[Article] Top 50 Canucks of All-Time – 50-41

[-AJ-]

Thought I'd share my article starting the series of write-ups based on our list of the Top 50 Canucks of All-Time. Read it here for nice formatting: https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2020/05/21/top-50-canucks-of-all-time-50-41/

 

Or if you don't feel like clicking links, I've pasted it here below:

 

Enjoy!

 

Quote

 

Top 50 Canucks of All-Time – 50-41

MAY 21, 2020 / ANDREW SCHROEDER

As some may know, I’m very active and volunteer as a moderator on the forums of Canucks.com and to break up the doldrums of the slow days during our COVID-19 shutdown, I decided to conduct a series of polls to determine the Top 50 Canucks of All-Time as per the opinions of the voters on the forums. The list has been finally finished and I thought it would be fun to do a write up on the final list. Working from 50 down to 1, I’ll cover the list decided upon by voters and although I had a vote in the process as well, I thought I’d share my position for each of the players on our list as well (I prepared a Top 70 list in preparation for the list). I’ll write them up in portions so as not to have one super long article.

We’ll start with our ten honourable mentions and then get going with No. 50-41.

 

Honourable Mention: Matt Cooke | My Rank: 62
The feisty and hard-hitting winger played 566 games as a Canuck and was known for scoring key goals.

 

Honourable Mention: Igor Larionov | My Rank: 49
“The Professor” as he was sometimes known came over to the Canucks after an illustrious career in the USSR and had a breakout year with Vancouver in 1991-92.

 

Honourable Mention: Dana Murzyn | My Rank: Not Ranked
Murzyn spent eight and a half years and 452 games patrolling the back end for Vancouver in the 90s as a steady physical and defensive defenseman.

 

Honourable Mention: Dan Cloutier | My Rank: 55
Cloutier was the netminder in Vancouver during the West Coast Express era and set a record in 2001-02 with seven shutouts that lasted until 2008-09.

 

Honourable Mention: Martin Gelinas | My Rank: 61
Gelinas twice scored 30+ goals as a Canuck, topping out at 35 goals in 1996-97 despite missing six games during the year.

 

Honourable Mention: Rick Rypien | My Rank: Not Ranked
Rypien wasn’t known as much for scoring, but is often considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in Canucks history.

Honourable Mention: Bobby Schmautz | My Rank: 45
Schmautz set a record with 38 goals in 1972-73 that lasted until 1978-79 and also once scored seven goals over two consecutive games.

 

Honourable Mention: Jacob Markstrom | My Rank: 50
Markstrom has been a Canuck since 2014, but has been seeing regular duty since 2015. In 2018-19, he was voted the Canucks MVP and finished 10th in Vezina voting.

 

Honourable Mention: Barry Pederson | My Rank: 47
Pederson had two straight 70+ point seasons for the Canucks in the late 80s, peaking at 76 points in 79 games in 1986-87.

 

Honourable Mention: Ivan Boldirev | My Rank: 48
Boldirev spent a couple of his later years in Vancouver and was particularly good in 1981-82, scoring 73 points in 78 games and 8 goals in 17 playoff games.

 

50. Brock Boeser | My Rank: 42

Despite only three complete seasons, Boeser makes the list at 50th. When a player makes this list with fewer than 200 games, as is the case with Boeser, you know he’s been great during those games. The Canuck winger finished 2nd in Calder voting in 2017-18 and has followed his rookie year up with two very similar seasons for 161 points in 197 games.

 

49. Curt Fraser | My Rank: 52

Drafted by the Canucks in the 2nd round of the 1978 draft, Fraser was an instant fan favourite due to both his ability to fight and score. Fraser peaked in 1981-82 with 28 goals and 67 points to go along with his 175 PIM. In the 1982 playoffs, Fraser scored 10 points in 17 games and had 98 PIM.

 

48. Rick Lanz | My Rank: 41

Lanz played on the blue line of the Canucks for six and a half seasons during the early and mid-80s and is considered by many to be the first true powerplay quarterback defenseman the Canucks ever had. In 1983-84, Lanz scored 18 goals, falling just one short of Doug Halward’s 19 goals, which at the time was the Canuck record for defensemen. Lanz’s 14 powerplay goals as a defenseman, however, were a record and one that lasted 15 years.

 

47. Chris Oddleifson | My Rank: 56

Oddleifson spent almost the entirety of his NHL career in Vancouver in the late 70s, playing 469 of his 524 career games with the Canucks. Oddleifon was a solid, though somewhat unspectacular offensive centreman. He was most known for his playmaking and set the centre record for assists in a season with 46 assists in 1975-76. Oddleifson also served as team captain for one season in 1976-77. Oddleifson retired as a Canuck in 1981.

 

46. Kevin McCarthy | My Rank: 36

Nearly immediately after his arrival from Philadelphia, the 22-year old Kevin McCarthy was named team captain. At this point, only inaugural captain Orland Kurtenbach had served as captain for more than two seasons, but McCarthy would change that, serving as team captain from 1979 until 1982 when Stan Smyl would take over. Despite being a defenseman, McCarthy could easily hit the 40-point mark and has one of the highest points-per-games of any Canuck defenseman with 200+ games. In 1980-81, the captain scored 16 goals and 37 assists for 53 points and even garnered some Norris attention, finishing 15th in Norris voting.

 

45. Gary Smith | My Rank: 37

Smith didn’t last that long in Vancouver, but he was certainly good while he did. From 1973 to 1976, for the first time, the Canucks were competitive and it was in large part due to Smith. Smith played a big role in 1973-74, but it was in 1974-75 that he became magical. Smith led the NHL with 72 games played, set a Canuck record with six shutouts that would last more than 25 years, finish 6th in Hart voting and third in All-Star team voting for goaltenders. He truly was one of the best in the league during that year and brought the Canucks to their first division win and first playoff appearance.

 

44. Elias Pettersson | My Rank: 43

At just 139 games, Pettersson has the fewest games of any player on this list, but any current fan of the Canucks should be able to understand why. Pettersson became Vancouver’s second ever Calder winner in 2019 and followed up his rookie season with another similarly strong year. One particularly thrilling performance came in January 2019 when Pettersson scored a hat-trick including the overtime winner in a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Pettersson has 132 points already in his 139 games.

 

43. Dan Hamhuis | My Rank: 58

Dan Hamhuis may have as well had the nickname “Mr. Reliable” (he didn’t, by the way). While Hamhuis wasn’t known for his offense, he could put up points and while he wasn’t known for his physicality, he could hit hard or even throw the occasional punch. Hamhuis gave everything you could ask for from a defenseman: some offense, some physical play, and most of all, exceptional reliable defense. In 2011-12, Hamhuis scored 37 points and finished 10th in Norris voting and in 2014, he was named to Team Canada for the 2014 Olympics as a 7/8 defenseman. Hamhuis spent six years and 389 games as a Canuck.

 

42. Dennis Ververgaert | My Rank: 34

Drafted third overall by the Canucks in 1973, Ververaert played a significant role in the team’s good years in the mid-70s. Ververgaert finished 4th in Calder voting in 1974 and scored 51 points in 57 games in 1974-75. He had the best season of his career in 1975-76 with 37 goals and 71 points. Ververgaert was known for his strong aggressive playstyle and often powered his way to where he needed to go. Ververgaert spent five and a half years in Vancouver, playing 409 games as a Canuck and scoring 304 points.

 

41. Garth Butcher | My Rank: 53

Garth Butcher was the prototypical defenseman of old-time hockey: big, strong, and mean. Butcher was drafted by the Canucks in 1981 and joined the Canuck quite quickly as a young player. It didn’t take long for Butcher to make his mark, as in 1982-83, he became more of a regular, playing 55 games and compiling 104 PIM. Butcher’s true heyday with the Canucks came in the late 80s, when he was at both his offensive and physical best. In 1987-88, he scored 6 goals and 23 points to go along with 285 PIM, the second highest total of his career and the highest he would have with the Canucks. Butcher was a bodyguard for the Canucks for nearly the entire decade of the 1980s and played in 610 games as a Canuck, scoring 140 points and 1668 PIM along the way, good for second all-time.

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

I admire your guts, signing your name to not having Murzyn in the top 70.

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said:

I admire your guts, signing your name to not having Murzyn in the top 70.

Yep.  Cloutier‘s seven shutout record gets mentioned for the few years it remained - but Murzyn’s plus 34 / Pratt award season doesn’t ha ha... or that he and Lumme formed the longest serving top pairing of the 90’s

 

Edit: AJ I promise that’s the last I will tease you or anyone else about Murzyn...slow feet I guess kept him off our original list?  

Edited May 21, 2020 by IBatch

[Kevin Biestra]

37 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Yep.  Cloutier‘s seven shutout record gets mentioned for the few years it remained - but Murzyn’s plus 34 / Pratt award season doesn’t ha ha... or that he and Lumme formed the longest serving top pairing of the 90’s

 

Edit: AJ I promise that’s the last I will tease you or anyone else about Murzyn...slow feet I guess kept him off our original list?  

 

Cloutier's shutout record is legit.  It helped mitigate a little bit against his playoff poopy doo.  I respect all the old record holders that get a bit unfairly forgotten...Sedlbauer, Rota, Tanti, Gradin, Sundstrom, Gary Smith, etc.  To be honest, shutouts in a season isn't all that important of a record to me...I feel shutouts get incorporated into GAA and SPCT automatically.  But still, I am blown away by Tony Esposito and George Hainsworth.

[smithers joe]

great job AJ.  i like reading interesting facts about the players. i was reading how kurtenbach was a feared fighter around the league and no one wanted to fight him.  on the other hand orland never looked for fights and wanted to be known for his goal scoring and leadership. i never saw him lose a fight.  no one now a days, considers him as one of the toughest players in canuck history. 

[IBatch]

2 hours ago, smithers joe said:

great job AJ.  i like reading interesting facts about the players. i was reading how kurtenbach was a feared fighter around the league and no one wanted to fight him.  on the other hand orland never looked for fights and wanted to be known for his goal scoring and leadership. i never saw him lose a fight.  no one now a days, considers him as one of the toughest players in canuck history. 

Smithers Joe I read a good article while we were doing the top fifty that had Kurtenbach listed as a top nine NYR fighter all-time....pretty much said that players tended to stay away as they didn’t want to drop with him because- well he just didn’t lose.  Says a lot given it’s an original six team ... will take your word for it. 

[Rick Blight]

2 hours ago, smithers joe said:

great job AJ.  i like reading interesting facts about the players. i was reading how kurtenbach was a feared fighter around the league and no one wanted to fight him.  on the other hand orland never looked for fights and wanted to be known for his goal scoring and leadership. i never saw him lose a fight.  no one now a days, considers him as one of the toughest players in canuck history. 

Joe, during the mid 60's the consensus top 3 tough guys in the league were John Ferguson (Mtl), Ted Harris (Mtl) and Orland Kurtenbach (TML + NYR). Kurtenbach had only 1 fight (I think) with John Ferguson and left him a bloody mess. He had 2 fights with Harris, winning 1 and losing 1. This was the only fight of his career that I believe he lost. Nobody wanted to fight Kurtenbach and the so called tough guys avoided him like the plague.......that is primarily why Kurtenbach never had a 100 PIM season in his career.

 

For those that don't remember or know of John Ferguson, he was a stick boy with the Canucks in their early WHL days and always envisioned himself being an enforcer protecting his teammates. Why? Because he thought the Canucks were too soft and teams took advantage of them. Some things just never change I guess.......

 

Pretty sure I am not telling you anything you didn't already know Joe but thought I would share with those that were not around back then.

[smithers joe]

17 minutes ago, Rick Blight said:

Joe, during the mid 60's the consensus top 3 tough guys in the league were John Ferguson (Mtl), Ted Harris (Mtl) and Orland Kurtenbach (TML + NYR). Kurtenbach had only 1 fight (I think) with John Ferguson and left him a bloody mess. He had 2 fights with Harris, winning 1 and losing 1. This was the only fight of his career that I believe he lost. Nobody wanted to fight Kurtenbach and the so called tough guys avoided him like the plague.......that is primarily why Kurtenbach never had a 100 PIM season in his career.

 

For those that don't remember or know of John Ferguson, he was a stick boy with the Canucks in their early WHL days and always envisioned himself being an enforcer protecting his teammates. Why? Because he thought the Canucks were too soft and teams took advantage of them. Some things just never change I guess.......

 

Pretty sure I am not telling you anything you didn't already know Joe but thought I would share with those that were not around back then.

thank bud, i didn’t know about those 3 fights, only that he had them. i kind of wish there were videos of those fights for people to see. apparently kurt and pat quinn went at it during practise one time. that would have been interesting to see. 

my wish would be to sit down and here the stories, jim robson must have of the canucks. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by smithers joe

[apollo]

Your write up for Rick gave me chills. Good stuff.

 

No doubt in my mind that he was the best pound for pound fighter in NHL history. Rest in Paradise Ripper! Forever a Canuck

 

 

 

I still can't fathom a guy with 550+ games not being in our top 30 let alone top 50 but who am I to judge! I'll be telling my grandkids about the Cookers clutch goals in 2003 and 2004 one day and wil make sure that they know he's a Canuck legend! If they don't agree, well get out of my house and no gifts ever!

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

17 hours ago, apollo said:

Your write up for Rick gave me chills. Good stuff.

 

No doubt in my mind that he was the best pound for pound fighter in NHL history. Rest in Paradise Ripper! Forever a Canuck

 

I still can't fathom a guy with 550+ games not being in our top 30 let alone top 50 but who am I to judge! I'll be telling my grandkids about the Cookers clutch goals in 2003 and 2004 one day and wil make sure that they know he's a Canuck legend! If they don't agree, well get out of my house and no gifts ever!

 

Well, way to stand up for your guy.  As you probably saw, I made a top 200 list with every member being someone whose contributions to the Canucks I respect.  And Cooke had over 120 people I respect behind him on the list if I remember right.

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

I still think that Hamhuis is criminally underrated.

[IBatch]

17 hours ago, Herberts Vasiljevs said:

I still think that Hamhuis is criminally underrated.

A few players went in way too early - and as result some didn’t make it in or if they did made it in later then maybe they should have.   Hamhuis played a game on the same reliability level as some of the best we’ve had.  Good at everything but not really great at anything.   Mitchell is a guy that probably should have been an honourable mention given his consecutive Pratt awards and leadership but don’t think he received one nomination or if he did I don’t re-call seeing it.   A number of guys got in playing similar amounts or less games..for guys that played four or five seasons Mitchell was one of the better ones for sure.