I have loved the game of hockey from about the age of 6
when I was growing up in Montreal. When Bobby Hull joined the Chicago
Blackhawks at the age of 18 I became a Blackhawk fan which was a bit of a
rarity in Montreal.
Other the playing some street hockey and spending
infrequent nights at an outdoor rink playing “shinny” I never was involved in
the game as a player on an organized team. I always felt uncomfortable on
skates and they hurt my feet. One year in high school I was the equipment
manager on the school team.
I first ventured out to Vancouver in 1968 and was excited
when they got an NHL team in 1970. I was kind of in and out of Vancouver for
the first half of the 1970s but kept track of the Canucks through the
newspapers including The Hockey News. I was such a big fan of the game that I
would study the stats of minor pro and junior teams. The Hockey News was
published by a guy named Ken McKenzie who was the father of current TV hockey
commentator Bob McKenzie.
For many years the Canucks did not get a lot of national
TV exposure. Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights mostly involved the Toronto
Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadians.
The early optimism of having an NHL team faded somewhat
after the first few years the Canucks were in operation. Being a Canucks fan
was like being a New York Mets fan when they started playing baseball. Overall the
teams the Canucks put on the ice for their first 20 years were inept. They may
have been the worst performing franchise in any North American professional
sport over that period.
Fans had to look for other parts of the game to cheer
them up other than winning. Most long time Canuck fans who have followed the
Canucks from the beginning will remember the guys on the team who would drop
their gloves and go at it with an opponent. Players like Orland Kurtenbach,
Rosaire Paiement, Tiger Williams, Stan Smyl, Curt Fraser, Garth Butcher, Ron
Delorme, Craig Coxe, Ronnie Stern, Dave Richter and Harold Snepts. We may have
lost the game but at least one of our guys punched one of their guys out.
It wasn’t as if the Canucks didn’t have any decent
players in their 1st 20 years. They did. They had goal scorers but
had severe problems with team defence year after year. It also seemed that
every few years a flash in the pan high scoring junior would turn up like Stu
Kulak, Taylor Hall, Moe Lemay, Dan Hodgson, Brian Bradley, Dixon Ward, Jeff
Rolichek, Jophn LeBlanc, or Jere Gillis and fans would become dismayed when
these guys didn’t turn out to be another Mike Bossy.
I used to hang out in a bar in Vancouver called
Annabelle’s back around 1976 and remember seeing NHL players like Rick Martin
in the place. One night I saw a couple of players drag a very drunk Bobby
Sheehan out of the club. Sheehan could have been a great player if he hadn’t
had a drinking problem.
I went to my first Canucks game at the Pacific Coliseum
in the late 1970s. I remember being at one game, I think it was around 1981,
with our family doctor. The Minnesota North Stars were in town and we had seats
in the reds about 3 rows from the ice. We smoked a joint before the game. The
score that night was something like 9-8 for the Canucks and it seemed like we
were watching a tennis match. I had my first taste of sushi ever after the
game. It was a good night.
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| Pacific Coliseum |
Over the years I’ve probably seen the Canucks live about
30 times. Almost all those games were freebies. Either a business supplier took
me or someone I knew had some tickets they weren’t using. I remember drinking
beer under the stands between the periods at the Coliseum and seeing some
locals who thought they were cool with their long coats and cowboy boots. I
also remember some wealthier guys with pressed jeans. I was a guest at the
private Center Ice Club several times. They had a great “smorgie” and a chef
who would cut juicy slices of roast beef for the patrons. You could write down
what kind of beverage you wanted and find it waiting for you at your table
between periods. It was pretty cool knowing that I didn’t have to pay for any
of this.
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| Ticket stubs |
Year after year went by. There was some drama along the way which happens with every hockey team. Trades or new players didn’t seem to change the results at the end of the season. There was that one bright moment when the Canucks went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 82 only to be demolished by the high flying Islanders and then it was back to more of the same.
I saw hockey in a different way when my son started
playing the game in the mid-90s. There is hardly anything stinkier than a
hockey equipment bag. A guy I knew told me about the importance of parents
participating in their son’s sports and volunteering. I took it to heart. In
the beginning I thought I had another Wayne Gretsky in the family as my son
started scoring a lot of goals. By the 2nd year some other kids were
faster and more skilled. Eventually my son became a goalie. He played organized
hockey for about 13 years.
It took the Canucks about 30 years to have a consistently
good hockey team. It was a very long wait. The following is about the team’s
first 20 years and coping with year after year with mostly crappy hockey teams
and trying to see the silver lining.
The
“Old” Canucks
I was sitting in a rented room in the west end of
downtown Vancouver in February of 1968 when I first heard of a hockey team
called the Vancouver Canucks while listening to my Lloyds radio. I had just
taken a train across Canada from Montreal with the hope of making my way to
Australia by working on an ocean freighter. My radio was my window to the
goings on in Vancouver and although the Canucks team back then wasn’t part of
the NHL there were some player’s names that were familiar. I wouldn’t say I
became a rabid Canuck’s fan but hockey has always been my favourite team sport
and following the play by play by future NHL Hall of Famer Jim Robson helped
pass away some nights when I was a stranger in Vancouver.
The Canucks back then played in league called the WHL
(Western Hockey League) and against teams like the San Diego Gulls, the Seattle
Totems, the Portland Buckaroos, the San Francisco Seals, the Denver Spurs, the
Phoenix Roadrunners and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. I once saw a Salt Lake
Golden Eagles hockey game in Salt Lake City in 1973.
40 years ago “the minors” in hockey wasn’t the same as it is today where the vast majority of players are in their early twenties and honing their skills hoping to make it to the NHL. Back then there were a number of players who had long careers in the minors, sometimes 15-20 years and more. The money was never great but a lot of hockey players back then didn’t have too many prospects other than working at physical labour in the off-season. A number of minor league hockey players moved around the US and Canada during their playing careers. Sometimes it was just about living in what they thought was a more attractive city. Still others found a city they liked and spent years in one place.
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| The Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah |
40 years ago “the minors” in hockey wasn’t the same as it is today where the vast majority of players are in their early twenties and honing their skills hoping to make it to the NHL. Back then there were a number of players who had long careers in the minors, sometimes 15-20 years and more. The money was never great but a lot of hockey players back then didn’t have too many prospects other than working at physical labour in the off-season. A number of minor league hockey players moved around the US and Canada during their playing careers. Sometimes it was just about living in what they thought was a more attractive city. Still others found a city they liked and spent years in one place.
There were also players in the minors who had had a shot
at the NHL. Some of these guys just got a sniff of the NHL and played only a
few games in the “show” but there were others who had been stars in the NHL but
their foot speed or scoring skills had diminished. A few of these guys got
another shot at better money when the World Hockey Association was formed in
1972 as a competitor to the NHL.
Don Cherry spent part of his second to last year in the
minors with the old Vancouver Canucks. Former New York Ranger star Andy
Bathgate finished his career with Vancouver as did Charlie Hodge who was once
the goaltender for the Montreal Canadians. Future star goalie with the Chicago
Black Hawks, Tony Esposito, spent his first season as a pro with Vancouver as
did future Toronto Maple Leaf defencemen Brad Selwood, Jim McKenny, and Tracy
Pratt. Stan Gilbertson would later have a career of over 400 games in the NHL.
Other Canucks players who had had a taste of NHL but were
on the decline in their careers included Howie Young, Marc Rheaume, George
Gardiner, Bryan Hextall, Bob Barlow, Murray Hall, Phil Maloney, Larry Popein,
Ted Taylor, Don Johns, Len Lunde, and Gerry Odrowski. To give you an idea how
long a player could last in the minors back then consider one time Vancouver
Canuck, Cleland “Keke” Mortson. His minor pro career started in the 1952-53
season with the Newhaven Nutmegs and ended in the 1977-78 season with the
Houston Aeros. Over his pro career he played for 18 different teams.
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| Andy Bathgate |
When there was first talk of the NHL expanding from the
“original 6” it was thought by many that Vancouver would be a shoo-in to get
one the new 6 franchises. Stafford Smythe who owned the Toronto Maple Leafs at
the time made sure that didn’t happen. Hartland Molson who owned the Montreal
Canadiens also wasn’t fussy about seeing another Canadian team in the NHL. Both
men didn’t want to give up fan territory which they considered to be theirs
west of Ontario. They also didn’t want to share TV revenue.
These millionaires were also very concerned about a new
league forming and becoming direct competitors to the NHL. When expansion came
about in 1967, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Minnesota, Los Angeles, and
Oakland were awarded franchises. Oakland? Surely Vancouver had more of a hockey
history and more potential than Oakland?
In 1967 the Vancouver Canucks were playing at an arena
called The Forum on The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) grounds which had
about 5,000 seats. This arena was certainly far too small for an NHL rink but
the new 15,000 seat Pacific Coliseum was under construction and would open in
January of 1968. If Vancouver had been awarded an NHL franchise in 1967 they
could have played at the old Forum for a few months before moving into the
Pacific Coliseum in the same way the Montreal Expos started playing pro baseball at Jarry Park before the
Olympic Stadium opened.
The NHL Canucks
Of the 6 teams that were part of the NHL expansion of
1967 Oakland had the toughest time of it as far as attendance went. There was
some talk about moving the Oakland franchise to either Vancouver or Buffalo.
Labatt’s Brewery made an offer to move the Oakland Seals team to Vancouver and
there was at least one lawsuit about this matter. With expansion there were now
10 American teams in the NHL and they all liked the idea of easy profits from
selling new franchises and only giving up fringe players.
Buffalo and Vancouver got their NHL teams and they began
playing in the 1970-71 season. The 2 teams would get the 1st and 2nd
players in that year’s draft. A coin was tossed or something like that, and
Buffalo got 1st choice. They chose future Hall of Famer Gilbert Perrault.
With the 2nd pick Vancouver received defenceman Dale Tallon.
It wasn’t that difficult to obtain the Vancouver
“Canucks” name. With a new NHL team there was no way the city could support
both an NHL team and a minor pro team. The old Canucks team ceased existing. So
just exactly what is a “Canuck”? There doesn’t seem to be an exact theory.
Supposedly it was nick name some Americans used to identify French Canadians a
long time ago. A character named Johnny Canuck appeared in political cartoons
dating back to the 1860s. Whoever or whatever a Canuck is, Roberto Luongo has a
picture of him on his goalie’s mask as does the current team on one of their
retro jerseys.
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| Dale Tallon |
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| Johnny Canuck |
In 1970 Vancouver was not anywhere near what is like
today. It was, in a lot of ways, undeveloped and reliant on industries like
forestry and mining. Back then, the “old money” folks in the city were not
prepared to step up to the plate and invest in a new NHL hockey franchise.
Around the time Scallen was sent off to the hoosegow he sold the team to
millionaire Frank Griffiths who had made his fortune by owning radio station
CKNW, the most listened to radio station in BC at the time.
First
Season 1970-1971
There was a dispersal draft for the 2 new teams, the
Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres. These were pretty well all fringe
players. Vancouver took defenseman Gary Doak from the Boston Bruins with their
first pick. After keeping Doak for a little over a year the Canucks traded him
away and he spent another 9 years in the NHL. It wasn’t the last inept deal the
Canucks would be involved in over the next 20 years.
Tough guy Orland Kurtenbach was named the team’s first
captain. He could go toe to toe with any player in the league. Another tough
guy, Rosaire Paiement, scored 34 times in his first year as a Canuck.
Diminutive Andre Boudrias who was about 5’8” had 114 goals in the team’s first
5 years before jumping to the WHA.
Wayne Maki had 25 goals that first year. His
career ended during his 3rd year with the team when he was diagnosed
with brain cancer and he died at the age of 29. Before joining the Canucks Maki
had been involved in a stick swinging incident with Boston defenseman Ted Green
that left Green with a metal plate in his head. Green apparently had taken the
first stick swing.
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| Andre Boudrias |
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| Orland Kurtenbach |
Future coach and general manager of the Canucks, Pat
Quinn, anchored the defense along with Dale Talon who was only 19 at the time.
Another defenseman Barry Wilkins scored the Canucks first ever NHL goal.
Charlie Hodge and Dunc Wilson shared the goal tending.
Hal Laycoe was the team’s first coach. The team record
that year was 24 wins, 46 losses, and 8 ties. Laycoe might also be remembered
as the Boston Bruin defenseman who got into fight with Maurice Richard at the
Montreal Forum in 1955 that resulted in Richard and Laycoe being suspended.
Richard was contending for the league scoring title at the time. With Richard
out of the picture the famous Richard Riot occurred after the next Canadiens
home game. Laycoe was one of a few players who wore eye glasses while playing
pro hockey at the time. Future 5 time Stanley Cup winner as a coach, Al Arbour,
was another player back then who wore eye glasses.
1971-1972
With the 3rd pick in the 1971 amateur draft
Vancouver picked up high scoring defenceman Jocelyn Guevrement. They also added
25 year old defenceman Dennis Kearns who would spend the next 10 years with the
team. 5’5” forward Bobby Lalonde joined the team. The Canucks finished the year
with 20 wins, 50 losses, and 8 ties. They weren’t getting better. They were
getting worse.
1972-1973
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| Dennis Kearns |
Vic Stasiuk took over as coach. He was once part of the
“Uke” line in Boston with Bronco Horvath and Johnny Bucyk. 2nd year
player, Bobby Schmautz had his best year in his long career with 38 goals.
Schmautz was only 5’9” but was very feisty. In 1974 he was traded to Boston for
Mike Walton, Chris Odleifson, and Fred O’Donnell. Schmautz became an important
player in Boston’s Stanley Cup successes.
Vancouver once again had the #3 pick in the amateur draft
and chose center Don Lever. He would later become team captain and played over
1000 games in the NHL. The team only slightly improved their record from the
year before ending up with 22 wins, 47 losses, and 9 ties.
1973-1974
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| Don Lever |
Bill McCreary was the coach at the start of the season
but was let go after compiling a record of 9 W, 25L, and 7 ties. Former minor
pro with the old Vancouver Canucks, Phil Maloney, took over and finished the
year with 15W, 18L, and 4 ties. It looked like the team was going in the right
direction.
Rookie Dennis Ververgaert scored 26 times. 7 players were
acquired through trades. Defenceman Bob Dailey joined the team.
Gary Smith became the #1 goal tender. His nick name was
“Suitcase”. Over the years he played for 14 pro hockey teams. He was one “flakey”
goalie.
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| Dennis Vervegaert |
The
Vancouver Blazers
In 1973 the Canucks had some local competition with the
Vancouver Blazers who moved from Philadelphia to Vancouver and were part of a
new league called the World Hockey Association. The Blazers were owned by
Vancouver millionaire Jim Pattison. Danny Lawson had 50 goals in the Blazers
first year. The current VP of hockey operations for the NHL Colin Campbell was
a defenseman for the Blazers. A few years later he became a player for the NHL
Vancouver Canucks. John MacKenzie was a long time NHLer who played 2 seasons
for the Blazers. Andy Bathgate was the head coach the first year.
In 1974 Joe Crozier took over the coaching and Andy Bathgate
wound up his career playing only 11 games that year.19 year old Pat Price
joined the team. He would later play over 700 games in the NHL. The team left
town and moved to Calgary where they were called the Cowboys. It had become
quite obvious that Vancouver couldn’t support 2 pro hockey teams. After the
Blazers moved to Calgary they found themselves after a game in San Diego out at
the airport ready to board a plane for the trip home. There was one problem.
The plane was out of gas and $1500.00 was needed to refuel it. Coach Crozier
passed the hat around but the players didn’t have enough cash. The Cowboy’s
play by play man put the fuel costs on his credit card and was later repaid.
You might say the WHA had financial problems.
1974-1975 |
| Joe Crozier |
Frank Griffith bought the Canucks from Tom Scallen and
would remain as owner of the team until his death in 1994. The team selected
Ron Sedlbauer, Harold Snepts, and Mike Rogers in the 1974 draft. Mike Rogers
jumped to the WHA and never played a game for the Canucks. They could have used
him at the time. 10 Canucks players were involved in trades. The team had its
first winning season with a record of 38 wins, 32 losses, and 10 ties. This was
also the first year the Canucks were in the play-offs. They got bounced by the
Montreal Canadiens in the first round winning only 1 game.
1975-1976
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| Harold Snepts |
19 year old forward Rick Blight joined the team and
potted 25 goals in his rookie season. Rick Blight was a Canuck for almost 5
seasons. Sadly, after he retired he committed suicide on his farm in Manitoba
at the age of 49. The 30 year old Mike Walton joined the team and fans wondered
if he had any gas left in the tank. The team had a fairly balanced attack with
5 twenty goal scorers. Harold Snepts joined the team on the blueline and would
play the better part of 11 seasons for Vancouver. For the 2nd year
in a row the team had a winning record finishing the season with 33 wins, 32
losses, and 15 ties. Once again the Canucks were bounced in the first round of
the play-offs.
1976-1977
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| Rick Blight |
Former Canuck captain, Orland Kurtenbach, took over as
head coach when the Canucks stumbled out of the gate at the beginning of the
year. He replaced the under rated Phil Maloney who had a record of just 10
games under .500 in his tenure as coach of the Canucks. Former Ranger,
Minnesota North Star, and Montreal Canadiens player Caesar Maniago became the
team’s #1 goalie. Vancouver had 4 pretty good young guns up front on the team
with Blight, Lever, Ververgaert, and Sedlbauer. All were Canuck draft picks.
Defenceman Bob Manno was the Canucks first pick in the draft in 1976. Derek Sanderson came over from St. Louis and had
16 points in 16 games played and split at the end of the season. I’m not sure
if Sanderson and Mike
Walton ever went out drinking together.
Walton ever went out drinking together.
1977-78
The Canucks really stunk up the Pacific Coliseum this
season. The record was 20 W, 43L, and 17 ties. They had a decent enough offense
with 5 players with over 20 goals and another 4 with 15 or more goals. It was
the back end in goal and on defence that was killing them. They let in 172 more
goals than they scored that season. Pit Martin was acquired from Chicago. Glen
Hanlon played his 1st 4 games in goal for the team. Hilliard Graves
was laying out some nasty low body checks. In the end it was perhaps the
Canucks worst year in the NHL. The Canucks 1st pick in the draft
that year was Gere Gillis.
1978-1979
1978-1979
Orland Kurtenbach may have been a warrior as a player but
he kind of sucked as a coach. Harry Neale was brought into replace him. Neale’s
record in his first year was nothing to write home about either. The team
finished the season with a record of 25 wins, 42 losses, and 13 ties. Somehow
they managed to get into the playoffs but were quickly bumped off by
Philadelphia. All was not lost though. That year with their first 3 picks in
the draft they chose Bill Derlago, Curt Fraser, and Stan Smyl. They also
acquired center Thomas Gradin from Chicago for a future 2nd round
draft choice. Fraser, Smyl, and Gradin would play on the same line for a number
of years. All 3 players went directly to the NHL without spending any time in
the minors. Stan Smyl would become the
face of the Canucks and captain. He spent his whole 13 year career with the
team. Both Fraser and Smyl would fight anyone and you knew even with all the
losses they weren’t going to roll over easily.
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| Stan Smyl |
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| Thomas Gradin |
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| Curt Fraser |
33 different players suited up for the Canucks during
this season. Rick Blight went from three 25 or more goal seasons to 5 goals. On
the upside the Canucks drafted 2 very good players, Rick Vaive and Dirk Graham
that year. Graham never played for the Canucks and spent a few years in the
minors. He later captained the Chicago Blackhawks and had an NHL career of 772
games.
1978 was also the year that the Canucks introduced those god awful yellow jerseys with the big “V”.
1978 was also the year that the Canucks introduced those god awful yellow jerseys with the big “V”.
1979-1980
Harry Neale could be a very funny guy in interviews. He
was very likable but all 5 seasons that he coached the Canucks were losing
ones. All told, 13 players came and went through trades in the 79-80 season.
Probably the worst trade that year was sending Bill Derlago and Rick Vaive off
to Toronto for Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler. There was no doubt that
Williams was solid entertainment value and he could pot a few goals but Vaive
went on to score 441 goals in the NHL. Derlago had 4 seasons with Toronto where
he scored over 30 goals. Jerry Butler? He had less than a total of 20 goals in
his 2 seasons and a bit in Vancouver.
The Canucks did a lot better that year in their trade for
Darcy Rota and Ivan Bodirev. They did have to give up steady producer and team
captain Don Lever but they got the better of the deal. Boldirev played over
1000 games in the NHL and had the scoring touch. He averaged 25 goals per year
in his 3 seasons in Vancouver. Darcy Rota had eight 20 plus goal seasons in the
NHL. |
| Rick Vaive with coach Harry Neale and GM Jake Milford |
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| Darcy Rota |
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| Ivan Boldirev |
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| Gary Lupul |
The Canucks did pretty well in the 1980 draft. They chose
defencemen Doug Lidster and Rick Lantz and forwards Patrik Sundstrom and Marc
Crawford. 8 players that year had 20 goals but still the team finished the
season under .500. Goal tending and defence were still their biggest problems.
They had a fairly decent #1 goalie in Richard Brodeur but his goals against
average was 3.51 for the year. Rick Lanz and Kevin McCarthy were decent rushing
defencemen but team defence including back checking was severely lacking. The
high points of the year were watching Tiger Williams with his 35 goals sliding
along the ice while sitting on his hockey stick after scoring a goal. Williams
had 343 penalty minutes that season. The guy really liked to scrap. Late in the
year the team picked up another rushing defenceman in Doug Halward.
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| Doug Lidster |
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| Dave "Tiger" Williams |
In 1981 Garth Butcher, Moe Lemay and Petri Skriko were
drafted by the Canucks. Butcher was a physical defencemen who was a steady
blueliner for the team for a number of years. Skriko was taken 157th
in the draft and turned out to have a scoring touch. Moe Lemay was perhaps one
of Vancouver’s first disappointments in a high scoring junior not panning out.
Somehow, despite finishing the season 3 games under .500
the team made it to the playoffs. And oh what a playoffs they were. With 10
games left in the season Head coach Harry Neale was suspended for an
altercation with fans in Quebec City. Assistant coach Roger Neilson took over
head coaching and the team won 9 of its last 10 games. When the play-offs
started it was decided that Roger Neilson would continue as the head coach.
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| Petri Skriko |
The team won 11 of 13 games and got by Calgary, Los
Angeles, and Chicago to make it to the Stanley Cup final and played against the
New York Islander dynasty. The city of Vancouver went nuts. Nobody had expected
this. Goalie Richard Brodeur stood on his head for the first 3 series. One fan
sign in the stands read “He ain’t heavy…he’s R. Brodeur.”
It the series against Chicago coach Neilson felt the team
was getting a raw deal from the refs. In protest he put a white towel on the
end of a hockey stick and raised it in the air like the team was surrendering. This
was the introduction of “towel power”. By the time the next game rolled around
in Vancouver team management had purchased thousands of white towels for the
fans.
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| "King" Richard Brodeur |
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| Coach Roger Neilson |
The Canucks were the first western team in 56 years to
reach the Stanley Cup Finals. In their first game against the Islanders the
game went to overtime. Right near the end of the first overtime period Harold
Snepts gave the puck away and Islander Mike Bossy put the game away. The
Canucks were leading 4-3 after 2 periods in the 2nd game but lost
6-4. The Islanders easily won the next 2 games and the cup.
In some ways it was probably inevitable that the Canucks
were not going to beat the powerhouse Islanders but the playoffs sure thrilled
Vancouver for a few short weeks that spring over 30 years ago.
1981 was also the year that Ivan Hlinka joined the team.
He had 2 pretty decent years before going back to Czechloslovakia. Sadly he
died in a car accident in 2004 at the age of 54.
1982-1983
With Roger Neilson now as head coach and the success of
the previous year in the playoffs there was understandably high hopes for the
82-83 season. It wasn’t to be. The team finished the season with 30W, 35L, and
15 ties. Curt Fraser was shipped off to Chicago for Toni Tanti. Tanti would
become a star in Vancouver. Ivan Boldirev was traded for Mark Kirton which was
a very bad move. John Garrett was sent off to Quebec. Tiger Williams goal
scoring output dropped to 8 goals. The draft was pretty lean for the Canucks
that year and the only notable player they could come up with was French
Canadian defenseman Michel Petit.
Vancouver fans may have not known it at the time but the
team was in decline. Over the next 10 years the team barely squeaked into the
playoffs 4 times but were bounced in the first round each time.
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| Toni Tanti |
1983-1984
What else was new, another year, another losing season.
The Canucks had enough players for 2 decent scoring lines but still couldn’t
get anywhere. Two Swedes, Patrik Sundstrom and Thamas Gradin, were very decent playmakers.
They were complimented by Darcy Rota, Stan Smyl, Toni Tanti, and Tiger
Williams. D was still a big problem for the team and they let in 182 more goals
than they scored during the season. A young 18 year old, Cam Neely joined the
team that year. He was the 9th overall pick in the the 83 draft. John
Garrett and his mustache were reacquired from Quebec. Kevin MacCarthy was sent
to Pittsburgh.
1984-1985
 |
| Patrik Sundstrom |
The Canucks certainly made some really stupid decisions
in their first 20 years and one of the worst was hiring Bill Laforge as their
head coach. Laforge came from coaching a junior hockey team and had no
experience either as a coach or player at the NHL level. Harry Neale, the
Canucks GM at the time, chose Laforge over future NHL coach Mike Keenan.
Right from the get go Laforge treated his players like
rebellious teenagers. If the team they were on in practice lost a scrimmage the
losers were forced to run laps around an outdoor field with all their hockey
equipment on except their skates. Picture long time time NHLers like Doug Halward, Peter McNabb, and Thomas Gradin
having to do that. Another thing Laforge introduced to practices was “running
the gauntlet” where players would line up a few feet front the boards and throw
checks at a lone player who had to make his way passed them and the boards.
Supposedly Darcy Rota paid the ultimate price for having to run the gauntlet.
He already had had lingering injury problems and they were exacerbated by this
stupid idea of toughening the players up. Rota ended up hanging up his skates
for good.
After the first 20 games under Laforge that year the team
had only won 4 games and he was let go. GM Harry Neale took over the head coach
position for the rest of the year. Laforge was lucky that no player took it
upon themselves to just punch him out before he left.
In the 84 draft the Canucks selected defenceman J.J.
Daigneault with their first pick. He put on his new Canucks jersey while
struggling with a crutch he needed because of an injury. It wasn’t exactly an
inspiring moment.
1985-1986
Tom Watt was the new head coach in 1986. His assistant
was former Canuck defenseman and war horse Jack MacIlhargey. It would be
another crappy season for the team. At the end of season their record was 23W,
44L, and 15 ties. On the upside Toni Tanti had 39 goals and Petri Skriko 38.
Newcomer Moe Lemay showed some promise and potted 16 goals. Rick Lanz and 15
goals and 38 assists while playing on the blue line.
Fans were getting used to looking for positives amongst a
continuing mess. A good fight won by one of the Canucks could take a bit of the
chill off of another game lost. A 6’4” tall guy from Chula Vista, California
named Craig Coxe took on all comers that year and became a crowd favourite. In
177 games with the team he had all of 10 goals. The Canucks first pick in the
draft that year was huge Jim Sandlak. With the 214th pick they
selected a Russian named Igor Larianov.
1986-1987
In the summer of 1986 Vancouver made their worst trade
ever. Cam Neely and a first round draft choice who turned out to be Glen Wesley
were traded to Boston for center Barry Pederson. Pederson had a decent first
and second year with the Canucks with 76 points in 79 games and 71 points in 76
games. After that he was pretty well done. Cam Neely became a star in Boston.
He would play for Boston for 10 years and had 3 seasons with 50 or more goals.
He retired early from hockey due to a bad knee. Neely was inducted into The
Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. Glenn Wesley played 7 seasons for the Bruins and
played over 1000 games in the NHL. When Neely was traded he was 20 years old
and behind Toni Tanti and Stan Smyl on the depth chart and didn’t get any power
play time. His coach at the time in Vancouver, Tom Watt, didn’t like Neely’s
defensive capabilities. Thanks for nothing Tom!
The Canucks shipped off 6 players in the 86-87 season
including defencemen Doug Halward and Rick Lanz. They picked up defenceman Jim
Benning from Toronto.
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| Cam Neely |
After all was said and done it was another losing season
with 29W, 43L, and 8 ties. Richard Brodeur’s GAA was 3.59 that year.
1987-1988
Bob McCammon was hired as the new head coach and would
lead the team to 4 more losing seasons. Just before the season started, the
Vancouver traded Canuck veteran Patrick Sundstrom to New Jersey for Greg Adams
and minor league goaltender Kirk McLean. Sundstrom was a decent producer for
New Jersey for the next 4 years but Vancouver got the better of the deal. Adams
was a consistent goal scorer for a little over 7 years and a big part of the
Canuck’s 2nd run at the Stanley cup in the 90s. Kirk McLean became
Vancouver’s all time winning goalie up until then and stayed with team for 11
years. During that time he won 34 play-off games.
Gary Valk was the only player drafted by the Canucks in
87 who had any kind of NHL career. The team was often is desperation midway
through the year and being desperate is not the best way to make a trade. In 87
the Canucks traded away defenceman Michel Petit for Ranger defenceman Larry
Melnyk. Melnyk had 21 points in total in 3 seasons with the Canucks. Petit
would play another 10 years and produce 212 points in the NHL after leaving the
Canucks. Canuck management had given up on Petit after less than 80 games.
Petit was only 23 at the time of the trade.
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| Kirk McLean |
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| Greg Adams |
1988-1989
In 1988 the Canucks picked up outstanding defenceman Paul
Reinhardt from the Calgary Flames for a 3rd round draft choice. He
was struggling with a bad back but managed to play most of the 2 years he was
in Vancouver picking up 57 points both years.
Trevor Linden had been the #2 pick in the draft and
joined the Canucks at the age of 18. The #1 pick was Mike Modano. Linden would
later become the team captain and in a lot of ways the face of Canucks for the
better part of the next 20 years. He is probably the most respected player ever
to play for the team.
Mel Bridgman played his last 15 games in the NHL with the
Canucks that year. Stan Smyl was starting to slow down and Harry Snepts was now
33 years old. 36 different players wore Canucks jerseys during the year. Team
scoring had dropped and once again they were letting in too many goals, over
150 more than they scored during the year. They finished the year with a 33W,
39L, 8 ties.
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| Trevor Linden |
In 1989 the Canucks drafted some obscure player from
Russia named Pavel Bure. It was a steal in that most scouts didn't think Bure was eligible for the draft that year. Bure would go on to be the most dynamic player in Canuck history. It took a bit of time to get him out of Russia.
1989-1990
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| Pavel Bure |
25W, 41L, 14 ties. Ouch again! Vancouver had a thing for
Pittsburg that year sending 5 players to them including Toni Tanti. They
received sniper Dan Quinn and Andrew McBain in return. Quinn was in his 8th
year in the NHL and his goal scoring was on the decline.
Russians Igor Larionov and Victor Krutov suited up for the Canucks that year. Krotov turned up at training camp overweight and only potted 11 goals during the season. At the end of the year he left town and went back to Russia for good. Larionov would have a long NHL career.
Russians Igor Larionov and Victor Krutov suited up for the Canucks that year. Krotov turned up at training camp overweight and only potted 11 goals during the season. At the end of the year he left town and went back to Russia for good. Larionov would have a long NHL career.
Brian Bradley who the Canucks had obtained from Calgary
scored 19 times during the season. Later in his career he had 42 with the Tampa
Bay Lightning. The Canucks pretty well stole defenseman Jyrki Lumme from the
Montreal Canadiens. Lumme would go on to play defence for the Canucks for the
best part of 9 years.
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| Jyrki Lumme |
1990-1991
Head coach Bob McCammon was sacked 2/3 of the way through the season and GM Pat Quinn took over his chores. It was a bit messy in how Quinn turned up as GM and president of the Canucks a few years before. He agreed to take over those positions while still under contract as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings filed a suit which they lost but NHL president at the time, John Ziegler, banned Quinn from coaching in the NHL until the 1990-91 season.
Garth Butcher was traded to St. Louis along with Dan
Quinn and Petri Skriko was sent to Boston for draft picks. Vancouver picked up
Sergio Momesso, Cliff Ronning, Geoff Coutrnall, and Robert Dirk in exchange for
Quinn and Butcher. These pick-ups would have big rolls in the Canucks Stanley
Cup run a few years later. 18 year old Peter Nedved made his first appearance
with the team.
When the smoke cleared at the end of the season it was
another dismal year. 28W-43L-9 ties.
Head coach Bob McCammon was sacked 2/3 of the way through the season and GM Pat Quinn took over his chores. It was a bit messy in how Quinn turned up as GM and president of the Canucks a few years before. He agreed to take over those positions while still under contract as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings filed a suit which they lost but NHL president at the time, John Ziegler, banned Quinn from coaching in the NHL until the 1990-91 season.
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| Pat Quinn with new Canuck Trevor Linden |
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| Cliff Ronning |
Summary
So here we are at the end of 2013. The Canucks have a new
coach in John Tortorella. The team is in 4th place in the
competitive Pacific Division having won 8 out of its last 10 games. There is
good chance they won’t finish first in their division like they have for the
past number of years. Luongo is playing well in goal as is his back-up Eddie
Lack. The Sedin brothers are now 33 years old and seem to slowing down a bit.
Kesler has 15 goals and free agent Mike Santorelli has been a pleasant
surprise. Chris Tanev has become a competent top 4 defenceman. The jury is
still out on whether Zack Kassian can be the power forward management want him
to be.
There are some young players that have been drafted in
the past year or two that show a lot of promise. It may be getting close to the
time when the team will have to add more new guys and send some veterans on
their way.
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| Roberto Luongo |
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| The Sedin brothers |
In the 43 years the Canucks have been in operation the
team still hasn’t won the Stanley Cup. Not very many sports pundits are
suggesting that the Canucks will break that pattern. Who knows what is going to
happen? They made it to the 7th game of the finals a few years ago.
Stranger things have happened. Personally I think you win the cup these days
with big gritty guys and shorter ones with a nasty streak and great goal
tending. I don’t think the Canucks have all of that but I wouldn’t mind being
surprised.
When you come down to it running a professional sports
team is about managing assets. And some luck. Who knows what would have
happened if the Canucks had the first pick instead of the of second pick in in
1970 and had taken Gilbert Perrault instead of Dale Tallon? What about all of
those seasons when management panicked and gave away young players that went on
to have outstanding seasons with other teams?
In the end if you were a fan you still got entertained and a new guy was
just around the corner who would electrify the fans for the next 7 years. Pavel
Bure.
Some Pics I Took Back In The Early 80's
Canucks playing the Minnesota North Stars
Some Pics I Took Back In The Early 80's
Canucks playing the Minnesota North Stars
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| Jim Nill? |
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| #12 Stan Smyl |
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| Mark Kirton taking face-off? |
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| Roger Neilson behind the bench |
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