On Tuesday, Grade 4 students from Surrey's Strawberry Hill elementary went to Robson Square, excited for a field trip and a fun day in downtown Vancouver.
What they got, instead, was even better... a surprise visit from three members of the Canuck's 1994 Cup run team – Kirk McLean, Jyrki Lumme, and Cliff Ronning – and current Vancouver forward Mike Santorelli.
Oh, and Fin.
Each student was given a ticket to this Sunday's 2014 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, B.C.'s first-ever professional outdoor hockey game, which will see the Canucks take on the Ottawa Senators at BC Place, in front of 50,000 fans.
"These kids from Strawberry Hill, they don't get out and skate as much as, you know, other kids might," said the kids' teacher, Brett Cameron, while helping his kids hand in their rented skates. "This was an incredible opportunity, for them to be out here."
*All photos below are from photographer Rick Collins and the Vancouver Canucks...
Students await the arrival of the '94 Canucks and mascot Fin at Vancouver's Robson Square skating rink.
Vancouverites skate around their city's public rink, at Robson Square.
Students from Surrey's Strawberry Hill elementary school wait for their Heritage Classic tickets and a hug from Fin, the Vancouver Canucks' mascot.
Canucks alum Cliff Ronning high-fives young fans at Robson Square skating park in Vancouver.
Vancouver Canucks forward Mike Santorelli high-fives his young fans at Robson Square skating rink, ahead of the Heritage Classic at BC Place.
Fin hands over autographs and Heritage Classic tickets to students from Surrey's Strawberry Hill elementary.
A couple of fans pose for an acrobatic selfie with former Canucks defenceman Jyrki Lumme, at Vancouver's Robson Square skating rink.
Young fans – Grade 4 students from Strawberry Hill elementary in Surrey – show off their Heritage Classic tickets, which they received during a skate with Canucks legends at Vancouver's Robson Square.
Injured Canucks forward Mike Santorelli signs the cast of a fellow fan – also suffering from what Vancouver GM Mike Gillis would call an 'upper body injury' – at Robson Square.
A shot of Surrey's Strawberry Hill students and the members of the 1994 Vancouver Canucks, taken on February 25, 2014 at Robson Square.
Jyrki Lumme, Cliff Ronning, and Kirk McLean stands among their fans – young and slightly older – at Robson Square skating rink in Vancouver, B.C.