All-Time Team: Vancouver Canucks (1970-present)

  Blast off! It's hockey time! Last week we looked at my picks for an all-time team for Pittsburgh, so now we'll go over the all-time fantasy roster for my favourite NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. I've been a Canucks fan for much of my life, I own several of their jerseys, I buy a Canucks calendar pretty much every year (you know, those calendars that show players half of whom are no longer with the team by the time their month comes 'round), and I keep my eye on them even though I don't watch their games as frequently as I used to.

  As usual we'll begin with a brief history. The Vancouver Canucks entered the NHL in 1970 along with the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo ended up winning first draw on both the amateur draft and the expansion draft, taking future Hall of Famer Gilbert Perrault. For some dumb reason Vancouver was lumped in with the East division. The competition here was fierce and the new expansion team didn't stand much of a chance, missing the playoffs in each of its first four seasons. Thankfully the league was reorganized, putting the Canucks in a much fairer position in the Smythe division; the team immediately won its first division title and earned its first playoff berth. By the end of their second playoff run in 1976, the team's original core – Orland Kurtenbach, Andre Boudrias, Jocelyn Guevremont – had left. Though there were good players around, the team was kind of directionless. And yet despite several years of awful regular season efforts the Canucks did make the playoffs six years in a row from 1979-1984. This was mostly due to the fact that there was usually one or two teams in the Smythe division that were even worse than Vancouver, usually Colorado or Winnipeg.

  Although the Canucks were pretty bad in the 1980's they still fielded some talented forwards who could put out a decent amount of points. By far the most exciting thing to come Vancouver's way in this time was their Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1982. Despite never winning a playoff series before and going into the postseason with a losing record, the 'Nucks swiftly defeated the Calgary Flames, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Chicago Blackhawks while losing only two games in the process. This was largely thanks to stellar play from Stan Smyl, Thomas Gradin, and the dependable goaltender Richard Brodeur. Unfortunately they had to face off against the juggernaut New York Islanders in the finals and were swept in four games.

  The late 80's were tough for Canucks fans. The team was about as bad as it was in the early 70's, and it only made the playoffs twice (1986, 1989). After joining Vancouver as its general manager and president in 1987 Pat Quinn set the team on course for a rebuild, trading for players like Greg Adams and goaltender Kirk McLean and drafting players like Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure.

  This was a huge turning point in Canucks history. McLean proved to be a top-tier goalie. Linden was a fine scorer and excellent leader. And Pavel Bure became the team's first bona fide superstar, winning the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie in 1991-92 and following it up with back-to-back 60-goal seasons. As a result, Vancouver jumped up from a 65 point season in 1990-91 to 96 in 1991-92, earning Quinn an award for coach of the year. The early 90's rocked for Canucks fans; they played an exciting game and easily made the playoffs. In 1994, the team once again struck forth into the Stanley Cup finals. Though they battled hard, defeating the Flames, the Dallas Stars, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, they fell to the New York Rangers by just one goal in the last possible game.

  From this point the Canucks began to decline. Despite some promising acquisitions (and some wasteful ones, i.e. Mark Messier) the team missed the playoffs every year from 1997-2000. The only good news from this period is that the 'Nucks got some good draft picks in 2000: Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin. At the turn of the century, the team showed signs of improvement. The big name stars had all gone, leaving room for development in the lesser-known players. This included the high-scoring West Coast Express line of Brendan Morrison, Todd Bertuzzi, and Markus Naslund. The early-2000's saw the team return to division-contending, playoff-battling form. Despite impressive individual heroics of various players, the Canucks were unable to advance past the second round of the playoffs, mostly due to stiff competition and just plain bad luck. After the 2004-05 lockout, Vancouver was unable to return to the playoffs for the first time in four years.

  The mid-to-late 2000's were a time of restructuring for the Canucks. Older talents were traded away, the Sedin twins' offensive game had exploded, the defensive corps was rebuilt, and Roberto Luongo – then arguably the best goaltender in the league – was acquired. The team's fortunes increased dramatically (despite faltering out of a playoff spot for a couple seasons). From 2008-2009 to 2012-2013 the Canucks were quite simply one of the best teams in the NHL. They topped the league standings twice and numerous players won individual league awards. The biggest story of this period is the Canucks' third trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 2011. After knocking out the Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, and San Jose Sharks, the 'Nucks ran out of gas, putting up a pathetic (albeit 7-game) effort against the eventual champions, the Boston Bruins.

  The 2010-11 season was the high point of the dominant Vancouver team, and the beginning of a slow decline. Since 2013 the team has made the playoffs only once. Since 2015-16 the Canucks have been firmly committed to rebuilding, so don't expect anything amazing any time soon! Sure they suck now but as I always say, “Canucks will be Canucks”.

  In their 46 seasons in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks have made the playoffs 27 times and won 10 division titles, 2 President's Trophies, and have made 3 Stanley Cup finals appearances. And while they have yet to capture Lord Stanley's Cup, they do lead the league in uniform changes. That's cool, right? So today I'm here to see what the ideal all-time roster of Canucks players would look like. The rules: only the players performances as members of the Canucks will count, and each player needs to have played at least 200 games with the team. Let's dive in!

Forwards

L-R: Bure, Naslund, Williams

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Daniel Sedin (2000-present)	Henrik Sedin (2000-present)	Pavel Bure (1991-98)
Markus Naslund (1996-2008)	Trevor Linden (1988-1997, 2001-08)	Stan Smyl (1978-91)
Tony Tanti (1983-90)	Ryan Kesler (2003-14)	Todd Bertuzzi (1998-2006)
Gino Odjick (1990-98)	Matt Cooke (1998-2008)	Tiger Williams (1980-84)

The first line puts together three 100-point players known for their speed, scoring, and playmaking ability. Sure this line is devoid of physicality, but just the thought of having Bure play with the Sedin twins is enough to make any Canucks fan salivate. The second line puts together three players who were both the longest-serving captains in team history and at one point were the highest scoring players in team history. In addition to scoring ability, Naslund brings powerplay prowess and Smyl adds toughness. On the third line we have power forward Bertuzzi, two-way forward Kesler, and goal-scoring powerplay specialist Tanti. With the fourth line I broke the rules a bit (reassigned positions) and gooned it up with enforcers Odjick and Williams and pest Cooke (featured previously on the all-time Penguins lineup).

Honourable Mentions: Thomas Gradin, Alex Mogilny, Sergio Momesso, Brendan Morrison

Defencemen

L-R: Ohlund, Snepsts

Doug Lidster (1984-93)	Jyrki Lumme (1990-98)
Matthias Ohlund (1997-2009)	Ed Jovanovski (1999-2006)
Kevin Bieksa (2005-15)	Harold Snepsts (1974-84, 1988-90)

The first defensive pairing consists of what I think are the best offensively gifted blueliners the Canucks have had: Lidster and Lumme. From a purely defensive viewpoint, I do think the second pairing, Ohlund and Jovanovski, are the greatest defencemen Vancouver has ever had. Ohlund brought excellent positional play and Jovo was a very good hitter and skater. The third pair benefits from Bieksa's toughness and leadership and Snepsts's intensity and killer moustache.

Honourable Mentions: Garth Butcher, Dennis Kearns, Sami Salo

Goaltenders

Luongo

Roberto Luongo (2006-14)

Kirk McLean (1987-98)

No contest here. While Captain Kirk was a beast in the playoffs, there's no denying the astonishing accomplishments of Lou. A 0.919 save percentage, a 0.56 win percentage, six seasons of 30-plus wins (including a career-high of 47), four seasons of 60-plus games played (including a career-high of 76), and the first goalie to be named an NHL team captain since the late 1940's.