1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot - Aftermath

Aftermath

Ryan Berntt, a rioter who was shot in the head with a plastic bullet by police, causing a four-week coma and permanent brain damage, filed a civil suit against police and the City of Vancouver claiming excessive force. In 1997, he was found 75 percent liable for his own injuries, however, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ordered a new trial in 1999. In 2001, Berntt's civil suit was dismissed by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

In New York City, although the celebrations marking the Rangers' first championship in 54 years were peaceful and there were no reports of violence or arrests, they were marred by the riots. Rudy Giuliani, who became the city's mayor just five months before, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, and Rangers President and General Manager Neil Smith said that the Rangers and people in New York City were in shock over the news of the riots and that the shockwaves of it had traveled to the city and put it on the highest alert. Bratton canceled days off for the New York City Police Department on June 17, 1994, the day of the parade for the Rangers, so that what happened in Vancouver didn't happen in New York City.

During their broadcast of the post-game celebrations following Game 7, CBC's Ron MacLean said when the network broadcast scenes outside Madison Square Garden that the NYPD avoided a large-scale riot by "continuing to bolster their situation in anticipation of a wild night in Manhattan."

Seventeen years later, the Canucks played the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. They again lost in Game 7, on June 15, 2011, resulting in a similar riot.