1991-1992: THE RUSSIAN ROCKET LIFTS OFF
In the off-season, the Canucks fourth round draft pick in 1989 was finally validated and the Canucks now officially held the NHL rights to Pavel Bure. There was still a problem, though. His release from the Central Red Army still needed to be negotiated and there was no guarantee that he would play for the Canucks in the upcoming season. Director of Hockey Operations Brian Burke accepted the job as General Manager of the Hartford Whalers and took Milwaukee Head Coach Rick Ley to coach his team. George McPhee filled the vacant front-office post and Jack MacIlhargey became the new coach on the farm. Ron Wilson became an assistant coach, as did Stan Smyl, who tearfully resigned from active playing. "The Steamer" retired as the team's all-time leader in games (896), goals (262), assists (411), and points (673). Pat Quinn elected to retain all three titles (President, General Manger, and Head Coach) instead of hiring a new coach. Craig Coxe was chosen by the San Jose Sharks in the expansion draft, and Steve Bozek signed with the same club as a free agent. To fill the void, 13-year veteran and Burnaby-native C Ryan Walter was signed away from Montreal.
The team season opened with a home-and-home series against the expansion Sharks and the Canucks swept. Pavel Bure, staying in California with his father and brother, watched the game at the Cow Palace from the press box. They managed to roll up a 7-1-1 record, the last being a 3-1 victory over the Capitals on October 24 which leap-frogged the Canucks past Washington into first place in the NHL standings. On November 3, the Canucks paid tribute to their long-time captain and all-time leading scorer turned assistant coach (Smyl) with a special pre-game ceremony. He was presented with a Harley Davidson motorcycle, among other gifts, and had his number 12 raised to the rafters at Pacific Coliseum. In the game to follow, Igor Larionov broke out of a long draught by scoring his first three goals of the season in a 7-2 route of Edmonton. The Pavel Bure debacle was being settled during that time and two nights later he made his NHL debut before a packed Coliseum against Winnipeg. The "Russian Rocket", as he became known, dazzled the crowd with three spectacular rushes but failed to score in a 3-3 tie. Three games later, Bure scored his first two NHL goals in an 8-2 romp of Los Angeles. Playing with Larionov and Greg Adams, Bure completed the "BIG Line", which became, arguably, the most dangerous offensive unit in Canucks history. Though all of the experts were predicting otherwise, the Canucks remained among the NHL's elite throughout the season, hitting a high point with an 11-0 shellacking of Calgary on March 1. Bure would roll to 34 goals, many of the highlight-reel variety, breaking Ivan Hlinka's club rookie record in only 65 games. His 60 points equaled Hlinka's total from 1981-82. Trevor Linden's 75 points led the team in scoring for the second straight year, again earning him team MVP honors. Cliff Ronning was second with 71 points and Larionov finished third with 65. Kirk McLean rebounded to have a terrific season in goal, winning a club-record 38 games and recording a 2.74 goals-against average with five shutouts. Gino Odjick broke Dave Williams' 11-year old single-season penalty minutes record with 348 and, what's more, he did it in only 65 games. Overall, the team racked up club record totals of 42 wins and 96 points and won the Smythe Division by eight points over Los Angeles. The only threat to their division crown was a 10-day strike in early April that threatened to wipe out the playoffs. Finally, the streak of losing seasons had been halted at 16 years and, for the first time since 1982, the Canucks would open up a playoff series at home.
The Winnipeg Jets, the team with whom the Canucks went to the wire to determine the last playoff spot last season, would be the first round opponents. Coach John Paddock raised a few eyebrows by starting Rick Tabaracci in goal. Normally a backup, Tabaracci had played well down the stretch while Bob Essensa had been injured. The Canucks lead 2-1 but saw it evaporate late in the second, giving up two quick goals to trail headed into the third. The Canucks were dominant in the final frame, but couldn't put the puck in the net. When Tabaracci wasn't there, the goalposts and crossbars were. Game 1 finished 3-2 in favor of Winnipeg. The Canucks responded with a 3-2 win of their own in Game 2, and then the series shifted to Winnipeg, where the Canucks would get a less-than-hospitable prairie greeting from the Winnipeg Arena faithful. Clad all in white, the fans cheered their team to 4-2 and 3-1 victories, and the Canucks now found themselves facing elimination. Heading into Game Five, the Canucks knew that they had to get their offence going, and get it going they did. They struck for five goals in the first half of the game to chase Tabaracci. When Essensa, replaced him, the assault continued. The final score was 8-2. Two nights later, Pavel Bure (who had become Don Cherry's "Little Weasel" for kicking the feet out from under Keith Tkachuk earlier in the series) recorded his first NHL hat-trick as the Canucks continued to pour in the goals, winning 8-3 in Winnipeg to tie the series. The Canucks were now on a roll and there seemed to be nothing the Jets could do to stop them. On April 30, the Canucks completed the comeback. Once the team gathered up a 4-0 lead after two periods, the fans started celebrating. Geoff Courtnall scored to complete his hat-trick with 1:04 to play, and Kirk McLean held on for the shutout as the Canucks won 5-0 to win the series in seven games.
The Canucks would now play Edmonton in the Smythe Division Finals. The Canucks built up a 3-2 lead on the afternoon of May 3 but Vincent Damphousse tied the score in the third period to force overtime. Eight minutes into overtime, D Dave Babych attempted a long pass out of the zone but it was intercepted by Joe Murphy, who went in alone on McLean and scored to claim Game One for Edmonton. The next evening, Kirk McLean registered his second shutout in three games in a 4-0 Canucks win to even the series. Both games in Edmonton were close, but the Canucks had a goal disallowed in each game, which seemed to deflate them. The Oilers won 5-2 and 3-2 and the Canucks once again found themselves needing to win three in a row to win the series. It started to follow the same script: they built up a 4-0 first period lead in Game 5 before hanging on by the skin of their teeth to win 4-3. Back in Edmonton, Bill Ranford was simply unbeatable. The Canucks trailed 2-0 late in the third period before Esa Tikkanen iced it with an empty-net goal. The best season in franchise history had come to a disappointing end. But, as fans reassured themselves all summer, the great teams always suffer setbacks like these before finally winning the big prize.
If it was any consolation, the Canucks were pretty successful in post-season hardware. They didn't win the Stanley Cup, but Pavel Bure won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the year, Pat Quinn won the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year, and Ryan Walter won the Bud Light NHL Man of the Year for his work in the community. As well, Kirk McLean is runner-up for the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender) and is named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team.
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