Team History

1988-1989: OTTO'S FOOT STOMPS OUT ANOTHER PROMISING SEASON

Steve Weeks provided solid back-up netminding in '88-'89.

Quinn secured a good chunk of the Canucks future by drafting RW Trevor Linden second overall in the entry draft, and would continue his wheeling and dealing that had begun the previous summer. The Canucks only had to part with a third-round pick in 1989 (Veli-Pekka Kautonen) to obtain the services of veterans D Paul Reinhart and LW Steve Bozek from Calgary on September 6. The next day, D Robert Nordmark and a second-round pick in 1989 (Craig Darby) arrived from St. Louis for Dave Richter. The Canucks would have their power-play point men for the coming season in order, and gave up hardly anything to get them. The free-agent signing of Harold Snepsts would return a familiar face to the Canucks blueline, and suddenly defense seemed to be a strength of the Canucks. Combined with solid netminding from McLean and Weeks, only the powerhouses, Montreal and Calgary, would surrender fewer goals than the Canucks this season. This would also be the grittiest team that Vancouver fans had seen in a while. With Garth Butcher, LW Rich Sutter, Stan Smyl, Jim Sandlak, RW Ronnie Stern, D/LW Darryl Stanley, and Snepsts in the line-up, Vancouver was suddenly a not-so-pleasant stop on a western road trip.

Things looked bright when the Canucks went 6-1-1 in the pre-season and on an early-season visit to Edmonton, ended a three-year, 27-game winless streak against the Oilers with a 6-2 victory. Outbursts of six goals would not be common, though. Though they would only lose by more than three goals once all season, goal production was a problem. Both Tony Tanti (47 points) and Stan Smyl (25) had big drop-offs in production and, by association, so did Greg Adams (33) and Barry Pederson (41). The scoring slack was picked up somewhat by Petri Skriko (66 points), Trevor Linden (59), and by the defensemen Reinhart (57) and Nordmark (41). Even with that, however, by mid-season the Canucks were only producing results that were marginally better than the previous few seasons and only remained in the playoff race due to an unexpectedly poor season in Winnipeg. A club-record seven-game winning streak in February would change everything. All at once everything suddenly came together and a Canucks game was the hottest ticket in town. Jim Sandlak was the hero in the seventh win, a tight-checking game against Toronto that was played in front of a packed house and a national television audience. His rebound goal in overtime off of a Snepsts point shot after an offensive-zone face-off (reminiscent of Nill's goal seven years earlier) sent the home crowd into frenzy. The team would continue to delight the Coliseum faithful, racking up a 12-game home unbeaten streak (11-0-1). The Canucks nailed down a playoff spot on March 23 and threatened to overtake Edmonton for third place in the Smythe before tapering off in the last couple of weeks. The 74 points would earn them a playoff date against the NHL's number one team in the regular season, the Calgary Flames.

Trevor Linden was runner-up to New York's Brian Leetch in 1989 Calder Trophy voting.

This was going to be a short series. Nobody was predicting more than five games. Jim Taylor of the Vancouver Province even predicted that it would be the first best-of-seven series to be settled in three. The Flames were given 3:1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, while the long shot Canucks' odds were set at 100:1. In the first game, however, the Canucks managed to stay within a goal of the powerful Flames until Robert Nordmark was able to tie the game with a power-play goal in the third period. In the dying minutes, Harold Snepsts made a game saving save when Kirk McLean was caught out of position. The Saddledome crowd had barely settled into their seats when ex-Flame Paul Reinhart exacted revenge on the team that was so quick to part with him by sending a wrist shot through traffic over Mike Vernon's left shoulder. To the surprise of many, the Canucks had won 4-3 and struck first blood in the series. In the next two games, however, the Flames showed everybody how they managed 117 points during the regular season, dominating the Canucks in all facets of the game in scoring 5-2 and 4-0 victories. It looked doubtful that the series would last longer than five games. But the Vancouver Canucks weren't going to have any part of that. They bothered and pestered the more talented Flames into taking stupid penalties, resulting in four power-play goals and a shocking 5-0 lead, which chased Vernon from the game. The Flames came alive in the third period, but simply ran out of time. The Canucks hung on for a 5-3 win and tied the series. But four games in five nights had taken its toll, and the overworked Canucks were no match for the depth of the Flames in game five. The Calgarians cruised to another 4-0 win, and looked to end the series two nights later. Unfortunately for the Flames, the 16,123 fans that packed the Coliseum on the night of April 13 had no intention of seeing that happen. The building was alive in a way that hadn't been seen in Vancouver since 1982. After an early Flames goal, Trevor Linden brought the crowd to its feet in the second period when he split the defense and scored a beautiful goal to tie the score. The Flames regained the lead, but three goals in 2:18 late in the period, including Garth Butcher's first goal all season, would give the Canucks a two-goal cushion headed into the final frame. The Flames did not want to go to a seventh game and demonstrated that in the third period. They got to within a goal and pressed for the equalizer on the power-play when C Brian Bradley intercepted a cross-point pass and had nobody between himself and Vernon. He faked to the forehand and deked to the backhand, scoring to giving the Canucks a 5-3 lead and turning the Coliseum into a madhouse. The deal was sealed with an empty-netter at 19:56 and the series was, incredibly, headed back to Cow Town for a seventh game. The tone of nervousness that set across Southern Alberta was unmistakable. A loss to the lowly Canucks would not be tolerated. Surely Terry Crisp would not keep his job should the Flames lose this game. Things began well for the home team. Harold Snepsts, remembered for his blunder in the '82 finals, attempted to block a point-shot and inadvertently re-directed the puck under the crossbar behind McLean at 19:59 of the first period to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. In the second period the Canucks roared back to tie the score but the Flames took a 3-2 lead into the third. Trevor Linden tied the game early in the period and then pressed hard for the win, but by the end of the period, the game was still tied, 3-3. In overtime, there were numerous chances for each team, especially the Canucks. Doug Lidster and Tony Tanti both had glorious chances to win it. Petri Skriko hit the post when he had a half-empty net to shoot at. And Stan Smyl had his breakaway but was stymied by Vernon. The Flames looked to have won the game at one point, but the net had been dislodged before the puck crossed the goal line. Finally, in the final minute, the Flames rushed into the Vancouver zone. Jim Peplinski sent a seemingly harmless shot toward the net that re-directed, perhaps intentionally, off the skate of Joel Otto in the goal crease and into the net. There was a lot of confusion, but the goal stood. David had come so close to knocking off Goliath. But it was not to be.

That summer, several Canucks were acknowledged for their performances during the season by becoming the first Canucks to be nominated for post-season awards. Though Trevor Linden (Calder Trophy), Kirk McLean (Vezina), Stan Smyl (Masterton), and coach Bob McCammon (Adams) came away empty-handed, they, along with all of their teammates, had truly given the fans of Vancouver a series to remember.