2001-2002: OFFENSIVE CANUCKS JUGGERNAUT RALLIES TO MAKE PLAYOFFS
The summer of 2001 was a time for change on the Vancouver sports scene. Gone were the Canucks' GM Place co-tenants, the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies, off to Memphis less than a year after John McCaw sold the team to Michael Heisley. In their place would be the expansion Vancouver Ravens of the National Lacrosse League. Across town at the Canucks' old home, the Pacific Coliseum, the Pat Quinn, Gordie Howe, and Ron Toigo-owned Vancouver Giants would bring Major Junior Hockey back to the lower mainland for the first time in 13 years.
Following the club's first playoff appearance in five years, Brian Burke was committed to keeping his team together and did not make any significant off-season moves. The only change of note was fan favourite Bob Essensa being released because Burke did not feel he could split time with an unproven Dan Cloutier. Several weeks later, Essensa was replaced by waiver wire pick-up Martin Brochu, a move that shocked -- and, in some cases, angered -- local fans.
After a pre-season cut short by the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Canucks got off to a rocky start, dropping their first three games and going 3-8-1-0 in their first 12. Brochu, a huge disappointment as an NHLer, was waived after a 5-1 loss in San Jose on November 5 (pictured). Unrestricted free agent goalie Peter Skudra was signed in his place. The team continued to turn in stale performances, though, and Burke decided it was time to make some moves.
On November 11, Burke re-acquired former captain and fan-favourite Trevor Linden from Washington for a first-round draft pick (Boyd Gordon). On December 18, he sent enforcer Donald Brashear to Philadelphia for LW Jan Hlavac and a 3rd-rounder. Finally, on December 28, he made a brilliant move by sending Drake Berehowsky and Denis Pederson to Phoenix for C Trevor Letowski, LW Todd Warriner, RW Tyler Bouck, and a 3rd-round pick in '03. Meanwhile, Dan Cloutier was beginning to show signs of being an impact goaltender and, on December 19, posted his fifth shutout of the season -- 3-0 over Detroit -- to end the Canucks' five-year, 17-game winless streak against that team.
Alas, in the final game before Christmas, Cloutier surrendered a weak, one-handed backhand shot in the last three minutes of a game versus Minnesota for the winner. The loss dropped the Canucks record to 14-21-4-0 and it looked doubtful that there would be any playoff games in Vancouver come spring. But, right after Christmas, things began to turn around. In the 21 games between the Holiday and Olympic breaks, they went 14-4-1-2. This included a six-game winning streak and a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1-0). Todd Bertuzzi had been flying since sitting out an early-season, ten-game suspension and was thriving on a line with Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison. Between January 3 and February 4, Bertuzzi recorded seven goals and 13 assists and at least a point in all 15 games--tying Petr Nedved's franchise record. He was named NHL Player-of-the-Month for January.
Having moved to within a point of the final playoff spot in the West, most of the Canucks had two weeks to recuperate during the Winter Olympics break. This would not be the case for Ed Jovanovski (Canada), RW Jarkko Ruutu (Finland), Markus Naslund, and Mattias Ohlund (Sweden), however. The most notable Canuck-moment in the Olympics was when Jovanovski tallied a key assist in his team's 5-2 victory over the host Americans to win the gold medal.
When the NHL started up again in late February, the Canucks won only one of their next six games, but then went on an incredible roll to close out the season. They went 13-2-1-0 to finish with 94 points -- a total that would have put them comfortably into the playoffs in a less competitive conference. Losses could not be afforded by anybody down the stretch and nobody in the hunt did very often. A six-game Eastern road trip in March could have sunk the club but they took five out of six. The trip began March 12 in Nashville, where Cloutier earned his sixth shutout of the season, tying the franchise record shared by Gary Smith and Garth Snow. He earned record number seven two weeks later at home against Los Angeles in a 4-0 win.
During the Canucks' final regular season game in Calgary, Naslund recored his 40th goal and 50th assist of the season. His 90 points were second in the NHL -- the highest ever finish for a Canuck. Bertuzzi's two assists in the game gave him 85 points--good for third in the league. This was the first time that the Canucks placed two scorers in the league's top ten. The Canucks won the game, 4-1, to temporarily move into fifth place in the conference. However, final day victories by Chicago, Phoenix, and Los Angeles leap-frogged all three teams past them in the tightest playoff race in NHL history. In the end, only nine points separated second-place Colorado from tenth-place Dallas. The Canucks finished eighth, and would once again be pitted against the NHL's regular-season champions.
Though they were an eighth-seeded team playing against one loaded with future Hall-of-Famers, the Canucks' amazing finish (coupled with Detroit's late tail-spin) had not gone unnoticed in hockey circles and many were suggesting an upset was possible. Things became more interesting when it appeared Steve Yzerman might not play due to a knee injury. He was in the lineup to start the series, although limping noticeably, and got things going by springing Luc Robitaille on a first period breakaway to open the scoring in Game 1. The Wings led 3-2 midway through the third period when Trevor Linden, ever the clutch playoff performer, tied the game with a waist-high wrist shot through traffic that eluded Dominik Hasek to tie the game. At the 13:59 mark of overtime, Henrik Sedin picked up a loose puck just inside the Detroit blueline and let go a high shot that deflected off the shoulder of ex-Canuck Igor Larionov and past Hasek for the winning goal.
In Game 2, the Canucks built up a 3-1 lead after two but the Wings starting coming on in the third. Yzerman scored to make it 3-2 and memories of the January 9 game where Detroit erased a 4-1 Vancouver lead in the third and won began to surface. This time, however, Cloutier held the fort until Markus Naslund provided some breathing room with one of his patented wrist shots with 1:52 to play. An empty netter made the final 5-2.
Game 3 was a goaltending duel between Hasek and Cloutier. The game remained tied until the last minute of the second when Niklas Lidstrom fired a long shot from centre ice that beat Cloutier for a deflating goal. The Wings won 3-1 and were back in the series.
Two nights later, they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but the Canucks fought back ferociously in the second and tied the game on goals by Mattias Ohlund and RW Matt Cooke (who was outstanding in the series). Early in the third, Andrew Cassels was hooked off the puck in the corner by Brendan Shanahan, who fed Yzerman in front of the net for the game winner.
After Game 3, Brian Burke went on a tirade about the breaks that Detroit was getting in the series from the officials. It cost him $1,500, but it appeared to pay off in Game 5 when the Canucks got three of the first four power-plays. However, not only did the Canucks fail to score, but they surrendered both a power-play and a short-handed goal and Cloutier was chased with the score 3-0. Skudra allowed a fourth tally in the period and from there the Wings cruised, with the 4-0 margin holding up to the end.
The Canucks returned home facing elimination on April 25 and the "Big Red Machine" was firing on all cylinders. They struck twice early to chase Cloutier in the first period for the second straight game. Refusing to lay down and die, the Canucks came back again with goals less than a minute apart by Ed Jovanovski and Henrik Sedin. Detroit broke the game open again with three in the second and the Canucks tried to come back again in the third, but fell short. The final was 6-4 and the season was done. Though he likely would have traded it for a better showing in the series (only two points), Markus Naslund became the first player in franchise history to be named a First Team All-Star, getting the nod over Shanahan at left wing.
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