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Businesses bleed red ink as Canucks out of the playoffs

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It's not just hockey fans that are despondent over the Vancouver Canucks latest woes.


The hospitality and retail sectors say the team's inability to make the playoffs will be extremely costly.


Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said he crunched the numbers and determined each playoff game was worth $1 million — minimum — to local restaurants and bars.


Tostenson says it will still be four to five weeks before warmer weather helps fill Vancouver's downtown patios. In the meantime, he says business will be slow.


"You can't recover from it, it's money gone. People won't go to restaurants, they won't go to bars," he said.


The season has also been a struggle for those selling Canucks gear and merchandise.


"Playoffs are like a second Christmas for retail in the sports industry, so we are probably going to miss 30 to 40 per cent of business,"  said John Czvelka of Vancity Sports.


And some fans have vowed never to return to their seats following the club's dismal performance this round.


Steve Hocaluk, for one, says he won't be renewing his seasons tickets, which are valued at $8,000.


"It's an expensive, expensive venture and the product on the ice just hasn't been there," he said.


"Me and the people I try to give tickets to just don't want to go anymore."


Until this season, the Canucks had made the playoffs for six straight years and sold out more than 440 straight games — the second longest streak in North America. 


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