Yes, folks, as one poster put it to me, if you are a fan of the Vancouver Canucks, you love pain. Talk about utter inability to do anything properly. It is true, however, that Vancouver has won the Stanley Cup once, in 1915. See below: "Vancouver has a very rich hockey tradition. Professional hockey has been played in the city almost continuously since 1911. The city's first professional team, the Vancouver Millionaires, played for the Stanley Cup five times, winning the prized trophy in 1915. It was also home to one of the first artificial ice arenas in North America. After the Millionaires disbanded in 1924, Vancouver was a top minor league city for many years, most notably by the Vancouver Canucks, who played from 1945 to 1970 in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and minor professional Western Hockey League. In 2000 the Vancouver Giants joined the major junior Western Hockey League." This thread is discuss how the Canucks have screwed up yet again. There will be no dearth of material for discussion, I assure you.
The Canucks were granted a franchise by the NHL in 1970. That's right, 38 years ago. In all that time, they have reached the finals twice, but never won.
They are probably most recognized for the "Halloween" type jerseys they wore. Here is a picture of it along with their other jerseys over the years. [image=http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/britishcolumbia/images/top-canucks-all.jpg]
The original's not so bad...that's the blue and green one. But that Hallowe'en one is godawful. I heard they hired a consultant on that one. Obviously a stoned one, not uncommon in Vancouver in those days (and in these).
So, then, first year (1970). Vancouver tossed a coin with the other new franchise, Buffalo (which, to be fair, hasn't won a Stanley Cup either), and Buffalo won the toss (surprise). They drafted Gilbert Perrault. Vancouver took Dale Tallon.
I'm wrong; they spun a wheel: The Vancouver Canucks first season They still lost, and established the foundation of a long history of bad, bad, bad drafting.
Yes, very interesting indeed how the Sabres got the first pick. Here is the original Canucks logo: [image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2b/VancouverCanucks1970s.png/150px-VancouverCanucks1970s.png]
Its because the NHL governing body has all but outlawed the one thing that makes the NHL worth watching: Punch-ups! And the Canucks have produced some hellacious Enforcers in the past...
It is, hockey players will find an excuse to fight. Hell, encourage em as long as they can play the damn game too! I can speak from experience, NHL games these days are less fun than AHL games because of the glut of idiotic rules. Ive been to many a Wolves game where the fans damn near riot because of a lack of fighting. Now, not to bash the Canucks, but ever since 82 you kind of have doomed yourselves with Towel Power. That is basically a gesture of surrender you know...
They're winning their pre-season games, which means they will start losing, and losing badly, once the season starts.
Without Nazzy, I no longer have any interest in the 'Nucks. Except for my annual trip to Vancouver to see them play the Red Wings.
First game, home opener: Against Calgary Vancouver wins 6-0. Vancouver didn't play particularly well (barring Luongo), but Calgary managed to play worse. The next game is against Calgary at home. I suspect the outcome will be different.
Finally! The Canucks have a typical outing: 5-1 loss to Washington, having had only 10 shots the entire game. Bravo!
