25 days of Canuckmas

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

 

 

Sorry, no car pictures.  

[Coconuts]

One of the last lean days up until Christmas, not as many have worn 13

 

Might just keep this going til the 31st

 

On the thirteen day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Lars Lindgren 1979-1984
Sergei Nemchinov 1997
Artem Chubarov 2000-2004
Mats Sundin 2009
Matt Pettinger 2010
Raffi Torres 2011
Jeremy Welsh 2014
Nick Bonino 2015
Griffen Molino 2017
Brendan Leipsic 2018
Jayce Hawryluk 2021

[Coconuts]

Canucks legend Mats Sundin was a beaut

[Coconuts]

7 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

 

 

Loves Torres while he was here 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

1 minute ago, Coconuts said:

 

Loves Torres while he was here 

Yeah, he was a gooder.  

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

On the 12th day of Canuckmas the Canucklore gave to me...

 

On the 13th day of Canuckmas the Canucklore gave to me...

[Kevin Biestra]

5 hours ago, Coconuts said:

On the thirteen day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Lars Lindgren 1979-1984
Sergei Nemchinov 1997

 

 

Just a few words off the top of my head about these two guys...  Lindgren was one of our best defensemen over the first 20 years of the Canucks' existence.  Not quite up there with Snepsts, Halward, McCarthy, etc. but very respectable and got votes for the post-season All Star Team one year.  He was a significant piece in the 1982 Cup run and I think he retired fairly near the top at the time for career numbers on the Canucks blueline.  Even today those career records are still pretty modest but Lindgren was a notable figure in the first two decades of the Canucks' existence.  Traded him to Minnesota as his career wound down around age 30 and he was part of a pretty decent playoff run for the North Stars in 1984 (made it to the Stanley Cup semifinal but ran into Gretzky's Oilers).

 

Sergei Nemchinov...a 30 goal rookie in the early 90s.  In fact almost exactly matched Trevor Linden's rookie year.  I think Linden was 30 goals and 29 assists while Nemchinov was 30 and 28.  I think he was disqualified for Calder Trophy consideration due to the Makarov rule but otherwise he would have surely received some votes.  He was part of the Rangers team that beat us in the Cup final in 1994.  Then joined us as a layover on his way to the second half of his career with the Devils and another Stanley Cup.

 

[Kevin Biestra]

5 hours ago, Coconuts said:

One of the last lean days up until Christmas, not as many have worn 13

 

Might just keep this going til the 31st.

 

 

I say keep going until December 35th.

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

On 12/1/2023 at 5:34 PM, Coconuts said:

On the first day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me.. 

 

Charlie Hodge 1971
Dunc Wilson 1972-1973
Gary Smith 1974-1976
Murray Bannerman 1978
Glen Hanlon 1978-1982
Wendell Young 1986-1987
Sean Burke 1998

 

 

I got to the thread a little late and didn't really get involved early but there are some #1s that I wouldn't mind saying a few things about...even if a little belated.  Charlie Hodge was a legend.  He's up there with someone like Michel "Bunny" Larocque and Glenn Resch as among the all time great 1B goalies.  Hodge split starting duties with Dunc Wilson in the Canucks' first ever season in 1970-71.  On an expansion team with a massive losing record, Hodge actually managed a winning record for the season (and his Canucks career).  For the first 20 years of the Canucks' existence I think he and John Garrett were the only goalies with a career winning record in a Canucks jersey.  Hodge won two Vezina trophies and was twice a 2nd Team All Star as the second best goalie in the entire NHL.  The Canucks were lucky to have a guy of this stature on the roster to start things out.

 

Dunc Wilson...  He switched to #1 himself after his goaltending partner Charlie Hodge left.  Dunc passed away recently.  He was just rained on by pucks year after year at the start as the Canucks got mostly shelled and assailed by superior opposition.  Dunc was one of the first Canucks to "come back home" for the end of his career like Harold Snepsts and Trevor Linden, returning as the backup in the late 70s.  Dunc was 4th in voting for the postseason All Star Team in 1976-77, in other words, the 4th best goalie in the NHL that year.

 

Gary Smith...  Hopefully people know of him to some degree after all these years.  First Canuck goalie to play 70 games in a season.  Singlehandedly got them to the playoffs and a division title in 1974-75 and won them their first ever playoff game against the mighty Canadiens.  I think he was 4th or 5th in voting for the Hart Trophy that year and probably would have finished higher if he had been on an eastern team.

 

Murray Bannerman...  I believe he only played 20 minutes in his Canucks career before we traded him.  He went on to be a Vezina finalist in the early 80s and shared netminding duties with the legend Tony Esposito when we beat the Blackhawks in the third round in 1982 to advance to play the Islanders dynasty in the final.  Very good goalie whose name is mostly forgotten now.

 

Glen Hanlon...  Terrific goalie and longtime legit NHL starter after leaving Vancouver.  Got Vezina Trophy and postseason All Star Team votes several seasons including 1979-80 as a Canuck.  Was also 6th for the Calder Trophy as a Canuck in 1978-79.  When the Canucks acquired Richard Brodeur in goal, Hanlon became redundant and he was traded but went on to have an excellent career with the Rangers and Red Wings and later became a pretty good NHL head coach.

 

Wendell Young...  A forgotten name for the most part now but he started out as a backup in Vancouver and became a starting goalie in Pittsburgh.

 

Sean Burke...  Had a rough patch in his brief stay in Vancouver but in terms of career numbers isn't too far from the Hall of Fame.  If there's something people probably wouldn't learn about him now it's that he was "Canada's goalie" back in the late 80s and early 90s, constantly representing Canada at the Olympics and World Championships back when doing so was more about patriotism than going to a prestige event.  He also (along with former Canuck Patrik Sundstrom) pretty much took the team on his back (their two backs) and took the Cinderella underdog New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup semifinal in 1988.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Kevin Biestra

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

 

 

 

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

 

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

 

 

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

What I know that comes to mind of the #14s of the day...

 

Just a note that I said what I could think of about Chris Oddleifson, Bobby Schmautz, Tony Tanti and Moe Lemay when they came up earlier wearing different numbers.

 

BLAIR MACDONALD...  We acquired him in the early 80s and he was a spare part for the 1982 run the way Jimmy Carson was in the 1994 run.  Blair was actually an excellent player, a 2nd Team WHA All Star with the Edmonton Oilers before the WHA and NHL merged and then a 94 point season with the Oilers in the NHL.  He was a longtime Oiler going all the way back to 1973-74 in the WHA which I think was their second year of existence.  At the time he was one of the most skilled players to ever have worn a Canucks jersey, brief as his Canucks career was and it being at the tail end of his playing days.

 

DOUG WICKENHEISER...  Hayley's cousin and the 1st overall NHL draft pick in 1980.  For a long time before the Alexander Daigles and Nail Yakupovs of the world he was considered the first name that came to mind as a first overall bust but he was a decent player.  Topped out at 25 goals and 55 points for the Canadiens which is very modest for a first overall pick but also a pretty good player by any other standard.  Was also decent with the Blues including when they got to round three of the playoffs in 1986 and took Calgary to seven games.  He died of cancer in his thirties...wow can't believe it's over 20 years ago now.

 

STEVE BOZEK...  A pretty good Canuck and Flame but an excellent Los Angeles King.  The main thing I remember about Bozek is that he was a big part of the Miracle on Manchester in the 1982 playoffs against Gretzky's Oilers where the Kings mounted an insane comeback in game 3 that was the difference in winning the series and eliminating Edmonton.  The Oilers were up 5-0 after two periods and with twenty minutes left...the Kings scored five goals in the third period to tie the game and then won it in overtime.  Bozek was in on at least a couple of the goals.  We faced the Kings in the next round.  That was also Bozek's rookie year and he scored 33 goals that season.  He would have probably received some Calder Trophy talk but that was the year Dale Hawerchuk scored over 100 points as a rookie.

 

GEOFF COURTNALL...  I don't think I have much to add about Geoff Courtnall that most people don't know.  I'll just say that I remember once when Cliff Ronning was asked who was the best teammate he ever had during his career, he said Geoff Courtnall.  And I don't know if they're still together but Geoff was going out with Sarah McLachlan for quite a while.

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Kevin Biestra

[Coconuts]

Late but not forgotten 

 

On the fourteenth day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Bob Cook 1971
Bobby Schmautz 1971-1972
Jim Wiste 1971
John Wright 1973-1974
Peter Folco 1974
Dennis McCord 1974
Dan Seguin 1974
Steve Stone 1974
Chris Oddleifson 1975-1981
Blair MacDonald 1981-1983
Moe Lemay 1983-1987
Tony Tanti 1983
Jere Gillis 1984
Raimo Summanen 1987-1988
Doug Wickenheiser 1988
Steve Bozek 1989-1991
Geoff Courtnall 1992-1995
Jesse Bélanger 1996
Lonny Bohonos 1996-1998
Larry Courville 1996
Darby Hendrickson 1999-2000
Josh Holden 1999
Scott Lachance 2001-2002
Brandon Reid 2003-2004
Geoff Sanderson 2004
Alexandre Burrows 2006-2017

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/report-former-nhler-reid-boucher-sentenced-closed-court-sexual-assault-case/

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by 6of1_halfdozenofother

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Not sure why that last photo just won't go away.  The perils of posting using my tablet; I'll try to edit it when I get on my computer later. 

 

Stray photo at the end removed.  Finally.  

Edited December 15, 2023 by 6of1_halfdozenofother

[Coconuts]

Lot more names today

 

On the fifteenth day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Rosaire Paiement 1971-1972
Paulin Bordeleau 1974-1976
Hilliard Graves 1977-1979
Brent Ashton 1980-1981
Neil Belland 1982-1984
J.J. Daigneault 1985-1986
Rich Sutter 1987-1990
Adrien Plavsic 1990-1991
Tom Fergus 1992-1993
John McIntyre 1994-1995
Jim Dowd 1996
Dave Gagner 1999
Peter Schaefer 1999
Harold Druken 2000-2001
Drake Berehowsky 2002
Todd Warriner 2002-2003
Pat Kavanagh 2003-2004
Sean Pronger 2004
Rick Rypien 2006-2007
Byron Ritchie 2008
Mike Brown 2009
Tanner Glass 2010-2011
Marco Sturm 2012
Derek Roy 2013
Aaron Volpatti 2013
Brad Richardson 2014-2022
Derek Dorsett 2016-2018
Reid Boucher 2018
Ryan Spooner 2019
Matthew Highmore 2021-2022
Sheldon Dries 2023

[Coconuts]

Not gonna lie, I was surprised to see Rich Sutter's name, didn't know we'd had a Sutter family member prior to Brandon 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

3 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

Not gonna lie, I was surprised to see Rich Sutter's name, didn't know we'd had a Sutter family member prior to Brandon 

 

Wasn't (isn't) he a scout for the team?  Seems like that's what many players do after they retire from the league - join a former team and do something with them (whether it's scouting, coaching, or management).

[Kevin Biestra]

2 hours ago, Coconuts said:

On the fifteenth day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Rosaire Paiement 1971-1972
Paulin Bordeleau 1974-1976
Brent Ashton 1980-1981
Neil Belland 1982-1984
J.J. Daigneault 1985-1986
Rich Sutter 1987-1990
Tom Fergus 1992-1993
John McIntyre 1994-1995
Dave Gagner 1999

 

 

Well here's what I have to offer on the #15s of Canuck history...

 

Rosaire Paiement... Was in the running for best player on the team in the first ever Canucks 1970-71 season.  34 goals and 62 points and he might have been at least somewhere in the running for the Calder Trophy if he had played about 10 less games in his few trips up to the NHL in previous years.  Finished out his career in the WHA for a good number of years.  For those who say that the WHA wasn't close to the NHL in competition, Paiement is one of the guys who never scored as many goals in a season in the WHA as he did in the NHL though he was a consistent 20-30 goal and 70 point player in the WHA.

 

Paulin Bordeleau...  Is one of three players who were Vancouver Canucks and were also on the 1976-77 Quebec Nordiques that won the WHA's Stanley Cup (the AVCO Cup) by defeating Bobby Hull and the Winnipeg Jets in the final.  The other two were former Canucks captain Andre Boudrias and future Canucks goalie Richard Brodeur who would take the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final in 1982.  Bordeleau had a terrific 42 goal / 83 point season for the Nordiques in that AVCO Cup year.

 

Brent Ashton...  Was kind of like the original Mike Sillinger in terms of bouncing around the league from team to team but he was a more skilled player.  Ashton topped out at 40 goals and 75 points in 1986-87 and was voted the 7th best left wing in the league by the professionals.  He was really good in the playoffs for Detroit in the 80s...almost a point a game both playoffs as they got to round three in back to back years (and then ran into Gretzky and friends).  Played 998 career games...had almost 300 goals and well over 600 points.

 

JJ Daigneault...  That guy bounced around a lot too.  10 different teams I think...stuck around in Montreal for a good number of seasons and was part of the 1993 Stanley Cup team.

 

Neil Belland...  Solid depth defenseman for the Canucks' 1982 Stanley Cup run.  Stepped in admirably and had 8 points in all 17 playoff games for the Canucks that year when arguably the team's top two defensemen were injured and missed the entire playoffs.

 

Rich Sutter...  Probably the least offensively gifted of all the Sutters but he was our Sutter and that was the Canuck way...hard work.  The guy was a grinder, the original "unsung hero" of the Canucks in the 80s.

 

Tom Fergus...  Just a brief stop in Vancouver but he was quite a good player in Toronto back in the Rick Vaive / Bill Derlago / John Anderson days.  Had a couple 70 point seasons and several more 50 and 60 point years.

 

John McIntyre...  The team's defensive forward specialist for the 1994 run to the final.  And when I say defensive specialist, I mean one point (an assist) while playing all 24 of the team's playoff games that year.  Never left the lineup.  Pat Quinn just put him to work to do the unglamorous stuff so Bure could jump over the boards and do the glamorous stuff.

 

Dave Gagner...  We just had him briefly at the end of his career but he was a great player for the Minnesota North Stars.  Over 900 games, 300 goals and 700 points.  He was a big part of the 1991 North Stars team that went to the Cup final against Mario's Penguins.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Kevin Biestra

[Coconuts]

4 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

Wasn't (isn't) he a scout for the team?  Seems like that's what many players do after they retire from the league - join a former team and do something with them (whether it's scouting, coaching, or management).

 

Apparently he's a hockey analyst for Rogers

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

1 hour ago, Coconuts said:

Lot more names today

 

On the fifteenth day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Rosaire Paiement 1971-1972
Paulin Bordeleau 1974-1976
Hilliard Graves 1977-1979
Brent Ashton 1980-1981
Neil Belland 1982-1984
J.J. Daigneault 1985-1986
Rich Sutter 1987-1990
Adrien Plavsic 1990-1991
Tom Fergus 1992-1993
John McIntyre 1994-1995
Jim Dowd 1996
Dave Gagner 1999
Peter Schaefer 1999
Harold Druken 2000-2001
Drake Berehowsky 2002
Todd Warriner 2002-2003
Pat Kavanagh 2003-2004
Sean Pronger 2004
Rick Rypien 2006-2007
Byron Ritchie 2008
Mike Brown 2009
Tanner Glass 2010-2011
Marco Sturm 2012
Derek Roy 2013
Aaron Volpatti 2013
Brad Richardson 2014-2022
Derek Dorsett 2016-2018
Reid Boucher 2018
Ryan Spooner 2019
Matthew Highmore 2021-2022
Sheldon Dries 2023

 

Of that list, I couldn't find a photo of Drake Berehowsky in Canucks #15, so unicorn it is!  

[Coconuts]

5 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

Of that list, I couldn't find a photo of Drake Berehowsky in Canucks #15, so unicorn it is!  

 

That's an odd one, 2002 wasn't even that long ago

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

10 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

 

That's an odd one, 2002 wasn't even that long ago

 

The ones of him that I could find for Berehowsky in Canucks colours was while he was wearing 17.  I'm guessing his time as #15 was a very short, temporary measure.