Top 10 times 'the curse' has bitten us - Botchford

[Nucksfansince91]

http://vancouversun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/botchford-top-10-times-the-curse-has-bitten-the-canucks

-SN

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Sports teams can’t be cursed. It’s a ridiculous premise.

It is until you start compiling a list of all the things that have gone wrong for the Canucks in 45 years. Then, you can’t help but wonder.

Here’s a look at a top ten reasons the Canucks could be cursed:

1. Black Tuesday

At first, it looked like the Canucks won the roulette wheel spin in 1970 which determined which team was going to draft first overall, and get Gilbert Perreault.

If the ball landed on numbers 1-6, the Canucks won. If it was 7-12, the Sabres.

When it stopped on II, Vancouver was announced the winner.

But, it turned out, that wasn’t the Roman numeral for two. That was No. 11.

It’s been a long slide ever since.

2. Nathan Lafayette hits post

It’s Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup final and the Canucks are down a goal, but dominating the the third period when a 21-year-old rookie took the shot Vancouver fans will never forget.

Out of the corner, Geoff Courtnall found Lafayette in the slot.

He took a terrific shot and seemingly beat Mike Richter, but it was half-an-inch in the wrong direction and the puck deflected off the post.

 

3. The Cam Neely trade

It’s easy to forget, but Barry Pederson was a star in Boston and only four years older than Neely.

Problem is, he had shoulder surgery in 1984, two years before the Neely-for-Pederson trade and never returned to form.

Meanwhile, Neely re-defined the power forward position.

4. The Nicklas Lidstrom goal

The Canucks had just shocked the world, taking the first two games against the powerful Detroit Red Wings.

In Game 3, they were dominating but tied at one with the second period winding down.

Lidstrom took a slap shot from centre ice, and somehow that shot was the game-winning goal.

You can watch it 50 times and still not believe it happened.

5. Puck hits Manny Malhotra’s eye

There were so many great things about the 2011 Canucks, but none better than their top three centres.

Malhotra was actually getting a little Selke Trophy talk before he lost vision in his eye on a fluke deflection.

It forced the Canucks to play Max Lapierre in a third-line role for their playoff run.

6. Kevin McCarthy’s broken ankle

Because he was sat out the last game of the season, McCarthy attended an optional practice at Britannia rink before the start of the 1982 playoffs.

When the practice ended, McCarthy and Fraser were wrestling a bit on the side boards. Fraser fell on top of him and broke his ankle.

7. Dan Hamhuis hits Milan Lucic

Hamhuis is not exactly a big hitter, but for whatever reason in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, he lined up Lucic after the massive winger had chipped a puck along the boards.

Going with a hip check, something you rarely see him do these days, he flipped Lucic. It worked like hip-checking a brick wall.

Hamhuis left the game, and did not play again in the series.

You could make the case that he’s never really been the same.

8. The Stan Smyl breakaway

The Canucks were that close to handing the Flames another humiliating early playoff exit.

In Game 7 of the 1989 Smythe Division semifinal, Smyl rushed his breakaway believing a defenceman was going to cut him off.

That made it an easy, look-what-I-found save for Mike Vernon.

Compounding the bad luck, the game was won by the Flames on a goal that either was kicked in or deflected off a skate.

9. Steve Moore hit on Markus Naslund

In February 2004, Moore hit Naslund in the head, leaving the NHL’s leading scorer with a concussion and a bone chip in his elbow.

There was no penalty called on the play, and that infuriated the Canucks.

Of course it was Todd Bertuzzi who went out to avenge the loss, leading to one of the most controversial hits in NHL history.

It also led directly to the end of the Bertuzzi-Naslund era.

10. The Daniel Sedin concussion

Before the L.A. Kings became the dominant Cup-winning team, they had to beat the Vancouver Canucks in the 2012 playoffs.

The Canucks had just won their second consecutive Presidents’ Trophy, but were without their top scorer Daniel Sedin, who had been concussed by a cheap, brutal elbow courtesy of Duncan Keith just before the end of the regular season. The Canucks were sure Daniel was going to be ready for Game 1.

He didn’t play until the Canucks were down 3-0 in the series. In the first game he played, however, the Canucks won.

The series loss probably was the end for the “2011 core.”

 

Any other honourable mentions? 

[Toni Zamboni]

that was a depressing trip down memory lane.

[khay]

-With healthy Malholtra and Hamhuis in the lineup, would we have beaten the Bruins? I guess you could say yes seeing as how the series went 7 games without those two and suspended Rome. If so, how many games would it take for us to win? 5? 6? 7?

 

-Would we have beaten LA in 2012 with Daniel? Would not have lost in 5, that's for sure. Daniel and Henrik at the peak of their career, wasted one year of playoffs thanks to f*cking scumbag Keith, who by the way, has 3 cups. 

 

-With or without Lidstrom goal, I don't think that team would have been able to win the cup that year. Sedins weren't a major threat yet and we were essentially a one line team.

 

-Gilbert Perrault at the end of the day, did not win the cup. And 11 is actually far from 1-6 so I would say that was just randomness rather than a curse.

 

- Neely also did not win a cup as a player. A bad trade/decision making and not really a curse.

 

Anyways, what did we do to deserve the curse? Like the Redsox has the curse of the Bambino. The Cubs have that goat incident. But what about us? So, no I refuse to believe that we are cursed.

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

Luc Bourdon. It doesn't get any sadder for a Canucks fan than that. 

 

The home opener of the 08/09 season will forever make an impression on me. 

[Nuxfanabroad]

Why drink 10 half-empty mugs of warm beer? Gotta' be a better way...

[Jam126]

So, what's this trying to prove exactly?

[Qwags]

33 minutes ago, khay said:

 Daniel and Henrik at the peak of their career, wasted one year of playoffs thanks to f*cking scumbag Keith, who by the way, has 3 cups. 

Funny. He needs those 3 cups to protect what's left of his balls.

[Laoag]

No curse. Next topic.

[Law of Goalies]

I won't say it is a curse but it is a really depressing yet enlightening trip down memory lane.  I'm sure other teams have experienced similar things but as a fan, you sometimes feel that your team always gets the short end of the stick.  

[butters]

We are the only team that 10 bad things have happened to!

[Frail Granny]

The day they revealed the current "cut and paste" jersey. I stayed home on my lunch break, only to be horribly disappointed.

[nuckin_futz]

Don't forget in that Neely trade we also tossed in our 1st round pick which Boston used to draft defenceman Garry Galley.

 

Galley played 18 years in the league.

[Tiger-Hearted]

Game 1 of the 1982 Stanley Cup Final:

 

Jim Nill had just given the underdog Canucks a stunning 5-4 lead over the defending Stanley Cup champion Islanders with over 7 minutes left in regulation. Then, two minutes later, King Richard Brodeur comes out of his crease to pounce on a loose puck. He collides with defenseman Harold Snepsts and loses control of the puck.The puck lands in front of the Canucks net and Islanders sniper, Mike Bossy is right there to jam it in and the score is tied 5-5 going into overtime.

 

In overtime, both teams have decent chances to score until Snepsts, who was awesome throughout the playoffs, shoots the puck up ice from behind the net. Unfortunately, Bossy, probably the best pure goalscorer in history of the game, intercepts Snepsts' clearing attempt and scores his hat-trick and game-winning goal with just 2 seconds left in the first overtime. 

 

Sadly, the Canucks never recovered and were swept in four straight games.

[Curmudgeon]

45 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

Don't forget in that Neely trade we also tossed in our 1st round pick which Boston used to draft defenceman Garry Galley.

 

Galley played 18 years in the league.

Actually, it was Glen Wesley, who was even better than Garry Galley.

[nuckin_futz]

11 minutes ago, Curmudgeon said:

Actually, it was Glen Wesley, who was even better than Garry Galley.

Good catch.

 

And yes as good as Galley was Wesley was even better.

[SaintPatrick33]

Losing Malhotra, who was probably the biggest factor in making that 2011 team ELITE, off a the most ridiculous deflection in a mean-nothing game. We went from having 3 stud centers to 2. I imagine we would have made short work of the first 2 rounds with him in the lineup, completely changed the way we could play and shut down teams on the PK and the other teams top line. 

 

Losing Malhotra meant losing the cup

[nuck-lifer]

How about the curse/ Mid-management of most of the 80's when our team was close to extinction, until Coach/head scout/ GM Pat Quinn came on board and resurrected our team in the 90's.

Thank-you Pat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WhoseTruckWasIt]

15 minutes ago, SaintPatrick33 said:

Losing Malhotra, who was probably the biggest factor in making that 2011 team ELITE, off a the most ridiculous deflection in a mean-nothing game. We went from having 3 stud centers to 2. I imagine we would have made short work of the first 2 rounds with him in the lineup, completely changed the way we could play and shut down teams on the PK and the other teams top line. 

 

Losing Malhotra meant losing the cup

Pretty well.  Any one of him, Samuelsson, Ehrhoff, Hamhuis, Kesler being healthy would have been huge.  Even Raymond and Edler's late injuries were significant.

 

 

[homersexual]

The Canucks were cursed the very first NHL game. Who thought it was a good idea to have the Stanley Cup there.

 

[SabreFan1]

10 minutes ago, homersexual said:

The Canucks were cursed the very first NHL game. Who thought it was a good idea to have the Stanley Cup there.

 

You aren't kidding.  That's some bad juju right there.  No touching until you win it!