1984-1985: NO POST-SEASON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVEN YEARS
Bill Laforge, who had coached the Kamloops Oilers to a berth in the 1984 Memorial Cup, took the job as Head Coach in Vancouver. Former Canuck Jack McIlhargey came aboard as his assistant. The Canucks blueline was expected to be strengthened as members of Canada's Olympic team, Michel Petit, Doug Lidster, and first-round draft pick Jean-Jacques Daigneault, would be playing their first full seasons in Vancouver (Petit and Lidster had joined the team after the Olympics last season). As well, 1981 eighth-round draft pick LW Petri Skriko, who had played for Finland, would be joining the club. The team would get rid of some fan favorites over the summer though First, they traded Harold Snepsts, the team's all-time leader in games, to Minnesota on June 21 for RW Al MacAdam. On August 8, Dave Williams, the team's all-time leader in penalty minutes, was traded to Detroit for C Rob McClanahan. McClanahan retired before the start of the season, and it would be an omen of things to come.
In the second game of the season, in Los Angeles, the Canucks overcame a 5-2 deficit to edge the Kings 6-5 in overtime. It would be the pinnacle of Laforge's NHL coaching career. The Canucks promptly lost nine in a row, tying a franchise record, and after 20 games Laforge would be fired with the team 4-14-2 and in last place in the NHL and replaced by Harry Neale. Among those early-season losses was the much-hyped "Lemieux Debut" in Pittsburgh. Mario would beat John Garrett for a first-period goal and then get Garrett tossed from the game as he came in to rescue teammate Gary Lupul, who was being pummelled by Lemieux in a fight. The Pens won 4-3. The team promptly lost seven more games in a row after Neale took over, which extended the team's losing streak to nine for the second time in the young season and giving the team a dismal 4-21-4 record. On November 25, long time General Manager and team executive Jake Milford (who had been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in September) would succumb to a brain-tumor, prompting the team to wear his initials "JCM" on their uniforms for the remainder of the season. On February 27, the Canucks lost 11-5 in Detroit, but Stan Smyl managed his 187th goal as a Canuck, breaking another one of Don Lever's records. On March 8, Thomas Gradin reached the 500-point plateau in a 4-3 win over Los Angeles. During the season, in which the Canucks would surrender a club-record 405 goals against, a couple of statistical oddities would occur. The Canucks, who only won 25 games all season, won seven of those games in overtime, tying an NHL record that has since been tied again but not broken. As well, the Canucks went 3-3-2 against the powerful Edmonton Oilers, whom the Canucks would not beat for another three years. On March 15, the Canucks blew a 4-1 lead at home to Detroit and lost 6-5, which mathematically eliminated them from the playoffs for the first time in seven years. They would finish the season with 59 points; a whopping 23 points behind fourth-place Los Angeles.
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