| 1970–71Vancouver Canucks | |
|---|---|
| Division | 6thEast |
| 1970–71 record | 24–46–8 |
| Home record | 17–18–4 |
| Road record | 7–28–4 |
| Goals for | 229 |
| Goals against | 296 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Bud Poile |
| Coach | Hal Laycoe |
| Captain | Orland Kurtenbach |
| Alternate captains | Ray Cullen Gary Doak Garth Rizzuto |
| Arena | Pacific Coliseum |
| Average attendance | 15,577 |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Rosaire Paiement (34) |
| Assists | Dale Tallon (42) |
| Points | Andre Boudrias (66) |
| Penalty minutes | Rosaire Paiement (152) |
| Wins | Charlie Hodge (15) |
| Goals against average | George Gardner (3.38) |
1971–72 → | |
The1970–71Vancouver Canucks season was the Canucks' first in theNational Hockey League (NHL). They joined the league on May 22, 1970, along with theBuffalo Sabres. After not being awarded an expansion team in1967 when the league added six teams, Vancouver finally joined the NHL in 1970 for a price of $6 million (compared to $2 million in 1967[1]). The Vancouver Canucks of theWestern Hockey League were promoted to the NHL, though the ownership group of the WHL Canucks, not willing to pay the $6 million to join the NHL, sold the team to Medicor, a group controlled byThomas Scallen.[2]
The Canucks logo was a stylizedC designed as a hockey stick inside a rink incorporating the colours of blue, green and white to represent the water, forests and snow surrounding Vancouver.[3] It was designed by a local creative designer, Joe Borovich, and bought for $500.[4]
During theAmateur draft, held on June 11 in Montreal, there was debate over what expansion team would draft first. In order to reach a compromise, a numbered spinning wheel was brought in to determine the draft: the Sabres were odd numbers, the Canucks even. When the wheel landed on 11, the Canucks and NHL PresidentClarence Campbell thought it was II (two) in Roman numerals. However it turned out to be 11 (eleven) in Arabic numerals, leading the Sabres to select first overall future superstarGilbert Perreault.[2]
On October 9, 1970, the Canucks played their first game in the NHL, a 3–1 loss to theLos Angeles Kings. There was a grand opening ceremony attended byBritish Columbia PremierW. A. C. Bennett,Mayor of VancouverTom Campbell (who was booed by fans),Chief Dan George[3] and formerVancouver Millionaires playerCyclone Taylor, who received a standing ovation upon being introduced.[2]Barry Wilkins scored the first goal for the Canucks in the third period.[2]
Inexplicably, the Canucks were placed in theEast Division, which was not only the tougher division but featured opponents over 2,000 miles away from Vancouver. (The Canucks were nearly a .500 team at home, but could only win seven of 39 road games.) Throughout the first three months of the season, though, the expansion club managed to stay within contention of a playoff spot, until captainOrland Kurtenbach injured his knee in late December. The Canucks would finish their inaugural season with six 20-goal scorers, and Tallon would breakBobby Orr's rookie record for defenseman assists,[3] but 11-30-5 mark to end the season placed them only one point out of last place.[2]
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 57 | 14 | 7 | 399 | 207 | +192 | 121 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 78 | 49 | 18 | 11 | 259 | 177 | +82 | 109 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 291 | 216 | +75 | 97 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 37 | 33 | 8 | 248 | 211 | +37 | 82 |
| 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 24 | 39 | 15 | 217 | 291 | −74 | 63 |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 24 | 46 | 8 | 229 | 296 | −67 | 56 |
| 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 22 | 45 | 11 | 209 | 308 | −99 | 55 |
Vs. East Division[edit]
| Vs. West Division[edit]
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| 1970–71 regular season[7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 3–6–2 (home: 3–2–2; road: 0–4–0)
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November: 6–7–1 (home: 3–1–0; road: 3–6–1)
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December: 5–7–0 (home: 4–2–0; road: 1–5–0)
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January: 1–10–2 (home: 0–6–1; road: 1–4–1)
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February: 3–7–1 (home: 3–3–1; road: 0–4–0)
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March: 5–8–2 (home: 4–3–0; road: 1–5–2)
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April: 1–1–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 1–0–0)
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | # | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| Andre Boudrias | 7 | 77 | 25 | 41 | 66 | 16 | -- | – | – | – | – | ||
| Wayne Maki | 11 | 78 | 25 | 38 | 63 | 99 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Rosaire Paiement | 15 | 78 | 34 | 28 | 62 | 152 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Murray Hall | 23 | 77 | 21 | 38 | 59 | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Dale Tallon | 19 | 78 | 14 | 42 | 56 | 58 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Orland Kurtenbach | 25 | 52 | 21 | 32 | 53 | 84 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Mike Corrigan | 12 | 76 | 21 | 32 | 53 | 103 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ray Cullen | 10 | 70 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 42 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Poul Popiel | 18 | 78 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 61 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ted Taylor | 16 | 56 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 53 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Dan Johnson | 8 | 66 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Barry Wilkins | 4 | 50 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 131 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Pat Quinn | 3 | 76 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 149 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Gary Doak | 2 | 77 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 112 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Bobby Schmautz | 9 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Garth Rizzuto | 22 | 37 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Danny Seguin† | 17 | 25 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 46 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| John Schella | 5 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 58 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Len Lunde | – | 20 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ed Hatoum | – | 26 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Jim Wiste | – | 23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Howie Young | – | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Marc Reaume | – | 27 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Darryl Sly | – | 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ralph Stewart | – | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Jim Hargreaves | – | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ken Block | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Bob Cook | – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| John Arbour* | – | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| George Gardner | 30 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Charlie Hodge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Dunc Wilson | 30 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Vancouver. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.
*Denotes player traded by Vancouver midway through the season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | # | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA | GP | Min | W | L | GA | SO | GAA | ||
| George Gardner | 30 | 18 | 922 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 52 | 0 | 3.38 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Charlie Hodge | 1 | 35 | 1967 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 112 | 0 | 3.41 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Dunc Wilson | 30 | 35 | 1793 | 3 | 25 | 2 | 128 | 0 | 4.28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
Note: Only records that stand as of2020–21 are listed
The Canucks were involved in the followingtransactions during the 1970–71 season.[8]
| June 10, 1970 | ToVancouver Canucks John Arbour | ToPittsburgh Penguins Cash |
| December 3, 1970 | To Vancouver Canucks Cash | ToSt. Louis Blues John Arbour |
| May 25, 1971 | To Vancouver Canucks Gregg Boddy | ToMontreal Canadiens Cash 3rd round pick (Jim Cahoon) in1971 NHL amateur draft |
Vancouver's picks at the1970 NHL expansion draft. In order to fill out the rosters of both the Canucks andBuffalo Sabres, they were given the opportunity to select eighteen skaters and two goaltenders from the unprotected lists of existing NHL team's rosters.[3] Teams were allowed to protect several players from being drafted, and as such kept many of their star players, leaving the Canucks and Sabres with lesser quality players to choose from. The draft was held on June 9, 1970, at theQueen Elizabeth Hotel inMontreal, Canada. Using a spinning wheel to determine the order of the expansion draft, Buffalo had the first choice.[3]
| # | Player | Drafted from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gary Doak (D) | Boston Bruins |
| 2. | Orland Kurtenbach (C) | New York Rangers |
| 3. | Ray Cullen (C) | Minnesota North Stars |
| 4. | Pat Quinn (D) | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 5. | Rosaire Paiement (C) | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 6. | Wayne Maki (LW) | St. Louis Blues |
| 7. | Barry Wilkins (D) | Boston Bruins |
| 8. | Andre Boudrias (C) | St. Louis Blues |
| 9. | Mike Corrigan (LW) | Los Angeles Kings |
| 10. | Poul Popiel (D) | Detroit Red Wings |
| 11. | Dan Johnson (C) | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 12. | Garth Rizzuto (C) | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 13. | Ed Hatoum (RW) | Detroit Red Wings |
| 14. | Jim Wiste (C) | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 15. | Howie Young (D) | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 16. | Darryl Sly (D) | Minnesota North Stars |
| 17. | Ralph Stewart (C) | St. Louis Blues |
| 18. | John Arbour (D) | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 19. | Charlie HodgeG | Oakland Seals |
| 20. | Dunc Wilson (G) | Philadelphia Flyers |
Vancouver's picks at the1970 NHL amateur draft.[9] The draft was held on June 11, 1970, at theQueen Elizabeth Hotel inMontreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Dale Tallon (D) |  Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 2 | 16 | Jim Hargreaves (D) | Canada | Winnipeg Jets (WCHL) |
| 3 | 30 | Ed Dyck (G) | Canada | Calgary Centennials (WCHL) |
| 4 | 44 | Brent Taylor (RW) | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) |
| 5 | 58 | Bill McFadden | Canada | Swift Current Broncos (WCHL) |
| 6 | 72 | Dave Gilmour (LW) | Canada | London Knights (OHA) |
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