In June 1988, Nelson Skalbania attempted to broker a deal with his friend, Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington to acquire Wayne Gretzky for the Canucks.
Pat Quinn played a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Vancouver Canucks by selecting Trevor Linden with the second overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft.
His strategic approach to team building, which had started with key transactions during the previous offseason, continued as he sought to strengthen the Canucks through further trades and acquisitions.
The Canucks only had to part with a third-round pick in 1989 (Veli-Pekka Kautonen) to sign the veterans Paul Reinhart and Steve Bozek from Calgary on September 6.
The following day, defenseman Robert Nordmark and a 1989 second-round pick (Craig Darby) were traded from St. Louis in exchange for Dave Richter.
Combined with solid netminding from Kirk McLean and Steve Weeks, only powerhouses Montreal and Calgary would surrender fewer goals than the Canucks that season.
With Garth Butcher, Rich Sutter, Stan Smyl, Jim Sandlak, Ronnie Stern, Darryl Stanley, and Snepsts in the line-up, Vancouver was suddenly a not-so-pleasant stop on a western road trip.
[citation needed] The Canucks went 6-1-1 in the pre-season and on an early-season visit to Edmonton ended a three-year, 27-game winless streak against the Oilers with a 6–2 victory.
Both Tony Tanti (47 points) and Stan Smyl (25) had big drop-offs in production and, by association, so did Greg D. Adams (33) and Barry Pederson (41).
Jim Sandlak was the hero in the seventh win, a tight-checking game against Toronto that was played in front of a packed house and a national television audience.
His rebound goal with 18 seconds to play in overtime off of a Snepsts point shot after an offensive-zone face-off win by Linden sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
Don Cherry hopped on the Canucks bandwagon and on Coach's Corner wore a button declaring "I vote Trevor Linden NHL Rookie-of-the-Year 1989".
The Canucks secured a playoff spot on March 23 and threatened to overtake Edmonton for third place in the Smythe before tapering off in the last couple of weeks.
At the 2:33 mark of the extra frame, ex-Flame Paul Reinhart exacted revenge on the team that was so quick to part with him by sending a wrist shot through traffic over Mike Vernon's left shoulder.
Early in the second, with Rob Ramage off for high-sticking Rich Sutter, Trevor Linden unleashed a powerful shot that beat Vernon to tie the game.
Seconds later, Joe Mullen's shot toward the net hit the skate of Harold Snepsts and directed through McLean's legs to give the lead back to Calgary with a period to play.
In the final minute of regulation time, a screened Vernon made a quick glove save off of Greg D. Adams to preserve the tie.
Mullen made a move to put McLean down and out, but they young netminder flung his goal-stick out in desperation and knocked the puck away at the goal line.