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Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional National Hockey League ice hockey team based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Franchise History In 1945 the Pacific Coast Hockey League established an ice hockey franchise in the city of Vancouver. Known as the Canucks, they immediately enjoyed success by winning the PCHL championship in only their second year of existence. In 1952, the PCHL merged with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League to form the professional Western Hockey League. With numerous star players coming through the ranks like Johnny Bower, Andy Bathgate, Tony Esposito, Don Cherry and Phil Maloney , the Canucks won the Lester Patrick Cup in 1958, 1960, 1969 and 1970. In 1965, when the NHL announced plans to expand to six additional markets (soon to be known as the Expansion Six), the WHL's Canucks owner and former Vancouver mayor Fred Hume announced that the city of Vancouver would apply. However, the presentation to the NHL's Board of Governors was sloppily prepared. Because of this, and the fact that the Vancouver ownership group was disliked by Chicago Blackhawks owner Jassmes Norris and Toronto Maple Leafs owner Stafford Smythe (who hated Vancouver in general because of a failed arena plan), the application did not succeed. Nevertheless, the Pacific Coliseum, which was to be the first home for a prospective Vancouver team, was built on the grounds of the Vancouver Exhibition . In 1970, another Vancouver ownership group bought the minor-league Canucks and, after much negotiating, the Canucks joined the NHL for the price of $6 million. Interestingly, the Canucks were placed in the East Division to maintain parity between the two divisions (more interesting was the fact that the Blackhawks moved from the East Division to the West Division the same year). The Canucks have been to the Stanley Cup finals twice in its franchise history. Its first trip was in 1982, when they were swept 4 games to none by the New York Islanders. In 1994, the Canucks made an improbable trip to the finals, entering that year's playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. The Canucks played against the New York Rangers in the 1994 finals, and lost 4 games to 3 in what was one of the most exciting Stanley Cup finals in NHL history. One of the more notable fans of the team is Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger. Expansion team established in May of 1970 after an unsuccessful bid in 1967.
Logo and jersey history
Ironically, the name "Canuck" has nothing to do with the current logo of the Canucks. Canuck is slang for a Canadian person in the way "Yank" is for an American, but the whale logo that is currently used stems from the fact that the team is owned by a whaling company. Ownership
Players of NoteHall of Famers
Team Captains
Current stars
Not to be forgotten
Retired Numbers
(Note: Wayne Maki's number 11 was unofficially retired by the Canucks organization following his untimely death in May 1974.) External links
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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