Canucks vs. Rangers Broadcast, Feb. 4, 1984...

[Kevin Biestra]

 

Full game from the old days up on YouTube.

 

It's not a memorable night for King Richard.  But what can I say, I saw worse games from Patrick Roy and Grant Fuhr.  I think I saw Roy let in 9 and Fuhr let in 12.  King Richard makes some good saves early but the defense in front of him isn't at the top of its game and neither was he...the good news is, that means this game lets you see both Brodeur and John Garrett with his legendary mask in action.  While Richard Brodeur was the playoff hero of 1982, people forget that John Garrett was also a playoff hero for the Quebec Nordiques in 1982, and coming off a near All-Star Game MVP award in 1983.

 

Things to watch for...

 

People also don't remember that Tiger Williams was a first ballot mustache Hall of Famer, when he chose to be.  He's singing along for the Canadian national anthem.

 

Early game in the career of Cam Neely.  He kind of moves around the ice like a brontosaurus at this stage.

 

Jim Robson is calling the game for CBC.

 

Howie Meeker says that Tony Tanti has the best anticipation in the entire NHL except for Wayne Gretzky.

 

Some departed faces on the bench and in the booth...  Herb Brooks coaching the Rangers, Meeker in the booth.  Richard Loney singing the anthems.

 

Five highly skilled Rangers on the ice - Mike Rogers, Barry Beck, Anders Hedberg, Ron Greschner and Pierre Larouche - all of whom might have had the chops for the Hall of Fame on different teams or with less injuries or if their careers had happened entirely in the NHL, and are now mostly unknown names.  Rogers was originally a Canucks draft pick.  On the bench as the Rangers backup is former Canuck starter Glen Hanlon.

 

Old reliable Harold Snepsts is fantastic at getting the puck out of his zone, whether it's a pass from the corner or skating it all the way to the offensive zone himself.  Just make sure Mike Bossy isn't in on the same continent first.

 

The Rangers have so much respect for the Canucks that their goalie is a guy getting his first ever NHL start.

 

The bums in the crowd at Vancouver give King Richard the bronx cheer for an easy save after a rough first period.  What have you done for me lately?

 

Even the commercials are interesting back then.

 

Look at those beautiful white boards.

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[erkayloomeh]

Thanks KB. That was an enjoyable Sunday morning watch 

[nucklehead]

complete with ads, priceless

 

[skeena1]

This was the first time in NHL history twin brothers had scored in the same game. Fitting it should be in Vancouver.  The Sundstroms had played each other once already this season and although the Rangers Peter scored  the Canucks Patrik did not.  

Edited November 30, 2020 by skeena1

[IBatch]

I love the whiteboards.   Blessed that I got to see them in them in our old barn ...  that extra pass in the neutral zone sure did change the breakouts.   Thanks KB! 

[Alienhuggyflow]

43 minutes ago, IBatch said:

I love the whiteboards.   Blessed that I got to see them in them in our old barn ...  that extra pass in the neutral zone sure did change the breakouts.   Thanks KB! 

I remember back in the 80s my Dad would take me to quite a few games especially when the Habs or Jets were in town. Do you guys remember how after the game they used to let kids gather near the dressing room and wait for sticks? I ended up with a Striko, Sundstrom and my hero King Richards.

But hands down going to a New Westminster Bruins game was the best. Everyone was drunk and rowdy, the games were extremely violent and seemed to be real hatred between teams.

It was like that everywhere it seemed. On a road trip to the Peg, we watched games along the way and during a game between Moose Jaw and Swift current a brawl broke out between the teams and then in the stands between rival fans. 80s-90s great time to be a kid.

[IBatch]

53 minutes ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

I remember back in the 80s my Dad would take me to quite a few games especially when the Habs or Jets were in town. Do you guys remember how after the game they used to let kids gather near the dressing room and wait for sticks? I ended up with a Striko, Sundstrom and my hero King Richards.

But hands down going to a New Westminster Bruins game was the best. Everyone was drunk and rowdy, the games were extremely violent and seemed to be real hatred between teams.

It was like that everywhere it seemed. On a road trip to the Peg, we watched games along the way and during a game between Moose Jaw and Swift current a brawl broke out between the teams and then in the stands between rival fans. 80s-90s great time to be a kid.

No doubt.   Growing up away from the lower mainland for the most part, didn’t get to a game until I was a young adult.   Against WNP, treated myself to front row seats (first and only time) in the corner.. was mesmerizing.   Three fights including one right infront of me which was awesome.   Those VAN/CAL and VAN/WNP games were usually fight filled affairs. 
 

One of my early games live Hunter kept slapping pucks at my face as I stood their grinning from ear to ear with all the kids who went down to watch the warm-ups (I was in my twenties then)...then he’d skate by and elbowed the glass and smiled back - made me flinch ... was one ugly dude. 

 

Quite a bit later remember a game against COL and everyone was talking about this young kid Parker who was on his way to becoming the next heavyweight.   Brashear went with Odjers right infront of me and basically had his way with him - and McAllister went with Parker and did just fine - titantic bout, wasn’t sure who to watch ha ha.

Goods time for sure. 
 

Edit:  On the hatred.   Personally feel that playoffs back then amped it up, and after 89 CAL/VAN became just as heated as the battle was (Oilers were losing their marquee guys like crazy, all in their primes too).   WNP too.   Don’t know why Keith T hated Murzyn so much but swear those two didn’t like each other at all.   One game had a couple hundred minutes in penalty minutes and the benches didn’t clear by then anymore.    Games a lot different now. 

Edited November 30, 2020 by IBatch

[CaptKirk888]

11 hours ago, skeena1 said:

This was the first time in NHL history twin brothers had scored in the same game. Fitting it should be in Vancouver.  The Sundstroms had played each other once already this season and although the Rangers Peter scored  the Canucks Patrik did not.  

What a great score for the Canucks tho, Patrik was drafted in the 9th round 175 overall. He was one of my favourites hated to see him go, although it brought us McLean and Adams.

[CaptKirk888]

1 hour ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

I remember back in the 80s my Dad would take me to quite a few games especially when the Habs or Jets were in town. Do you guys remember how after the game they used to let kids gather near the dressing room and wait for sticks? I ended up with a Striko, Sundstrom and my hero King Richards.

But hands down going to a New Westminster Bruins game was the best. Everyone was drunk and rowdy, the games were extremely violent and seemed to be real hatred between teams.

It was like that everywhere it seemed. On a road trip to the Peg, we watched games along the way and during a game between Moose Jaw and Swift current a brawl broke out between the teams and then in the stands between rival fans. 80s-90s great time to be a kid.

It was the 70s for me. My dad used to get free tickets from work. They were 6 rows up and between the blueline and redline. I remember being at a Philly game, bench clearing brawl, just crazy to think about it now but it was pretty common back then. I always remember the long walk from the parking lot under the covered walkway to the Coliseum.

[Kevin Biestra]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

One of my early games live Hunter kept slapping pucks at my face as I stood their grinning from ear to ear with all the kids who went down to watch the warm-ups (I was in my twenties then)...then he’d skate by and elbowed the glass and smiled back - made me flinch ... was one ugly dude.

 

I think I actually said this once before somewhere but Tim was actually a reasonably handsome guy if you just give him a different nose.

 

 

It's just one of the most domineering facial features I've ever seen on a person.  A reporter asked him once how many times it had been broken and he said zero, my mother has one just like it.

 

[IBatch]

55 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

I think I actually said this once before somewhere but Tim was actually a reasonably handsome guy if you just give him a different nose.

 

 

It's just one of the most domineering facial features I've ever seen on a person.  A reporter asked him once how many times it had been broken and he said zero, my mother has one just like it.

 

Yes I’ve heard the story of the nose coming from his mother ... she must have been one ugly dude as well ha ha.   Who was it that skated by our bench and put his hand out infront of his face and mimed a gigantic nose infront of Hunter ... I’m 95% sure it was Domi but can’t quite re-call.   Hilarious stuff.   Wasn’t much different then making fun of KB23 game face and AV losing his sh!t laughing behind his notes.    Guess a lot of folks hurt their knuckles hitting that thing. 
 

Edit:  And in all fairness most Greek/Roman pictures have the same nose ... just from the wrong era I suppose ha ha 

Edited November 30, 2020 by IBatch

[Tiger-Hearted]

Even though it was a close 5-4 loss, this was AWESOME to watch again. I always loved the 80's home yellows to go along with the clean white boards and best of all, watching and listening to one of the greatest anthem singers ever, Richard Loney(RIP) sing both anthems with the beautiful-sounding Pacific Coliseum organ being played. Huge mistake by the Griffiths for getting rid of the organ and organist and going with that ridiculous canned music.

 

Unfortunately, Richard Brodeur was never the same after his ear drum injury in Toronto the season before. That '83-'84 Canucks team was the most talented in club history at the time and if Brodeur hadn't struggled that season, the Canucks would have beaten the Rangers that evening as well as win a few more games they should have won that season. Unfortunately, coaching great Roger Neilson lost his job in the process.

[Kevin Biestra]

16 minutes ago, Tiger-Hearted said:

Even though it was a close 5-4 loss, this was AWESOME to watch again. I always loved the 80's home yellows to go along with the clean white boards and best of all, watching and listening to one of the greatest anthem singers ever, Richard Loney(RIP) sing both anthems with the beautiful-sounding Pacific Coliseum organ being played. Huge mistake by the Griffiths for getting rid of the organ and organist and going with that ridiculous canned music.

 

Unfortunately, Richard Brodeur was never the same after his ear drum injury in Toronto the season before. That '83-'84 Canucks team was the most talented in club history at the time and if Brodeur hadn't struggled that season, the Canucks would have beaten the Rangers that evening as well as win a few more games they should have won that season. Unfortunately, coaching great Roger Neilson lost his job in the process.

 

Garrett was fantastic in relief.  A much underrated goalie all things considered.  A post-season All-Star in the WHA, and over .500 for his Canucks career, which was an extremely rare thing at the time with those Canucks lineups, nearly an impossible feat.  I believe it was only him and Charlie Hodge for the first 20+ years of the Canucks' history.

 

The eardrum injury was a bit of a before and after moment in Brodeur's career.  But he was still 8th in voting for the post-season All-Star Team with 14 votes in 1983, the season following his 6th place for the All-Star team and Vezina (and Cup run) in 1982.  And still led the NHL in games played in 1985-86.  He was widely considered to have had the best glove hand in the WHA.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[Gurn]

8 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

Garrett was fantastic in relief. 

The only thing Garrett had real trouble with was shots from way out. It was like he fell asleep as the puck was coming at him from so far out.

nearly won the MVP at an all star game, till Gretzky when on a scoring tear.

[Tiger-Hearted]

8 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Garrett was fantastic in relief.  A much underrated goalie all things considered.  A post-season All-Star in the WHA, and over .500 for his Canucks career, which was an extremely rare thing at the time with those Canucks lineups, nearly an impossible feat.  I believe it was only him and Charlie Hodge for the first 20+ years of the Canucks' history.

 

The eardrum injury was a bit of a before and after moment in Brodeur's career.  But he was still 8th in voting for the post-season All-Star Team with 14 votes in 1983, the season following his 6th place for the All-Star team and Vezina (and Cup run) in 1982.  And still led the NHL in games played in 1985-86.  He was widely considered to have had the best glove hand in the WHA.

 

 

 

 

I truly believe that if Brodeur had played like a #1 goalie that season, the Canucks would have been high up in second place in the Smythe Division. That Canucks team was younger and more talented than the '82 team. There were several games the Canucks blew that season that could have given them 38-42 wins. After a disappointing 30-35-15 record in '82-'83, with the emergence of Tony Tanti(fully deserves ROH recognition), Patrik Sundstrom, Rick Lanz and youngsters like Cam Neely and Moe Lemay, there was no reason for the Canucks to struggle to play just under .500 hockey. 

[IBatch]

2 hours ago, Tiger-Hearted said:

I truly believe that if Brodeur had played like a #1 goalie that season, the Canucks would have been high up in second place in the Smythe Division. That Canucks team was younger and more talented than the '82 team. There were several games the Canucks blew that season that could have given them 38-42 wins. After a disappointing 30-35-15 record in '82-'83, with the emergence of Tony Tanti(fully deserves ROH recognition), Patrik Sundstrom, Rick Lanz and youngsters like Cam Neely and Moe Lemay, there was no reason for the Canucks to struggle to play just under .500 hockey. 

Just a tough division for sure whittled away some of their points... 

[Kevin Biestra]

2 hours ago, Tiger-Hearted said:

I truly believe that if Brodeur had played like a #1 goalie that season, the Canucks would have been high up in second place in the Smythe Division. That Canucks team was younger and more talented than the '82 team. There were several games the Canucks blew that season that could have given them 38-42 wins. After a disappointing 30-35-15 record in '82-'83, with the emergence of Tony Tanti(fully deserves ROH recognition), Patrik Sundstrom, Rick Lanz and youngsters like Cam Neely and Moe Lemay, there was no reason for the Canucks to struggle to play just under .500 hockey. 

 

Are you familiar with the penalty for high treason against the sovereign...

[Tiger-Hearted]

1 hour ago, IBatch said:

Just a tough division for sure whittled away some of their points... 

The Canucks, at the time, were a lot better than the '85-'88 Canucks. They could beat the Flames and Oilers, with better and more consistent goaltending from Brodeur. 

[Kevin Biestra]

3 minutes ago, Tiger-Hearted said:

The Canucks, at the time, were a lot better than the '85-'88 Canucks. They could beat the Flames and Oilers, with better and more consistent goaltending from Brodeur. 

 

 

[erkayloomeh]

10 hours ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

I remember back in the 80s my Dad would take me to quite a few games especially when the Habs or Jets were in town. Do you guys remember how after the game they used to let kids gather near the dressing room and wait for sticks? I ended up with a Striko, Sundstrom and my hero King Richards.

But hands down going to a New Westminster Bruins game was the best. Everyone was drunk and rowdy, the games were extremely violent and seemed to be real hatred between teams.

It was like that everywhere it seemed. On a road trip to the Peg, we watched games along the way and during a game between Moose Jaw and Swift current a brawl broke out between the teams and then in the stands between rival fans. 80s-90s great time to be a kid.

I had a similar experience at a Bruins game. The Chilliwack Bruins.  Someone from the stands dump pop on one of the opposing team ( I think it was Kelowna Buckaroos) players head. The Buckaroos players were swinging there sticks trying to hit fans. It was pretty bad. A bunch of cops showed up. In the third period there were only enough players left to ice one line with two or three players on the bench. 

Pandemonium.   But fun