Vancouver Canucks

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The Vancouver Canucks are a professional National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. They joined the NHL in 1970 along with the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks play their home games in GM Place.

Contents

Franchise history

Pre-NHL (1945-1970)

In 1945 the Pacific Coast Hockey League established an ice hockey franchise in the city of Vancouver. Known as the Canucks, they immediately enjoyed success by winning PCHL championships in their first (1946) and third (1948) year of existence. In 1952, the PCHL merged with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League to form the professional Western Hockey League. With numerous star players coming through the ranks like Johnny Bower, Andy Bathgate, Tony Esposito, Allan Stanley, and Phil Maloney, the Canucks would again win the President's/Lester Patrick Cup in 1958, 1960, 1969, and 1970. The team played at the Vancouver Forum.

In 1965, when the NHL announced plans to expand to six additional markets, the owner of the WHL's Canucks (and former Vancouver mayor), Fred Hume, announced that the city of Vancouver would apply. However, the presentation to the NHL's Board of Governors was sloppily prepared. Because of this, and the fact that the Vancouver ownership group was disliked by Detroit Red Wings owner Bruce Norris and Toronto Maple Leafs co-owner Stafford Smythe (who hated Vancouver in general because of a failed arena plan), the application did not succeed. Nevertheless, the Pacific Coliseum, which was to be the first home for a prospective Vancouver NHL team, was built on the grounds of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE).

Blue and Green Era (1970-1978)

In 1970, another Vancouver ownership group bought the Canucks and, after much negotiating, joined the NHL for the price of $6 million ($4 million more than it would have cost in 1967).

:First NHL Captain: Orland Kurtenbach

:First NHL Game: October 9, 1970 vs. Los Angeles Kings

:First NHL Victory: October 11, 1970 5-3 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

:First NHL Goal Scored: Barry Wilkins vs. Kings

The Canucks were 1975 Smythe Division champions, but were generally mediocre for the first decade of their NHL existence, missing the playoffs 8 times in their first 10 years.

Orange and Black Era (1978-1997)

After a decent regular season, the Canucks became the Cinderella story of the 1982 playoffs and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. However, they were promptly swept 4 games to none by the heavily favoured New York Islanders. Mike Bossy, who had scored the magical 50 goals in 50 games mark during the previous year, put away the goal that allowed the Islanders to "three-peat".

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After their improbable Stanley Cup run, the Canucks slipped back into mediocrity for the rest of the 1980s. Later on, under the guidance of new general manager Pat Quinn, the Canucks rose to prominence in the early 1990s. Led by players such as Trevor Linden, Kirk McLean, and Pavel Bure, the Canucks won two consecutive regular season division titles in 1992 and 1993.

In 1994 the Canucks made their second trip to the finals, entering that year's playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. The club had what could be characterized as an off-year during the regular season, but resumed their form during the playoffs, beating the rival Calgary Flames in the first round in an incredible seven-game series. They won games five, six, and seven in overtime; Pavel Bure (nicknamed the "Russian Rocket") scored the Game Seven winner on a breakaway, which many consider the biggest goal in franchise history. They went on to defeat both the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 games before meeting the New York Rangers in the Finals. Vancouver won Game 1 3-2 in OT because of goaltender McLean's 52-save performance. The Canucks lost Game Seven in the finals by an identical score of 3-2. Craig MacTavish, who would later coach Vancouver's rival Edmonton Oilers to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, won the last faceoff with 1.6 seconds remaining in game seven to clinch the Cup for the Rangers. The Canucks' failure was followed by a major riot by disappointed hockey fans in downtown Vancouver, many of whom had been drinking heavily.

After the Canucks' incredible 1994 run, Vancouver continued to be a force for the next two seasons, acquiring Alexander Mogilny and Markus Näslund via trade, from the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively, to further improve their offence.

Blue and Black Era (1997-Present)

In the 1997 off-season, the Canucks made a big splash and signed Mark Messier from the Rangers to a lucrative three-year deal. Fans in Van-City were hopeful that the legendary "Greatest Leader in NHL History" (Messier had also captained the Oilers to the 1990 Cup) would lead their team to the Promised Land, but it wasn't meant to be. Messier in his time in Vancouver was often injured and the Canucks went through a fire sale in his second year. The third however saw a rebirth in the team that laid the foundations for the team's success in the coming years, the team was once again expected to finish close to dead last in the league but the Canucks shocked all by fighting for the playoffs the whole year had it not been for Messier missing 16 games, Ohlund missing 40 and the trade of star winger Alexander Mogliny the Canucks would have made it....they missed the playoffs that year by 4 points.

With a new general manager, Brian Burke, and coach Marc Crawford (who'd won a Stanley Cup with the 1996 Colorado Avalanche), Vancouver rebuilt their team and returned to the playoffs in 2000-01. This season started in Sweden, when the team held their training camp in Stockholm, and participated against Swedish and Finnish teams in the NHL Challenge. Led by forwards Näslund and Todd Bertuzzi, defenceman Ed Jovanovski and goaltender Dan Cloutier, the Canucks would achieve some success in the next few years. However, since 1994, the Canucks have not yet achieved significant playoff success, failing to achieve victory in the second round.

It was Brian Burke who coined the phrase "Goalie Graveyard", when referring to the Canucks' long-standing history of having troubles between the pipes. As it turned out, Vancouver became Burke's own graveyard. Before the lockout of 2004-05, Burke did not have his NHL GM contract renewed by the Canucks, a move that many Vancouver fans regarded as a poor decision, and was replaced by Dave Nonis, who had been assistant GM. Free agent activity in the summer prior to the 2005-06 season saw players such as Anson Carter and Richard Park arrive in Vancouver. However, Nonis' moves were viewed by some to be rather meek compared to other NHL club GMs.

The 2005-06 season began with much promise, with some hockey analysts picking the Canucks as Stanley Cup favourites. However, the team failed to meet expectations and completed the regular season in a disappointing 9th place in their Conference — narrowly missing a playoff position to the Edmonton Oilers, which caused some debate about the effect of the "Loser Point" recently instituted by the NHL. The season was characterized by under-achieving play, most notably in the first line of Näslund, Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison, which was expected to produce higher point totals under the new league rules. Morrison had a career-high 84 penalty minutes. Meanwhile, his wingers, Bertuzzi and Näslund, had a combined -37 in Plus/Minus Rating. Vancouver's highest-scoring line was that of Carter and Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

On April 25, 2006, the Canucks fired Crawford. Alain Vigneault, who had just coached Vancouver's American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, to a 102-point season, was hired as his replacement on June 20, 2006. The Los Angeles Kings hired Crawford soon after Vancouver let him go. Net minder Dan Cloutier went to Hollywood too.

The re-building of the Canucks continued just three days after Vigneault's hiring, when Nonis completed a blockbuster trade with the Florida Panthers, trading Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld for Roberto Luongo, Lukáš Krajíček and a sixth-round draft pick (Sergei Shirokov) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Florida fan favourite Luongo initially claimed to be "surprised and unhappy" with being traded. Luongo later signed a long-term 4-year, $27-million deal with the Canucks which includes a "no-trade Clause" after the first year, tying the Chicago Blackhawks' Nikolai Khabibulin as the highest paid goaltender in the National Hockey League and showing the Canucks' clear intention of making Luongo a franchise goalie.

On September 12, 2006, the Philadelphia Flyers offered restricted free agent Ryan Kesler a one-year, $1.9 million dollar contract, forcing the Canucks to either match the offer or lose the rights to Kesler. Kesler, the Canucks' first-round draft pick in 2003, scored 10 goals and had 13 assists in 82 games for the Canucks in 2005-06. The offer is considered high for a young player with relatively low stats, and Bobby Clarke, the now ex-General Manager of the Flyers, has drawn criticism for the move. The Canucks matched the offer on September 14, 2006. The offer made by the Flyers was the first offer sheet extended to a restricted free agent in eight years, and the first following the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Ownership

From 1988 to 1997, the Vancouver Canucks were owned by local businessman and philantropist Arthur Griffiths. However, he was forced to sell his majority interest in the Canucks after overextending his resources trying to build a new arena, GM Place. As a result, he sold his majority share to American billionaire John McCaw.

On November 17, 2004, the Aquilini Investment Group, headed by Francesco Aquilini, purchased a 50% share in the franchise and GM Place sports arena from John McCaw. However, in January 2005, Aquilini's former business partners, Tom Gaglardi and Ryan Beedie, filed a lawsuit against Aquilini and the Orca Bay Parenting Company, the group that currently owns the Canucks. Gaglardi and Beedie claimed that Aquilini and Orca Bay had acted in bad faith and went behind their backs when Aquilini and Orca Bay brokered their deal, despite Aquilini having had to pull out of his partnership with Gaglardi and Beedie to purchase the team due to financial concerns.

On Wednesday, November 8, 2006, Aquilini, along with his brothers Roberto and Paolo, purchased the remaining 50% of the Vancouver Canucks and GM Place from McCaw. [1][2]

Logos and Jerseys

"The Rink & Stick", 1970-78.
"The Flying Skate", 1978-97.

The team has gone through several different logo and sweater changes in its history. One of their first sweaters is now worn on the occasional "vintage night"; a blue rink-shaped rectangle with a hockey stick in it designed by Joe Borovich of North Vancouver. A version of this logo is still in use, as a shoulder patch on the team's current jerseys, with the modern team's colours.

In 1978, aiming for a more "aggressive" image, the team switched to one of its more controversial looks. The new sweaters consisted of a huge yellow, orange, and black striped "V" coming down from the shoulders which, depending on whom you ask, is usually considered to be either their best or (more commonly) worst sweater. This theme was abandoned in the mid-1980s to feature the team's emblem on the front rather than the "V" (the emblem had previously been worn only on the arms). The logo consisted of the word "Canucks" in a diagonal slant and is part of the blade of a skate. The logo, with its laser-like design, was sometimes referred to as the "Star Wars" logo, or, more commonly, the "Flying Skate" or "Plate of Spaghetti". Eventually the yellow home jerseys were scrapped in 1989 in favour of more conventional white ones, and the triangular shoulder stripes which adorned the post-"V" jerseys were discarded at the same time. The new incarnation was worn from 1989-92, when a subtle change was made — and went largely unnoticed for the rest of the jersey's lifespan. The orange was switched to red, and the deep "gold" colour was changed to a much brighter yellow, reportedly because jersey-maker CCM no longer produced the required hues. Actor Martin Lawrence once wore this edition of the Vancouver jersey during an episode of his 1990s sitcom, Martin. In the early 90's a "third" jersey was used, retaining the "Downward Skate" logo, but using a Salmon colour graduating to black near the bottom.

In 1996 the Canucks unveiled their new logo, in which a Haida-style killer whale (or orca) breaking out of a patch of ice forms a stylized "C". The logo has been much-maligned, accused of being a blatant reference to their parent company, Orca Bay. At the time, GM Pat Quinn discussed wanting to have a west-coast colour scheme, and overall west-coast themes in the logo; the new colour scheme includes blue, red and silver/white. In the late 1990s a new "third" jersey was utilized, with contrasting shoulder patches and a blue-to-maroon graduated colour in the body. In 2006 the Canucks officially abandoned their gradient red alternate jerseys and replaced them with the popular retro stick and rink blue uniforms from the 1970s.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of February 6, 2007. [3]

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
1970-71 78 24 46 8 — 56 229 296 1371 6th, East Did not qualify
1971-72 78 20 50 8 — 48 203 297 1092 7th, East Did not qualify
1972-73 78 22 47 9 — 53 233 339 943 7th, East Did not qualify
1973-74 78 14 43 11 — 39 224 296 952 7th, East Did not qualify
1974-75 80 38 32 10 — 86 271 254 965 1st, Smythe Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1975-76 80 33 32 15 — 81 271 272 1122 2nd, Smythe Lost in Preliminary Round, 0-2 (Islanders)
1976-77 80 25 42 13 — 63 235 294 1078 4th, Smythe Did not qualify
1977-78 80 20 43 17 — 57 239 320 962 3rd, Smythe Did not qualify
1978-79 80 25 42 13 — 63 217 291 1134 2nd in Smythe Lost in Preliminary Round, 1-2 (Flyers)
1979-80 80 27 37 16 — 70 256 281 1808 3rd, Smythe Lost in Preliminary Round, 1-3 (Sabres)
1980-81 80 28 32 20 — 76 289 301 1892 2nd, Smythe Lost in Preliminary Round, 0-3 (Sabres)
1981-82 80 30 33 17 — 77 290 286 1840 2nd, Smythe Won in Division Semifinals, 3-0 (Flames)
Won in Division Finals, 4-1 (Kings)
Won in Conference Finals, 4-1 (Black Hawks)
Lost in Finals, 0-4 (Islanders)
1982-83 80 30 35 15 — 75 303 309 1639 3rd, Smythe Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-3 (Flames)
1983-84 80 32 39 9 — 73 306 328 1474 3rd, Smythe Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-3 (Flames)
1984-85 80 25 46 9 — 59 284 401 1451 5th, Smythe Did not qualify
1985-86 80 23 44 13 — 59 282 333 1813 4th, Smythe Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-3 (Oilers)
1986-87 80 29 43 8 — 66 282 314 1917 5th, Smythe Did not qualify
1987-88 80 25 46 9 — 59 272 320 2196 5th, Smythe Did not qualify
1988-89 80 33 39 8 — 74 251 253 1569 4th, Smythe Lost in Division Semifinals, 3-4 (Flames)
1989-90 80 25 41 14 — 64 245 306 1644 5th, Smythe Did not qualify
1990-91 80 28 43 9 — 65 243 315 2063 4th, Smythe Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-4 (Kings)
1991-92 80 42 26 12 — 96 285 250 2075 1st, Smythe Won in Division Semifinals, 4-3 (Jets)
Lost in Division Finals, 2-4 (Oilers)
1992-93 84 46 29 9 — 101 346 278 2326 1st, Smythe Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Jets)
Lost in Division Finals, 2-4 (Kings)
1993-94 84 41 40 3 — 85 279 276 1923 2nd, Pacific Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-3 (Flames)
Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-1 (Stars)
Won in Conference Finals, 4-1 (Maple Leafs)
Lost in Finals, 3-4 (Rangers)
1994-951 48 18 18 12 — 48 153 148 1093 2nd, Pacific Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-3 (Blues)
Lost in Conference Semifinals, 0-4 (Blackhawks)
1995-96 82 32 35 15 — 79 278 278 1546 3rd, Pacific Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Avalanche)
1996-97 82 35 40 7 — 77 257 273 1607 4th, Pacific Did not qualify
1997-98 82 25 43 14 — 64 224 273 2166 7th, Pacific Did not qualify
1998-99 82 23 47 12 — 58 192 258 1764 4th, Northwest Did not qualify
1999-00 82 30 29 15 8 83 227 237 1047 3rd, Northwest Did not qualify
2000-01 82 36 28 11 7 90 239 238 1113 3rd, Northwest Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Avalanche)
2001-02 82 42 30 7 3 94 254 211 1342 2nd, Northwest Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Red Wings)
2002-03 82 45 23 13 1 104 264 208 1178 2nd, Northwest Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-3 (Blues)
Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3-4 (Wild