich, CEO of ticket broker ShowTimeTickets.com.

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