1970-1971: BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Norman "Bud" Poile, a renowned hockey man and former General Manager in Philadelphia, was hired to hold the same post in Vancouver. Hal Laycoe would be the Head Coach. The next step was stocking players, which would be done by drafting the cast-offs from the established 12 teams along with Buffalo. Among Vancouver's selections were D Gary Doak and D Barry Wilkins from Boston, C Orland Kurtenbach (who had played for the WHL Canucks and would be the club's first captain) from New York, RW Ray Cullen from Minnesota, D Pat Quinn from Toronto, C Andre Boudrias and LW Wayne Maki from St. Louis, C Rosaire Paiement from Philadelphia, C Garth Rizzuto from Chicago, and goaltenders Dunc Wilson from Philadelphia and Charlie Hodge from Montreal. Poile also made the franchise's first trade that day, acquiring D John Arbour from Pittsburgh for cash. The next day was the Amateur Draft, in which the expansion Canucks and Sabres would have the first two picks, and the spin of a wheel would determine the order. The Canucks would have numbers one through six, while seven through 12 belonged to the Sabres. With NHL President Clarence S. Campbell presiding, the wheel was spun and it was announced that the number one had come up. The Vancouver contingent erupted, but Buffalo GM Punch Imlach protested, claiming that it was number 11 (the digits were one on top of the other). Imlach was found to be correct, and the first choice belonged to the Sabres. It was a surprise to nobody when they selected Gilbert Perreault from the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. Perreault would wear the lucky number 11 throughout his 17-year career with the Sabres. The Canucks selected D/RW Dale Tallon from Toronto of the OHA second overall. After the inaugural training camp in Calgary, the Canucks surprised many by going 6-3-3 in the pre-season. But those games meant nothing. The team was now set and it was time to get down to business.
October 9 was the historic night when the NHL puck finally dropped in Vancouver. The Friday night encounter with the Los Angeles Kings was televised nationally on CBC, and all of the dignitaries and such came out to the game. The Vancouver Beefeater Band was part of a pre-game show that included appearances by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Premier W.A.C. Bennett, and NHL President Clarence Campbell. Finally, at 8:22 PM PDT, referee Lloyd Gilmour dropped the puck between Andre Boudrias and Ross Lonsberry and the game was under way. The game remained scoreless until the second period, when Mike Corrigan was sent off for hooking. On the power-play, Lonsberry beat George Gardner for the first NHL goal at the Pacific Coliseum. Bob Berry made the score 2-0 at 19:52 of the middle frame and it stayed that way until the early in the third period. At that point, a turnover at the Kings blueline saw C Len Lunde come up with the puck and fire a pass to Barry Wilkins. Wilkins skated to just inside the face-off dot and made Canuck history by firing a low backhander that beat Denis DeJordy to the stick side. The first regular season NHL goal by the Vancouver Canucks came at the 2:14 mark. It would not be enough, however. Berry's second goal of the game would clinch a 3-1 victory for the Kings. The crowd of 15,564 was over two hundred fans shy of a sellout due to a computer error. Two nights later, however, a completely full house came to watch the Canucks take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Though it must have felt more like a home game to the Leafs, that didn't stop the Canucks from running up a 5-0 lead before a late Toronto comeback made the final score 5-3. The franchise had its first-ever win. The highlight of year one had to be a visit by the powerhouse Boston Bruins on February 20, when Rosaire Paiement scored four goals, including the game-winner in the final minute, to lead the Canucks to a 5-4 victory. "Cracklin' Rosie's" 34 goals and 152 penalty minutes lead all Canucks in both categories that season, while Dale Tallon lead with 42 assists (breaking Bobby Orr's mark for rookie defencemen), and Andre Boudrias with 66 points. The 5'8" centerman from Montreal was known as the "Superpest" for the way he was able to get under the skin of opponents, and would be a fan favorite during his tenure in Vancouver. All told, considering it was their first in the league, the 1970-71 season had to be considered a huge success. Though the team registered only 24 wins and 56 points, they did manage to finish ahead of two established teams (Detroit and California) in the standings and had some fine individual performances. Six players reached the 20-goal plateau, and none of the players had ever reached that mark in the NHL before. As well, Charlie Hodge compiled a 15-13-5 record in goal.
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