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Top 50 Canucks of All-Time - #38

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Top 50 Canucks of All-Time - #38  

52 members have voted

  1. 1. Who is the #38 Canuck of All-Time?

    • D. Rota
      13
    • J. Hansen
      14
    • C. Tanev
      11
    • G. Butcher
      4
    • C. Fraser
      1
    • D. Ververgaert
      3
    • G. Smith
      3
    • K. McCarthy
      0
    • R. Lanz
      0
    • I. Larionov
      2

This poll is closed to new votes


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2 hours ago, Rick Blight said:

Curt Fraser does not get enough love in here.

 

For those that can, think back to the opening round of the 1982 playoffs. Vancouver finishes 2 points ahead of their Calgary Flames rival in the regular season and they meet in the opening round in what is considered a pick'em series. Stan Smyl scores 8 seconds into game one in front of a wild Pacific Coliseum crowd. Calgary senses that they need an immediate response to change the momentum and immediately sends out their tough guy, Willi Plett at 6'3" and 200+ lbs, to make that momentum change. Right after the face-off Plett challenges Fraser and Fraser absolutely destroys him.....series is effectively over after 12 seconds into game 1.

 

Fraser was one tough SOB from the day he joined the Canucks and was instrumental in allowing Gradin and Smyl the opportunity to develop their game without worrying about other team goons. He also chipped in with 28 goals and 67 points during that epic 1982 run.

 

The Chicago Blackhawks  were so impressed with his conference finals series against the Hawks that they traded to obtain him the following season. They thought so highly of him that they made this trade.

 

Vancouver Canucks acquire Date Chicago Blackhawks acquire
Vancouver_Canucks.gif Tony Tanti
January 6, 1983
Curt Fraser Chicago_Blackhawks.gif

 

Curt was a beauty.

 

 

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9 hours ago, YEGCanuck said:

What about Malhotra (pardon the spelling? I believe he is player worthy of consideration.

For a player that didn’t play here long he definitely made an impact with the fan base.   But let’s not forget about guys like Murzyn who did anything for this team and was a big part a cup run - and also played for close to a decade for us. Butcher had some big shoes to fill and in a lot of ways Murzyn was the one to fill them.   And when it comes down to players that only had a couple seasons with us Larionov, Reinhart and Tallon are at the top...Maholtra is in the same range as a ton of other guys ... Murray Baron... Klatt...

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25 minutes ago, IBatch said:

For a player that didn’t play here long he definitely made an impact with the fan base.   But let’s not forget about guys like Murzyn who did anything for this team and was a big part a cup run - and also played for close to a decade for us. Butcher had some big shoes to fill and in a lot of ways Murzyn was the one to fill them.   And when it comes down to players that only had a couple seasons with us Larionov, Reinhart and Tallon are at the top...Maholtra is in the same range as a ton of other guys ... Murray Baron... Klatt...

 

Malhotra is among the far better options from the "two seasons or less" crew, but even still I have him just outside the top 100.  I have a lot of respect for Manny, but once his name starts coming up, that means guys that most don't have in their top 50 like Jim Sandlak (>500 games) have been overlooked.  And I have Sandlak in the 70s.

 

I'd certainly have other "short timers" like Ivan Boldirev, Ivan Hlinka, etc. ahead of Malhotra.

 

Murzyn over Malhotra isn't even a contest.  That's not a knock on Manny as a player or even as a leader, where he also contributed.  But if you're gonna knock on the door of the top 50 after only two seasons, at least in my book they need to be phenomenal seasons like Reinhart, include some hardware like Petterson, or set team records like Ivan Hlinka.  Even still, Petterson is the only one I have in the top 50 (and just barely) and Reinhart and Hlinka are in the 50-60 range.

 

Given Malhotra's sample size, I have him more even with guys like Murray Baron, Moe Lemay, Steve Bozek, Brent Sopel, who perhaps weren't quite as impactful but played many more games, and perhaps twice as many.

 

There's nothing wrong with respecting or suggesting Malhotra, but I think if his name comes up in the top fifty, that mostly means there is a lot of undiscovered and interesting history of the Canucks to be explored.

Edited by Kevin Biestra
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16 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Malhotra is among the far better options from the "two seasons or less" crew, but even still I have him just outside the top 100.  I have a lot of respect for Manny, but once his name starts coming up, that means guys that most don't have in their top 50 like Jim Sandlak (>500 games) have been overlooked.  And I have Sandlak in the 70s.

 

I'd certainly have other "short timers" like Ivan Boldirev, Ivan Hlinka, etc. ahead of Malhotra.

 

Murzyn over Malhotra isn't even a contest.  That's not a knock on Manny as a player or even as a leader, where he also contributed.  But if you're gonna knock on the door of the top 50 after only two seasons, at least in my book they need to be phenomenal seasons like Reinhart, include some hardware like Petterson, or set team records like Ivan Hlinka.  Even still, Petterson is the only one I have in the top 50 (and just barely) and Reinhart and Hlinka are in the 50-60 range.

 

Given Malhotra's sample size, I have him more even with guys like Murray Baron, Moe Lemay, Steve Bozek, Brent Sopel, who perhaps weren't quite as impactful but played many more games, and perhaps twice as many.

 

There's nothing wrong with respecting or suggesting Malhotra, but I think if his name comes up in the top fifty, that mostly means there is a lot of undiscovered and interesting history of the Canucks to be explored

Well said.   A lot indeed.   EP is about as good an example as you can get for guys that have only played two or three seasons that should make the top 50...AJs BB nomination is ok - Reinhart and Larionov should go first IMO.. probably Tallon too he played in two all-star games at the start of his career and also garnered Calder consideration.   Maholtra was a fan favourite - so get the love ... once you add one or two years (4-5 years played) the options go way, way up...Fraser is getting some props now and he should.    Of course Tiger who’s already in and Courtnall,  and soon to add to the top 50 Rota and Smith.  Mitchell ... the list is very long. 

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1 hour ago, IBatch said:

Well said.   A lot indeed.   EP is about as good an example as you can get for guys that have only played two or three seasons that should make the top 50...AJs BB nomination is ok - Reinhart and Larionov should go first IMO.. probably Tallon too he played in two all-star games at the start of his career and also garnered Calder consideration.   Maholtra was a fan favourite - so get the love ... once you add one or two years (4-5 years played) the options go way, way up...Fraser is getting some props now and he should.    Of course Tiger who’s already in and Courtnall,  and soon to add to the top 50 Rota and Smith.  Mitchell ... the list is very long. 

 

Yeah I was afraid we'd have trouble getting Gary Smith recognized as the #4 goalie in our history but I'm proud of the CDC crew that he's the name that went up for voting after the big three.

 

I thought it was possible that recency bias might have monkey businessed him all the way behind Miller, Markstrom, Cloutier and Schneider, and I didn't know if newer fans would know the difference between Gary Smith and Maxime Ouellet.

 

The Boeser nomination...  It's not the worst.  I've got him in the 60s and behind Petterson.  Boeser has three seasons, but he's been hurt for a significant part of them and has yet to reach either 30 goals or 60 points.  He has the Calder nomination and All Star MVP under his belt...but if he were to get traded tomorrow or have some contract holdout and go packing like Petr Nedved...I think in 20 years he'd kind of be remembered in the same category as, well...Petr Nedved?  I think Dale Tallon's three seasons as a defenseman were more impressive in the aggregate, and that's exactly where Boeser is in his career.

 

But that said, we haven't had a ton of trophy finalists or All Star MVPs in our history so...it's a little early in my book but not some kind of egregious suggestion.

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3 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

I think Dale Tallon's three seasons as a defenseman were more impressive in the aggregate, and that's exactly where Boeser is in his career.

As far off as we are from being a Cup contender right now, we're still MILES ahead of where we were in the 70-71 season.  That's the type of team Tallon had to put up with in his first (and afterwards) NHL season.  Combine that with Tallon being asked to play as a forward at times (head coach kept changing his mind about where to play him).  Imagine Boeser being asked to play on the blueline (granted that's a FAR tougher task for ANY forward - to shift from forward to D vs the other way around).  And it a was a rougher league back then were even an uber talented player like Bobby Orr had to fight on occasion.  Plus breaking in as a winger is arguably the easiest position to come into the league (vs center, defenseman, or goalie).

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Just now, NewbieCanuckFan said:

As far off as we are from being a Cup contender right now, we're still MILES ahead of where we were in the 70-71 season.  That's the type of team Tallon had to put up with in his first (and afterwards) NHL season.  Combine that with Tallon being asked to play as a forward at times (head coach kept changing his mind about where to play him).  Imagine Boeser being asked to play on the blueline (granted that's a FAR tougher task for ANY forward - to shift from forward to D vs the other way around).  And it a was a rougher league back then were even an uber talented player like Bobby Orr had to fight on occasion.  Plus breaking in as a winger is arguably the easiest position to come into the league (vs center, defenseman, or goalie).

 

Yeah, Tallon kind of gets swept under the rug for not being Gilbert Perreault the way Barry Pederson does for not being Cam Neely.  But they both did impressive things for the team and Tallon was a very Petterson / Boeser / Hughes-like bright spot for the Canucks during tough times.

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8 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

Vote for Gary Smith.  There definitely aren't 38 players that put a team achievement banner up in the rafters on their own shoulders.

 

Nominate Oddleifson.  Nice to see I don't even have to do any work to get Lanz up there.

I voted for Rota but also nominate Oddleifson, all class player and super smooth skill set.

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23 minutes ago, smithers joe said:

when rota played, he was one of the most respected player in the whole league. PG boy.

I think his career ended prematurely from a crosscheck to the back (led to a bad back problem).....course, I'm just going by memory.  I still hear Jim Robson voice saying "the pride of Prince George" in my mind.

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38 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

I think his career ended prematurely from a crosscheck to the back (led to a bad back problem).....course, I'm just going by memory.  I still hear Jim Robson voice saying "the pride of Prince George" in my mind.

 

Rota was still going strong when injury ended his career.  Most of the great 80s Canucks forwards were finished as NHL point producers by age 28 or 29, but Rota was 30 and still on pace for 40 goals.  Take away that premature end to his career and he would have certainly earned a place higher in these rankings.  His career is a real "what if" because he suddenly found an extra gear and scoring touch around 29 or so when most guys back then were really slowing down.

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I missed a couple of threads but I am back to nominate Cloutier again.  He is still one of my favourite goalies that ever played for the Canucks.

 

My evidence:

Set Canuck record for shutouts (later passed by Luongo)
NHL player of the month (4th Canuck in history to do so)
First Canuck goalie to have three consecutive 30 win seasons
Still sits 4th in Canuck career wins, 3rd in shutouts, 3rd in GAA 

 

Although I can't confirm it, I believe he also leads all Canuck goalies in fighting majors.

 

If not for this thread, please consider nominating Cloutier in a future thread.

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18 minutes ago, goalie13 said:

I missed a couple of threads but I am back to nominate Cloutier again.  He is still one of my favourite goalies that ever played for the Canucks.

 

My evidence:

Set Canuck record for shutouts (later passed by Luongo)
NHL player of the month (4th Canuck in history to do so)
First Canuck goalie to have three consecutive 30 win seasons
Still sits 4th in Canuck career wins, 3rd in shutouts, 3rd in GAA 

 

Although I can't confirm it, I believe he also leads all Canuck goalies in fighting majors.

 

If not for this thread, please consider nominating Cloutier in a future thread.

Unfortunately your leaving out his career playoff percentage of .872 - which for any goalie with 25 or more games played is with worst in the 21st century (going back to the 50’s anyways which is as far back as historians have gone for that sort of thing) - by a huge margin.   McLean was better when it counted the most .922/.923 in 94.    Luongo’s first go around with us posted an inhuman .941 ...  I’d have Cloutier the 5th-7th best goalie we have had ...  it’s also why 110 out of 100 fans would say Cloutier was the reason the WCE teams never gained any traction in the post season.   He’s in the Schneider-Markstrom realm...probably between the two simply based on longevity.    Miller was better ...  only once did he post a sp better then the league average and it was marginal.  Elliot would be a decent comparison today - capable of hot runs but not very timely - Emery an even better one given a similar temperament.   
 

Luongo

McLean

Brouduer

Smith

Schneider

Cloutier

Markstrom 

Miller

Edited by IBatch
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Wow neck and neck again.   Threw my hat in with Rota given it’s another one of those one’s and it looks like Hansen is about to make the top 30-40...which is ok I guess - a little early but not over the top (but CDC is sleeping on Lanz and McCarthy a little)...Curiously Tanev is likely the next up too...before one Murzyn nomination...

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2 hours ago, goalie13 said:

I missed a couple of threads but I am back to nominate Cloutier again.  He is still one of my favourite goalies that ever played for the Canucks.

 

My evidence:

Set Canuck record for shutouts (later passed by Luongo)
NHL player of the month (4th Canuck in history to do so)
First Canuck goalie to have three consecutive 30 win seasons
Still sits 4th in Canuck career wins, 3rd in shutouts, 3rd in GAA 

 

Although I can't confirm it, I believe he also leads all Canuck goalies in fighting majors.

 

If not for this thread, please consider nominating Cloutier in a future thread.

I've been nominating him for a while now.  Sure, he wasn't an NHL quality guy in the playoffs, but his tenure brought some much needed stability to the position after the goalie graveyard post-McLean.  Loved his mean streak.

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