Sophomore RW Rick Blight scored four goals in a 9-5 loss in Pittsburgh on opening night and continued to lead the team in scoring throughout the season, finishing with 68 points. The loss was a sign of things to come, as the Canucks won only five of their first 24 games. After a 5-4 home loss to Montreal on December 20, Phil Maloney decided that he needed more time to concentrate on his General Manager duties and called up ex-Canuck captain Orland Kurtenbach from Tulsa of the CHL to coach the remainder of the season. He started off with a 3-2 win in Los Angeles before winning only one of his next eight. In the middle of that streak was a game that did not count but garnered considerable attention. The Canucks hosted the Soviet club Moscow Spartak on December 28 at the Pacific Coliseum. Rick Blight scored twice and Curt Ridley picked up a shutout as the Canucks won 2-0 before a jubilant full house. On January 25 there was another special event at the Coliseum -- the NHL All-Star Game. Harold Snepsts represented the Canucks in a 4-3 defeat to the Wales Conference. But the team stumbled along until March, and then finished up strong. The Canucks went 8-3-6 in its last 17 games, including a 10-game unbeaten streak. The finish gave the Canucks 63 points, causing them to miss the final playoff spot to Chicago on a tiebreaker (26-25 in wins). Besides Blight's fine season, Dennis Kearns upped his franchise record for defensemen to 55 assists and set a new record with 60 points. But Kearns was also often the victim of the Coliseum boo-birds for his apparent lack of physical play and a tendency to make bad gambles. In any event, it was apparent that the modest success of the previous couple of season had gone for naught and that it was once again back to the drawing board.