Canucks–Ducks

Lore & Background

The Canucks were founded in 1945 as a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL). They won the President's Cup in their first season, and another in 1948. In 1952, the PCHL was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL), where the Canucks won four more league titles in 1958, 1960, 1969 and 1970. In 1960, the President's Cup was renamed the Lester Patrick Cup.

After a failed attempt to gain an expansion team in the NHL's first expansion in 1967, a group from Vancouver tried to move the financial struggling Oakland Seals to town in 1969. However, the NHL prevented the move. Prior to the 1970 NHL expansion, a Minneapolis based company, Medicor, purchased the WHL Canucks, and an expansion franchise was granted for the NHL beginning in the 1970–71 season. The Canucks have not enjoyed the same success in the NHL, having thus far been unable to capture the Stanley Cup; as of the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, they are tied with the Buffalo Sabres as the longest continuously active franchises with zero titles.

The Canucks franchise has captured three conference titles, 1981–82, 1993–94, and 2010–11, and eleven division titles in its NHL history.

Reader's Guide

Year by year statistics for the NHL seasons are available from 1970–present. For the PCHL and WHL seasons, see Vancouver Canucks (WHL). Notes: a) Beginning in 1999, overtime losses were worth one point. As of the 2005–06 NHL season, all games will have a winner with ties eliminated; the OT column includes SOL. b) Season was shortened to 48 games due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout. c) Season was shortened to 48 games due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout. d) Season was suspended on March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. e) Season was shortened to 56 games due to the aforementioned COVID-19 pandemic. All-time records are correct as of the end of the 2024–25 NHL season.

The Long Road to an NHL Franchise

Vancouver's professional hockey story began in 1911, when Frank and Lester Patrick assembled the Vancouver Millionaires as a founding member of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The brothers commissioned the Denman Arena, then billed as the world's largest artificial ice rink, to house the club—though a 1936 fire destroyed it. The Millionaires chased the Stanley Cup five times and lifted it in 1915 by beating the Ottawa Senators on home ice, a first for any West Coast franchise.

After the team was absorbed into the Western Canada Hockey League in 1924 and folded at the end of the 1925–26 season, Vancouver was left with only minor-league clubs for four decades. The Pacific Coliseum opened in January 1968, and a 1967 NHL bid led by Fred Hume and Cyrus McLean was turned down; McLean called the result a "cooked-up deal." When the league vetoed an Oakland Seals relocation, it promised Vancouver a spot in the next expansion round.

Tom Scallen's group paid $6 million, purchased the WHL Canucks, and brought the name into the NHL alongside Buffalo for the 1970–71 season.

Three Finals, No Trophy

Despite decades of competitive play, the Canucks share a peculiar distinction with the Buffalo Sabres: they are the two oldest NHL franchises to have never hoisted the Stanley Cup. The team reached the championship series three times—falling to the New York Islanders in 1982, the New York Rangers in 1994, and the Boston Bruins in 2011—yet each appearance ended in heartbreak. Their regular-season dominance was undeniable: the Canucks captured the Presidents' Trophy in consecutive 2010–11 and 2011–12 campaigns, posting the league's best record both years. Division titles came in waves across three different alignments, including three Smythe Division crowns from 1974 to 1993, seven Northwest Division titles from 1998 to 2013, and a Pacific Division banner in 2024. The gap between that sustained excellence and the ultimate prize remains the defining tension in the franchise's narrative.

Six Numbers Frozen in the Rafters

The Canucks have retired exactly six jerseys, a small constellation of legends whose numbers now hang above the ice. Pavel Bure (10), Stan Smyl (12), Trevor Linden (16), Markus Naslund (19), Daniel Sedin (22), and Henrik Sedin (33) represent the franchise's most enduring icons. Five of the six—everyone except Bure and Daniel Sedin—wore the captain's "C" at some point, underscoring how leadership and stardom often walked hand in hand in Vancouver. Five of the six—everyone except Naslund—were members of one of the three Stanley Cup Final rosters, tying their careers directly to the team's closest brushes with the championship. Stan Smyl holds a unique place in that group: he is the only Canuck whose number was retired at the Pacific Coliseum, the franchise's original home before the move to what is now Rogers Arena.

Building a Roster from Scratch

The 1970 expansion draft set the tone for a franchise still finding its identity. A June 9 lottery pitted Vancouver against Buffalo for the first overall pick in both the expansion and amateur drafts; the Sabres won both spins, selecting Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault. Canucks general manager Bud Poile used his first expansion selection on defenceman Gary Doak, while centre Orland Kurtenbach was named the club's inaugural captain. Two days later, Dale Tallon became the franchise's first-ever amateur draft choice, though he played only three seasons before a trade to Chicago.

The team's inaugural game came on October 9, 1970, against the Los Angeles Kings. Vancouver fell 3–1, but defenceman Barry Wilkins etched his name into history with a backhander against Denis DeJordy—the first goal ever scored by a Canuck. Two days later, a 5–3 win over Toronto gave the young franchise its first victory. The early years were rough: the Canucks missed the playoffs in each of their first four seasons.