1983-1984: FLAMES END CANUCKS' PLAYOFF HOPES - AGAIN
The Canucks had the ninth overall pick in the Entry Draft and chose RW Cam Neely, who had just lead the Portland Winterhawks to the Memorial Cup Championship. Neely tallied 31 points and 57 penalty minutes in 56 games his rookie season. The second game of the season would feature a wild-shoot out affair, with the Canucks beating the Minnesota North Stars 10-9. Patrik Sundstrom scored the winning goal to go along with five assists in the game. His right winger, Tony Tanti, scored twice and added three assists. Two nights later, in a 7-4 win over Toronto, Tanti scored three goals, all assisted by Sundstrom. The two would combine for a large piece of the Canucks offence this season and, along with LW Dave Williams, quickly establish themselves as the Canucks number one line. Tanti finished with a club-record 45 goals while Sundstrom tallied six assists and seven points (both club records) in a 9-5 win in Pittsburgh on February 29, helping him in establishing a club-record of 91 points. Williams again lead the NHL in penalty minutes, racking up 294. On January 26, after the team had gone 3-22-3 in its last 28 games, Roger Neilson was fired as coach, and GM Harry Neale took over for the remainder of the season. During that miserable stretch, the Canucks managed a 3-3 tie in Los Angeles on January 4, the game in which Thomas Gradin registered his 408th point as a Canuck to pass Don Lever as the club's all-time leading scorer. In the next three games, the Canucks lost in Minnesota, Chicago, and St. Louis by identical 2-0 scores, marking the only time that the team has been shut out in three consecutive games. The club played respectably in the last 30 games and finished with 73 points-in a tie for third place with Winnipeg. The Canucks, with more wins (32-31), won the tiebreaker and drew Calgary, again, as a first-round playoff opponent.
This series followed a similar script as last year's, but not nearly as exciting. The Flames won the first two games at the Saddledome by 4-2 and 5-3 scores before the series shifted to Vancouver. In the third game, Doug Halward became the third defenseman ever to register a play-off hat trick as the Canucks thrashed the Flames 7-0; Brodeur got the shutout. Game four was a one sided affair in favor of the Flames. 5-1 was the score.
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