History of the Vancouver Canucks

Speculation long abounded afterwards that the bid was hindered by Toronto Maple Leafs president Stafford Smythe; after a failed Vancouver-based business deal, he was quoted as saying that the city would not get an NHL franchise in his lifetime.

Another group, headed by Minnesota entrepreneur Tom Scallen,[citation needed] made a new presentation, and was awarded an expansion franchise for the price of $6 million (three times the cost in 1967).

[8] Among the other players chosen by Vancouver were centre Orland Kurtenbach, who was named the Canucks' first-ever captain;[9] as well as defenceman Pat Quinn, who later became the team's general manager and coach in the 1990s.

They lost the contest 3–1; defenceman Barry Wilkins scored the Canucks' lone goal in the game and first in franchise history, a backhander against goaltender Denis DeJordy.

[13] In an effort to compete in the East, Poile assembled a core of players during this period led by Kurtenbach that included defencemen Tallon and Jocelyn Guevremont, as well as wingers Andre Boudrias and Dennis Ververgaert.

Head coach and general manager Phil Maloney (the third GM in team history after Poile and Hal Laycoe) recalled the importance of a successful season for the Canucks in that year specifically, as they were in direct competition with the Blazers.

[16] The Canucks posted a second consecutive winning record and made the playoffs in 1975–76, but were edged out by the Chicago Black Hawks for the division title and swept by the New York Islanders in a best-of-three preliminary series.

[14] Following the 1976–77 season, Maloney was replaced as general manager by Jake Milford, who acquired such players as Stan Smyl, Thomas Gradin and Richard Brodeur, a core that would lead the team throughout the 1980s.

[19][20] Continuing their success in the playoffs, the Canucks made the Stanley Cup Finals with a combined 11–2 record in series against the Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Black Hawks.

In the final minute of the extra period, Canucks defenceman and fan favourite Harold Snepsts gave the puck away with an errant pass from behind his net, leading to a Mike Bossy goal.

[26] After the installation of former Canucks defenceman Pat Quinn as general manager in the summer of 1987,[27] the team underwent an immediate rebuilding process, trading away core veterans for younger prospects and players.

[28] As the decade turned, a shift in the Canucks' leadership occurred as Stan Smyl resigned his captaincy prior to the 1990–91 season due to a reduced on-ice role with the team.

With the game tied 3–3 in the first overtime, goaltender Kirk McLean made what became known thereafter as "The Save", sliding across the crease feet-first and stacking his pads on the goal line to stop Robert Reichel on a one-timer pass from Theoren Fleury.

The following period, Bure received a breakaway pass from defenceman Jeff Brown before deking Calgary goaltender Mike Vernon to score and win the series.

Fifteen years later, Bure's goal and McLean's save were ranked first and second in a Vancouver Sun article listing the "40 most memorable moments in team history".

[33] Following their victory over the Flames, the Canucks then went on to defeat both the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs (both in five games) en route to the franchise's second Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

[14] Prior to the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, Quinn stepped down as head coach to focus on his managerial duties and was replaced by Rick Ley;[39] Vancouver finished with a .500 record that year.

The Canucks made another significant move in the off-season by acquiring high-scoring Russian forward Alexander Mogilny from the Buffalo Sabres, reuniting Bure with his former CSKA Moscow and national team linemate.

[41] While Mogilny became the second player in team history to record 50 goals and 100 points in a season,[31][42] the expected chemistry between him and Bure never materialized as the latter suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the campaign.

Set on drafting highly touted Swedish forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Burke orchestrated several transactions to move up to the second and third overall picks, with which he chose both players.

After qualifying for the post-season in 2001 and 2002 as the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference (losing to the eventual Stanley Cup winners Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings, respectively),[13] the Canucks became regular contenders for the Northwest Division title.

Coinciding with the team's success in the early 2000s was the rise of captain Markus Naslund and power forward Todd Bertuzzi into high-scoring wingers and NHL All-Stars.

Joined by center Brendan Morrison during the 2001–02 season, the trio were nicknamed the "West Coast Express" (after the Vancouver rail service of the same name) among Canucks fans and media.

[65] The ex-captain returned to a markedly different Canucks team with a young core consisting of the aforementioned trio, defencemen Ed Jovanovski and Mattias Ohlund, as well as goaltender Dan Cloutier.

[13] Amidst a run for the team's first Northwest Division title the following season, the Canucks received significant media attention for their involvement in a violent on-ice attack during a game against the Avalanche.

[14] Head coach Marc Crawford later recalled the campaign as a turning point for the team's offensive leadership as Daniel and Henrik Sedin began their rise to stardom, matching the top line's production.

After Nonis was fired and replaced with former player agent Mike Gillis in April 2008,[86] longtime Canucks captain Markus Naslund, as well as Brendan Morrison, were let go via free agency.

During the second half of the campaign, the Canucks were in a battles for the Western Conference and Presidents' Trophy titles with the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively, widening the gap as the season progressed.

Forced into overtime, winger Alexandre Burrows scored his second goal of the game following a failed clearing attempt by Chicago defenceman Chris Campoli to win the series.

[107] During the contest, the Bruins lost first-line forward Nathan Horton for the remainder of the series when he suffered a serious concussion from a late hit by Canucks defenceman Aaron Rome, who received a four-game suspension as a result.