1998-1999: A SEASON TO FORGET -- ON AND OFF THE ICE
It had been many years since expectations were so low going into a season. If the previous season's troubles weren't bad enough, it was looking more and more like Pavel Bure would not be back. He seemed prepared to sit out and demand a trade, despite having a year remaining on his contract. The General Managing controversy was put to an end, as NHL Vice-President and former Canucks Director of Hockey Operations Brian Burke accepted the job. The soap opera in Vancouver had taken a new twist, as it was speculated that the style of the headstrong Burke would clash with the equally headstrong Mike Keenan. Burke put these rumors to rest by stating that it was "an honor" to have Keenan as his coach. With Bure not reporting to camp, it was assumed that more production would be needed from Alexander Mogilny, who had battled through a season that included a holdout, injuries, and general lack of production. The biggest question mark seemed to be in goal, where neither Garth Snow nor Corey Hirsch was thought to be capable of winning the number one job.
With so many questions in the air, the season began on Oct 12 and the Canucks got off to a good start, beating the visiting Kings 3-2. Two games later, the goaltending situation seemed to clear up a bit when Garth Snow turned in a spectacular 45-save performance on national television, backstopping the Canucks to a 4-1 win over the visiting Maple Leafs. The game also featured the return to GM Place of deposed GM Pat Quinn, who was now coaching Toronto. This was the first of many games during the season that would be stolen by the goaltending. The lunch-pale gang continued to plug away. On October 23 Mark Messier recorded his 600th NHL goal, beating ex-Canuck Kirk McLean, in a 5-0 win in Florida. Just before Christmas, the Canucks swept a home-and-home series with Calgary to move within two points of .500 (13-15-4), but in the December 22 game in Calgary Mark Messier went head-first into the goal post and suffered a concussion, which would bother him for the rest of the season. Without him, the team would limp through the next four weeks, going 1-8-2 in its next 11 games. On January 17, Burke finally made the big trade. Bure, Bret Hedican, D Brad Ference and a second-round draft pick were sent to Florida for G Kevin Weekes, D Ed Jovanovski, RW Dave Gagner, C Mike Brown, and a first-round draft pick. In the first game after the deal, the Canucks played probably their best game of the season, winning 6-4 in Dallas. Two nights later, they had perhaps their worst outing of the season, losing 4-1 in Nashville. Mike Keenan was fired and replaced with ex-Canuck Marc Crawford. The season never got on track again, though. Markus Naslund was a pleasant surprise with 36 goals and 68 points, and D Adrian Aucoin shattered all expectations by scoring 24 goals (breaking Doug Halward's club record for defensemen of 19) and tied Denis Potvin's NHL record for power-play goals by a defenseman with 18. On April 12, Garth Snow turned in another stellar performance and recorded his sixth shutout of the season in a 2-0 win in Calgary, tying Gary Smith's 24-year-old club record. These pleasant moments took some of the sting out of an otherwise embarrassing campaign. The 58-point finish was the team's lowest in a full season since 1977-78 and the winning percentage of .354 was the team's lowest since 1972-73. As well, the 196 goals scored marked the first full season that the team failed to reach 200.
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