Kevin Biestra Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 I hear a lot of talk about overrating defensemen around here and even hear talk of some very underrated d-men being overrated. Let's give these guys their due, once and for all... 1. Doug Lidster. His 63 points from the blueline in one season still stand as a Canucks record 30 years later. We sent him packing and he won two Stanley Cups with two different teams. 2. Dave Babych. Still the only Canucks d-man to ever score a hat trick, and over 700 points from the blueline in his career. That was top 20 all-time in NHL history at the time he retired, if I recall correctly. Guaranteed top-25. 3. Dana Murzyn. I don't know how he can be overrated if he is universally regarded as a pylon? Notable part of the Cup winning Calgary team in '89, notable part of the '94 Cup final team with the Canucks. People are calling him overrated even now, when I have yet to read a kind word on this forum. 4. Rick Lanz. Rick who? Exactly. Two 50+ point seasons for us on the blueline, and a third with 48. We sent him packing for Jim Benning. 5. Doug Halward. Doug Who? Exactly. 52 points for us in 1982-83. 6. Kevin McCarthy. Our captain in 1982 before he went down with injury and Stan Smyl led us to the final (co-piloted for Richard Brodeur, that is). Four 40-point seasons on the blueline for us, and 53 points in 1980-81. 7. Dale Tallon. Hated on because he wasn't Gilbert Perreault, just like Barry Pederson was hated on for not being Cam Neely. Both were very good contributors as Canucks. Tallon scored 56 points on the blueline for us one year (as a rookie defenseman), and got 62 one season for the Blackhawks after we traded him. 8. Dennis Kearns. 51, 60 and 47 points in three straight seasons for us on the blueline. 9. Robert Dirk. Robert who? The throw-in for the Ronning / Courtnall trade ended up being important and reliable defensive depth for the 1994 run. We would have loved to have him for Game 7 against Boston. 10. Mario Marois. We had him for 50 games early in his career and gave up on him. He ended up playing 955 games in the NHL as a reliable blueliner that was an asset to every team he played for, like the Mike Sillinger of defensemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salacious Crumb Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Harold Snepsts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 11 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said: 7. Dale Tallon. Hated on because he wasn't Gilbert Perreault, just like Barry Pederson was hated on for not being Cam Neely. Both were very good contributors as Canucks. Tallon scored 56 points on the blueline for us one year (as a rookie defenseman), and got 62 one season for the Blackhawks after we traded him. Screwing around with his development (constantly switching him from defenseman to forward & back again, rinse repeat) didn't help. 4 minutes ago, Salacious Crumb said: Harold Snepsts. Yeah I still hold that 1982 pass to Mike Bossy against him; I should be willing to overlook that for the ENTIRE body of work he did for the franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 paul reinhart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Just now, smithers joe said: paul reinhart. Carried the team pretty much one season. Flames only dealt him to us because they thought he was completely out of gas. Trade almost came & bit them in the butt as we almost upset the Flames in the post-season (with large help from Reinhart). Even on his last legs, I'd say he was one of the most talented D to wear a Canuck uniform (that's how good he was). Still had the stench of Flames on him though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Jyrki Lumme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysACanuckFan Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Adrian Aucoin Aucoin established himself as a significant offensive threat, especially on the power-play where he rose from just 3 goals in 1997 1998 to 23 the next season, where 18 of them came on the power-play. In addition to leading all league defencemen in goals and power-play goals in the 1998 1999 season, he also led all defencemen in shorthanded goals (2) and game-winning goals (3). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 8 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: Carried the team pretty much one season. Flames only dealt him to us because they thought he was completely out of gas. Trade almost came & bit them in the butt as we almost upset the Flames in the post-season (with large help from Reinhart). Even on his last legs, I'd say he was one of the most talented D to wear a Canuck uniform (that's how good he was). Still had the stench of Flames on him though i agree, not a flames fan but a reinhart/ macinnis fan.. paul played 2 seasons with us before he retired and has given the nhl or hockey 3 sons. imo, he was the most talented d-man to play here. he could thread a pass through several opponents to a streaking team mate with such precision. a joy to watch. i'm glad i was around to watch him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
189lb enforcers? Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Gerald Diduck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yes we can nucks Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Willie Mitchell. Tough, honest hardworking player. I miss his big heart and his long stick. He was underappreciated here and not re-signed He goes to LA and wins two cups. We sure could've used him on our cup run! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera82 Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 17 minutes ago, yes we can nucks said: Willie Mitchell. Tough, honest hardworking player. I miss his big heart and his long stick. He was underappreciated here and not re-signed He goes to LA and wins two cups. We sure could've used him on our cup run! I drove up to Port McNeil to see him with the cup in 2012 and he was a hell of a nice guy too. I would've rather we kept him here but in a way I'm glad he left because I'm not sure he would've enjoyed the same kind of success had he stayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillipBlunt Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Keith Ballard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pernell Karl Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Lukas Krajicek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Nirvanagut Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Lumme was an early childhood favorite. I know absolutely nothing about pre-90s Canucks defensemen other than trading cards and older fan's stories, so I cannot say much about some of these names. I remember wanting Bryan McCabe to become a big thing for the team when he came over with Bertuzzi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said: I hear a lot of talk about overrating defensemen around here and even hear talk of some very underrated d-men being overrated. Let's give these guys their due, once and for all... 1. Doug Lidster. His 63 points from the blueline in one season still stand as a Canucks record 30 years later. We sent him packing and he won two Stanley Cups with two different teams. 2. Dave Babych. Still the only Canucks d-man to ever score a hat trick, and over 700 points from the blueline in his career. That was top 20 all-time in NHL history at the time he retired, if I recall correctly. Guaranteed top-25. 3. Dana Murzyn. I don't know how he can be overrated if he is universally regarded as a pylon? Notable part of the Cup winning Calgary team in '89, notable part of the '94 Cup final team with the Canucks. People are calling him overrated even now, when I have yet to read a kind word on this forum. 4. Rick Lanz. Rick who? Exactly. Two 50+ point seasons for us on the blueline, and a third with 48. We sent him packing for Jim Benning. 5. Doug Halward. Doug Who? Exactly. 52 points for us in 1982-83. 6. Kevin McCarthy. Our captain in 1982 before he went down with injury and Stan Smyl led us to the final (co-piloted for Richard Brodeur, that is). Four 40-point seasons on the blueline for us, and 53 points in 1980-81. 7. Dale Tallon. Hated on because he wasn't Gilbert Perreault, just like Barry Pederson was hated on for not being Cam Neely. Both were very good contributors as Canucks. Tallon scored 56 points on the blueline for us one year (as a rookie defenseman), and got 62 one season for the Blackhawks after we traded him. 8. Dennis Kearns. 51, 60 and 47 points in three straight seasons for us on the blueline. 9. Robert Dirk. Robert who? The throw-in for the Ronning / Courtnall trade ended up being important and reliable defensive depth for the 1994 run. We would have loved to have him for Game 7 against Boston. 10. Mario Marois. We had him for 50 games early in his career and gave up on him. He ended up playing 955 games in the NHL as a reliable blueliner that was an asset to every team he played for, like the Mike Sillinger of defensemen. Robert Dirk. Remember him well wasn't he a Kelowna boy? Big body solid defensive defenseman who back in those days could dance when Calgary came to town and things got rough. Good post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Jeff Brown and his philandering ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nazzymx Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Brent Sopel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HC20.0 Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Definitely Willie Mitchell. One of the best and toughest defensive defensemen we've ever had. Dude bled our colours. Marek Malik comes to mind. Not the greatest defensemen, but still did okay at his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 14 minutes ago, theminister said: Jeff Brown and his philandering ways. kirk mclean says hi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 30 minutes ago, zzbottom said: Lumme was an early childhood favorite. I know absolutely nothing about pre-90s Canucks defensemen other than trading cards and older fan's stories, so I cannot say much about some of these names. I remember wanting Bryan McCabe to become a big thing for the team when he came over with Bertuzzi. Asset-wise, he became something extraordinary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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