1986-1987: NEELY TRADED DURING ANOTHER LOUSY SEASON
A trade was the main event of the off-season: On June 6 Cam Neely was dealt to Boston for Barry Pederson and a first-round draft pick in 1986 (Glen Wesley). It has drawn an abundance of criticism in hindsight, but at the time it did not seem to bad at all. In three seasons in Vancouver, Neely had scored no more than 39 points, while Pederson had registered two 100 point seasons in Boston and no less than 76 in any full season. Though he would not outscore Pederson this year, Neely was in the midst of a 72-point breakthrough season in Boston. It was becoming clear that a top prospect had got away and the team was in need of some direction in the front-office. As if to add insult to injury, Boston also signed the club's all-time scoring leader, Thomas Gradin, as a free-agent on June 24. In December the Canucks approached Kings coach Pat Quinn on becoming the President and General Manager of the club once his contract expired at the end of the season. The move set off a long series of legal proceedings during which suspensions and sanctions were placed and overturned. The Kings fired Quinn, but he was not permitted to join the Canucks until the conclusion of the season.
On the ice, Tony Tanti lead the team with 41 goals and 79 points and Pederson would register a club-leading 52 assists and 76 points and earn the Cyclone Taylor Award as team MVP. Petri Skriko notched three consecutive hat-tricks in November to earn himself NHL Player of the Week honors. His 74 points was third on the team. Patrik Sundstrom's 71 points made four straight years of at least 60 points while Stan Smyl's 43 marked the first time since his rookie season that he failed to meet that mark. Another plus was the play of Doug Lidster on defense, who netted a career-high total of 63 points and broke Dennis Kearns' 10-year-old record for defenseman scoring. Jim Sandlak, in his first full season with the team, was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. On the whole, though, the season was another to be forgotten, as the Pacific Coliseum was once again the place not to be in Vancouver. A franchise record low of 10,406 went through the turnstiles on an average per-game basis. The team finished with 66 points and missed the playoffs.
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