1981-1982: CANUCKS MEET DYNASTY ISLANDERS IN THE FINALS
Roger Neilson, who had coached the Buffalo Sabres to a sweep of the Canucks in the spring, was brought aboard to assist Harry Neale for the 1981-82 season. A couple of off-season additions from Czechoslovakia also made the Canucks stronger for the coming season. In a complicated series of transactions on July 15 that saw LW Brent Ashton's rights traded to Winnipeg along with a 1982 fourth round pick (Tom Martin) and then moved to Colorado, the Canucks ended up acquiring the rights to D Jiri Bubla from Colorado and C Ivan Hlinka from Winnipeg.
With these acquisitions, the Canucks had an unheard of total of nine Europeans in their lineup when they opened the season at home against Colorado on October 6 and won 4-2. An early-season road-trip yielded an eight-game slump, one of many that would occur on road trips throughout the season. Unlike the previous season, where they could win on the road but not at home, this edition of the Canucks was great and home and terrible on the road, prompting coach Harry Neale to say, "Last year we couldn't win at home. This season we can't win on the road. My failure as a coach is, I can't think of any place else to play." On March 8, Glen Hanlon, who had been relegated to backup duty ever since Richard Brodeur arrived on the scene, was traded to St. Louis for G Rick Heinz, LW/RW Jim Nill, and LW Tony Currie. On March 18, the Canucks won 4-2 in Montreal, ending an eight-game winless streak, of which six games were on the road, and also ending the Canadiens' amazing 27-game home unbeaten streak. Two nights later they played in Quebec. The game was a 3-3 tie, and in it Thomas Gradin became the first Canuck ever to register 80 points in a season. But more significantly, something happened on that night that will be forever a part of Canuck folklore. It began, as most Canuck incidents seemed to, with Dave Williams doing something. On this occasion, he ran Peter Stastny into the boards. Wilf Paiement (the younger brother of ex-Canuck Rosaire Paiement) came to Stastny's aid, pinning Tiger's face against the glass. This prompted a fan to reach around the glass by the Canuck bench and take a poke at Williams. And this prompted Harry Neale to run across the bench and take a swing at the fan. From there, all hell broke loose. In the end, the NHL suspended Harry Neale for ten games and Roger Neilson replaced him. After the team finished the season on a 6-0-3 pace, Neilson took over the reigns permanently. Gradin finished the season with 37 goals and 86 points, and his linemates Stan Smyl and Curt Fraser had great seasons as well, tallying 78 and 67 points, respectively. Ivan Boldirev had his best year as a Canuck, amassing 33 goals and 73 points. Ivan Hlinka set club rookie marks for goals (23) and points (60), and his countryman Bubla showed that he was rock-solid on the blueline, even though injuries reduced him to only 23 games during the season. Tiger Williams once again lead the league in penalty minutes, finishing two minutes shy of his club record with 341, and Richard Brodeur, at 20-18-12, became the first Canucks goalie besides Gary Smith to reach the 20 win plateau. The Canucks beat Los Angeles 7-4 on April 4 to close out the season, finishing with 77 points. That total put the Canucks second in the Smythe Division and, under the new division-based playoff format, meant that they'd face the Calgary Flames -- whom were two points the Canucks juniors during the season-in the first round. Kevin McCarthy had another fine season on defense, but the day after the final regular season game he fractured his ankle, forcing him to miss the playoffs. Stan Smyl assumed the captaincy.
Click here to re-live the magical playoff run of 1982...
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