Originally Posted by
canadiancow
Except, as was stated, they never asked for volunteers.
More specifically, the OP didn't hear a call for volunteers.
There is quite a bit of information missing in this story: Where did he get is YYZ-DEN BP?, if at YYZ when did he show up at check in, when did he show up at the gate...
Given the overnight at YYZ, I would bet that when he checked in for his flight to YYZ, the DEN bound flight wasn't open for check in yet.