Vancouver, BC - The Vancouver Canucks will host their third annual Hockey Talks day on February 13, 2015, to encourage a conversation about mental health. The Canucks will dedicate this game night to bringing awareness to mental health and offering fans the opportunity to get involved through social media. The Canucks Hockey Talks event is part of an effort with the other Canadian NHL clubs will dedicate one of their game nights from Jan. 27-Feb. 26 to bringing awareness to this topic in an attempt to provide information from experts and alleviate some of the misconceptions and stigma associated with mental illness.

Fans will also have the opportunity to lend their voices by downloading a Hockey Talks sign from the Canucks or one of the other participating clubs' websites and posting a picture via social media with the hashtag #HockeyTalks. The images will appear as part of an online mosaic to showcase a united voice.

The schedule for Hockey Talks night by the other Canadian NHL clubs is as follows:

Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets ~ Feb. 2, 2015Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks ~ Feb. 21, 2015Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas Stars ~ Jan. 27, 2015Ottawa Senators vs. Dallas Stars ~ Jan. 29, 2015Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers ~ Feb. 17, 2015Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues ~ Feb. 26, 2015

Last year, the Vancouver Canucks hosted "Balancing Our Minds", a free one-day workshop for 1,500 high school aged youth in BC to learn about mental health and engage in fun activities and thoughtful dialogue. The team also partnered to re-launch mindcheck.ca, a website focused on providing free mental health resources for youth. Since the re-launch, mindcheck.ca has had over 300,000 unique visitors and nearly 145,000 people have taken self-assessment quizzes.

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS

According to mental health experts, on average one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem or illness in their lifetimes; thereby affecting indirectly many more Canadians through a family member, friend or colleague. Stigma or discrimination attached to mental illnesses presents a serious barrier, not only to diagnosis and treatment, but also to acceptance in the community. Approximately 70 percent of mental health problems and illnesses have their onset during childhood or adolescence. Identifying the signs early and getting connected to tools and support is the most important way to prevent problems from becoming worse. Mental health problems and illnesses can be treated effectively.

These statistics were compelled from information available through the following websites: Mental Health Commission of Canada, Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.