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The Canucks are benching the arena organist for now. Here’s why.

Mike Kenney has been the Canucks organist for 22 years.
Daniel Wagner
Daniel Wagner
Mike Kenney
Vancouver Canucks organist Mike Kenney sitting at his keyboard at Rogers ArenaCanucks

For decades, the organ has been part of the soundtrack of hockey, whether it was the classic “Charge” fanfare or renditions of modern pop and rock songs.

While the organ fell out of favour in the 80’s and 90’s, it experienced a resurgence in the new millennium as the NHL focused on history and tradition, with most NHL teams hiring an organist. The Tampa Bay Lightning even took out 574 seats in their arena to install the largest pipe organ in the league back in 2011. 

For 22 years, Mike Kenney has been the organist at Vancouver Canucks games, part of the in-arena entertainment alongside the DJs and crowd pump-up videos. Fans who go to games now, however, won’t be hearing him play.

In fact, the organ hasn't been featured in the last three Canucks home games. In recent games, the organ has been dropped from the in-arena experience at Rogers Arena as the Canucks experiment with other ideas. Most notably, chordal stabs on the organ would punctuate goal announcements — they've now been replaced by electric guitar power chords.

The concern is that the sound of the organ doesn't fit with everything else the Canucks are doing to create a boisterous atmosphere in Rogers Arena. Instead of continuing to build hype in the crowd, it's thought that the organ causes the energy in the arena to dip. 

Kenney was first hired back in 2000, acing his audition after years of studying jazz at Humber College, entertaining on cruise ships, and playing in local bands in Vancouver. He’s been a staple at Canucks games ever since, even if he was sometimes only called upon to play a few times per game.

Of the 32 teams in the NHL, only six other than the Canucks do not have an organist — the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Arizona Coyotes, Vegas Golden Knights, and Edmonton Oilers. The expansion Seattle Kraken hired the organist from the movie Slap Shot, Rod Masters, though he likely won’t be playing “Lady of Spain.”  

Canucks fans won’t be hearing “Lady of Spain” for the foreseeable future either.