Parks part of pledge as playoff pandemonium progresses to fever pitch

VANCOUVER - Pucks should be the focus as Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final goes tonight in Vancouver, but parks will play a part, too.

Not only do the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins share playoff passions, their respective regions also share Stanley Parks.

Now the manager of each park has agreed to a friendly wager, with Robert McKean of Westfield, near Boston, saying he will donate a park bench to Vancouver if the Canucks capture the cup.

Vancouver's Malcolm Bromley promises to match that offer, although he's more than confident he won't have to make good.

The two parks may share a name, but at 400 hectares, Vancouver's downtown jewel is more than three times the size of its Massachusetts counterpart, which is located about 160 kilometres west of Boston.

The U.S. park is named for Frank Stanley Beveridge who donated the land in 1949, while Vancouver's Stanley Park was created in 1888 and bears the name of Governor General Lord Stanley, the man who also donated the coveted Stanley Cup.