We don’t normally report on Christian youth conferences here on PITB, but that’s because this is a Canucks blog and these conferences typically don’t generate Canucks-related stories. However, on Friday one did, as The Passion Movement, a Christian organization aimed at “uniting students in worship and prayer,” visited Rogers Arena. During the service, Pastor Louie Giglio held up a blue Canucks helmet and led over 10,000 people in a prayer for the healing of Daniel Sedin’s recently-confirmed concussion.

Now, if you find this video a bit strange, you’re not alone. Over at Puck Daddy, Sean Leahy said what a lot of people must have thought upon viewing the clip: “What better way to get your fans in the city you’re touring even more behind you than holding a mass prayer for the quick recovery of one of their hockey stars?” Meanwhile, some of the commenters said the same thing, albeit much more ignorantly: “Nothing like bible thumpers playing their same ol’ tune, and trying to hitch their wagon to a fan favorite to legitimize themselves…….pathetic,” said one.

But Giglio wasn’t pandering to the home crowd; he was making good on a prayer request from Paolo Aquilini, one of the three brothers that make up the Aquilini ownership group, which controls both the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena.