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 the PCHL championship in only their second 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, Don Cherry and Phil Maloney, the Canucks won the Lester Patrick Cup in 1958, 1960, 1969 and 1970.

In 1965, when the NHL announced plans to expand to six additional markets (soon to be known as the Expansion Six), the WHL's Canucks owner 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 Chicago Blackhawks owner James Norris and Toronto Maple Leafs 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 team, was built on the grounds of the Vancouver Exhibition.



In 1970, another Vancouver ownership group bought the minor-league Canucks and, after much negotiating, the Canucks joined the NHL for the price of $6 million. Interestingly, the Canucks were placed in the East Division to maintain parity between the two divisions.

Although they had a few decent players such as ex-Ranger center Orland Kurtenbach and defencemen Dale Tallon, the team failed to make the playoffs their first four seasons, placing no better than sixth in its division from 1970-71 to 1973-74.

Realignment in the 1975 season placed the Canucks in the new Smythe Division. Guided Head coach Phil Maloney, the Canucks had their first winning season, finishing first in the division, taking the divison title. They would have a winning record, and make the playoffs the season following, but slip back into losing ways the next two seasons thereafter. The Canucks lost in the first round of the 1975 playoffs, and they again fell in the first round in 1976, 1979, 1980, and 1981. In that time, their best players were slick playmaker Andre Boudrias, who finished first in team scoring four out of the franchises first five seasons (and finish second by a single point in the other), forward Don Lever, and Dennis Kearns, to this day the leading scoring defenceman in franchise history



From 1982 to 1991 Vancouver reached the playoffs five times, again losing in the first round each year. Star players of this period included right wing Stan Smyl, center Patrik Sundstrom, right wing Tony Tanti, and center Trevor Linden. After 13 seasons in Vancouver including eight years as team captain Smyl retired in 1991 as the Canucks career leader in points, goals, assists, and games.

In both the 1991-92 and the 1992-93 seasons, head coach Pat Quinn piloted the Canucks to division crowns, but both years the team was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. In the 1991-92 season Quinn received the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, right wing Pavel Bure (nicknamed the Russian Rocket) earned the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHLs rookie of the year, and goalie Kirk McLean ranked first in the league in shutouts.

In 1994 the Canucks made their second trip to the Stanely Cup finals, entering the series 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 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 Kirk McLean 52-save performance. The Canucks lost Game Seven in the finals by an identical score of 3-2. Craig MacTavish, who would later coach the 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.

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 were hopeful that the superstar would lead their team to the Cup, but it was not 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 year, however, saw a rebirth in the team that laid the foundations for team 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.



With a new general manager, Brian Burke, and coach Marc Crawford, who had won a Stanley Cup with the 1996 Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver rebuilt their team and returned to the playoffs in 2000-01.



The 2001-02 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 captain Markus Näslund, Todd Bertuzzi, centre Brendan Morrison, defenceman Ed Jovanovski, defenceman Mattias Ohlund, defenceman Sami Salo, 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.




LEFT TO RIGHT: Garth Snow, Alex Auld and Arturs Irbe

It was Brian Burke who coined the phrase Goaltender Graveyard when referring to the Canucks long-standing history of having troubles between the pipes.


39 Dan Cloutier: Tampa Bay Lightning traded for Adrian Aucoin and Canucks 2nd round pick (Alexander Polushin) in 2001.

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 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 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 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 hiring, when Nonis completed a blockbuster trade with the Florida Panthers, trading Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld for Roberto Luongo, Luká-- Krají--ek and a 6th 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. Luongo's stallar play have led many fans to believe the Canucks Goaltender Graveyard days are over and a Stanley Cup may be on the horizon.






LEFT: 2005-06 Season Highlights RIGHT: 2006-07 Season Highlights

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.



TEAM CAPTAINS:
Orland Kurtenbach (1970 - 1974)
Andre Boudrias (1975 - 1976)
Chris Oddleifson (1976 - 1977)
Don Lever (1977 - 1979)
Kevin McCarthy (1979 - 1982)
Stan Smyl (1982 - 1990)
Dan Quinn (1990)
Doug Lidster (1990)
Trevor Linden (1990 - 1997)
Mark Messier (1997 - 2000)
Markus Naslund (2000 - present)



RETIRED NUMBERS:
12. Stan Syml


CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS:

2 - 1982 (Campbell), 1994 (Western)


DIVISON CHAMPIONS:
4 - 1975 (Smythe), 1992 (Smythe), 1993 (Smythe), 2004 (Northwest)


PLAYOFF APPEARANCES:
20 - 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004


2003 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFSS



2004 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS



HALL OF FAMERS:
Centre - Andy Bathgate (1952-54, 1968-70) ::: Inducted in 1978
Goaltender - Lorne 'Gump' Worsley (1953-54) ::: Inducted in 1980
Goaltender - Johnny Bower (1954-55) ::: Inducted in 1976
Goaltender - Tony Esposito (1967-68) ::: Inducted in 1988
Right Wing - Cam Neely (1983-86) ::: Inducted in 2005

FRANCHISE RECORDS:

Most Goals in a season: Pavel Bure (60 Goals, 1992-93 and 1993-94)
Most Assists in one season: Andre Boudrias (62 Assists, 1974-75)
Most Points in a season: Pavel Bure (110 Points, 1992-93)
Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Donald Brashear (372 PIM, 1997-98)
Most Points in a season by a Defenceman: Doug Lidster (63 Points, 1986-87)
Most Points in a season by a Rookie: Ivan Hlinka; Pavel Bure (60 Points, 1981-82; 1991-92)
Most Wins in a season: Kirk McLean, 38 (1991-92); Roberto Luongo, 38 (2006-2007)
Most Shutouts in a season: Dan Cloutier (7 Shutouts, 2002-03)
Lowest GAA in a season: Dan Cloutier (2.27 GAA, 2003-04)
Best SVP% in a season: Dan Cloutier (.914 SVP, 2003-04)