Vancouver Canucks (WHL)



''This article is about the minor league team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League from 1945 to 1970. For the National Hockey League team of the same name, please see Vancouver Canucks.''

The Vancouver Canucks were a minor league professional team in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. Inaugurated in 1945 with the PCHL, they became a WHL team with the merger of the PCHL with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League in 1951. The Canucks played their final season in the WHL after 25 years in 1969-70 before joining the National Hockey League along with fellow expansion team, the Buffalo Sabres.

The Vancouver Canucks won 6 President's/Lester Patrick Cups (the trophy was renamed in 1960 after the death of Lester Patrick) – 2 PCHL titles (1946 and 1948) and 4 WHL titles (1958, 1960, 1969 and 1970). They were also regular season champions 4 times. They played home games in the PNE Forum arena at the Pacific National Exhibition in east Vancouver, before moving for their last two seasons into the Pacific Coliseum just to the north.

They won the 1945-46 United States National Senior Championship. The Canucks, although in Canada, were eligible for this title because the PCHL was registered in the United States.

Players
Five Canucks players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Andy Bathgate (inducted in 1978) played with Vancouver for four years (1952-54 and 1968-70) and was on the team for their final two championships. In 1969-70, he recorded 108 points in 72 games, earning the George Leader Cup as league MVP. Johnny Bower, Tony Esposito, Allan Stanley and Gump Worsley – all Hall of Fame inductees – have all played one season with the Canucks.

Coaches
1948–49: Bill Cowley 1949–50: Bill Carse 1950–51: Bill Carse replaced by Murph Chamberlain 1951–52: Murph Chamberlain; replaced by Hugh Currie; replaced by Joe Carveth 1959–61: Art Chapman 1961–62: Phil Maloney (11–35–3); replaced by Hugh Currie (7–13–1) (February 7, 1962) 1962–63: Max McNab 1966–67: Bert Olmstead 1967–68: Jim Gregory 1968–69: Joe Crozier 1969–70: Joe Crozier; replaced by Hal Laycoe

General Managers
1948–49: Bill Cowley 1949–50: Coleman E. Hall 1950–51: -- 1960–61: Coley Hall 1961–62: Art Chapman (temp); replaced by Dave Dauphine (after Nov.) 1962–63: Max McNab 1967–68: Annis Stukus 1968–69: Joe Crozier 1969–70: Joe Crozier; replaced by Bud Poile

Presidents
1948–61: Coleman E. Hall 1962–63: Fred J. Hume (owner) 1968–69: Cyrus McLean 1969–70: Cyrus McLean; replaced by Thomas K. Scallen

Hall of Famers

 * Players
 * Andy Bathgate, C, 1952-54 & 1968-70, inducted 1978
 * Johnny Bower, G, 1954-55, inducted 1976
 * Tony Esposito, G, 1967-68, inducted 1988
 * Allan Stanley, D, 1953-54, inducted 1981
 * Gump Worsley, G, 1953-54, inducted 1980

WHL League Award Winners
George Leader Cup - MVP
 * Players
 * Emile Francis, G, 1952-53
 * Lorne Worsley, G, 1953-54
 * Phil Maloney, F, 1955-56
 * Hank Bassen, G, 1959-60
 * Phil Maloney, F, 1962-63
 * Billy McNeill, F, 1964-65
 * Billy McNeill, F, 1965-66
 * Andy Bathgate, F, 1969-70

WHL Leading Rookie
 * Orland Kurtenbach, D, 1957-58
 * Bruce Gamble, G, 1958-59
 * Jim Baird, G, 1961-62
 * Gilles Villemure, G, 1962-66
 * Ron Boehm, F, 1966-67
 * Brad Selwood, F, 1969-70

Fred J. Hume Cup - Most Gentlemanly Player
 * Phil Maloney, F, 1961-62
 * Phil Maloney, F, 1962-63
 * Phil Maloney, F, 1967-68

Hal Laycoe Cup - Outstanding Defenseman
 * Larry Cahan, D, 1966-67
 * Marc Reaume, D, 1969-70

WHL Leading Scorer
 * Phil Maloney, F, 1955-56 (95 points)

WHL Leading Goaltender
 * Emile Francis, G, 1952-53 GA-216  GAA-3.08
 * Lorne Worsley, G, 1953-54 GA-168  GAA-2.40
 * Johnny Bower, G, 1954-55 GA-63  GAA-1.71
 * Ray Mikulan, G, 1955-56 GA-181  GAA-2.54
 * Marcel Pelletier, G, 1957-58 GA-173  GAA-2.43
 * Hank Bassen, G, 1959-60 GA-172  GAA-2.48
 * George Gardner, G, 1969-70 GA-171  GAA-2.88

Season Standings
GP  W   L   T  Pts   GF  GA  PIM   Finish/#teams 1952-53   70  32  28  10   74  222 216  717    2nd of 8 1953-54   70  39  24   7   84  218 174  613    1st of 7 1954-55   70  31  30   9   74  207 202  770    3rd of 6 1955-56   70  38  28   4   80  252 181  729    1st of 4 in division, 9 teams total 1956-57   70  27  37   6   60  203 231  697    4th of 4 in division, 8 teams total 1957-58   70  44  21   5   93  238 174  752    1st of 4 in division, 8 teams total 1958-59   70  31  28  11   73  219 214  592    1st of 5 in division, 9 teams total 1959-60   70  44  20   6   94  230 177  713    1st of 7 1960-61   70  38  29   3   79  208 191  495    4th of 8 1961-62   70  18  48   4   40  223 324  520    4th of 4 in division, 8 teams total 1962-63   70  35  31   4   74  243 234  565    1st of 4 in division, 8 teams total 1963-64   70  26  41   3   55  229 258  611    6th of 6 1964-65   70  32  32   6   70  263 244  922    3rd of 6 1965-66   72  33  35   4   71  252 233  718    3rd of 6 1966-67   72  38  32   2   78  228 215  636    3rd of 7 1967-68   72  26  41   5   57  213 258  746    5th of 5 1968-69   74  36  24  14   86  259 223  956    2nd of 6 1969-70   72  47  17   8  102  334 219 1030    1st of 7

League Playoff Champion
1957-58 - Vancouver Canucks, President's Cup 1959-60 - Vancouver Canucks, President's Cup 1968-69 - Vancouver Canucks, Lester Patrick Cup 1969-70 - Vancouver Canucks, Lester Patrick Cup

Total Points (Team, season)
Year       Player            GP   Goals  Assists  Pts   PIM   Leading scorer 1952-'53   Larry Popein      70     25     44      59    23    Ian MacIntosh, Walt Atanas - 28 1953-'54   Larry Popein      70     34     32      66    22    Larry Popein 1954-'55   Doug Adam         67     30     22      52    53    Doug Adam 1955-'56   Phil Maloney      70     37     58      95    14    Phil Maloney 1956-'57   Phil Maloney      70     43     55      98     8    Phil Maloney 1957-'58   Phil Maloney      70     35     59      94     0    Jack McLeod - 44* 1958-'59   Ted Hampson       66     27     41      68    23    Dan Belisle - 31 1959-'60   Colin Kilburn     70     23     47      70    79    Jim Powers - 30 1960-'61   Bruce Carmichael  70     30     47      77    36    and Dan Belisle - 30 1961-'62   Phil Maloney      70     34     52      86     2    Barrie Ross - 35 1962-'63   Phil Maloney      69     24     61      90     8    Carl "Buddy" Boone - 44* 1963-'64   Phil Maloney      65     28     53      81    38    Carl "Buddy" Boone - 38 1964-'65   Billy McNeill     68     29     59      88    86    and Phil Maloney - 29 1965-'66   Billy McNeill     72     40     62     102    20    Billy McNeill 1966-'67   Gordon Vejprava   71     36     46      82    27    Gordon Vejprava 1967-'68   Phil Maloney      72     22     46      68     6    Bruce Carmichael - 31 1968-'69   Bob Barlow        74     36     48      84    50    Andy Bathgate - 37 1969-'70   Andy Bathgate     72     40     68*    108*   66    Paul Andrea - 44* * - team record

Team record for PIM/season  - 251, John Arbor, 1969-'70

Total Points (Team, playoffs)
Year       Player              GP   Goals  Assists  Pts   PIM 1952-'53   Larry Popein         9      5     10      15     0 1953-'54   Charles McCullough  13      5      8      13     0 1954-'55   Phil Maloney         5      2      2       4     0 1955-'56   Phil Maloney        15      8      7      15     4 1957-'58   Phil Maloney        11      8     17*     25*    4 1958-'59   (three players tied with 7 points in 9 games) 1959-'60   Ray Cyr             11      5     11      16    11 1960-'61   Bruce Carmichael     9      3      3       6     2 1962-'63   Phil Maloney         7      2      7       9     0 Robert Kabel        7      5      4       9     2 1964-'65   Phil Maloney         5      1      5       6     0 Billy McNeill       5      2      4       6     0 1965-'66   Larry Cahan          7      4     12      16     4 1966-'67   Bryan Hextall        8      3      5       8    11 1968-'69   Bryan Hextall        8      4      7      11    22 1969-'70   Murray Hall         11     10     11      21    10 Gerry Goyer        11      5     16      21    12 * - team record Team record for goals/playoff - 14, Jack McLeod, 1957-'58 Team record for PIM/playoff  - 47, Ted McCaskill, 1969-'70

Goaltender Stats, season
Year       Player                GP    GA  EN  SO  GAA    W   L   T   SVS   .PC 1952-'53   Emile Francis         70   216       5  3.09  32  28  10               - won Outstanding Goalkeeper 1953-'54   Lorne "Gump" Worsley  70   168       4  2.40  39  24   7               - won Outstanding Goalkeeper 1954-'55   Johnny Bower          63   171       7  2.71  30  25   8               - won Outstanding Goalkeeper 1955-'56   Ray Mikulan           71   181          2.54                           - won Outstanding Goalkeeper 1956-'57   Ray Mikulan           71   231   0   4  3.25               1772  .885 1957-'58   Marcel Pelletier      71   173   0   8* 2.43               1749  .910* - won Outstanding Goalkeeper 1958-'59   Bruce Gamble          65   199   2   7  3.06  29  26  20   1630  .891 1959-'60   Hank Bassen           69   172       5  2.45  44  19   6               - won Outstanding Goalkeeper 1960-'61   Claude Evans          53   147       6  2.77  27  23   3 1961-'62   Claude Evans          40   165       2  4.08  11  26   3 Art LaRiviere        23 1962-'63   Gilles Villemure      70   228       5  3.26  35  31   4 1963-'64   Marcel Paille         70   254       2  3.60  26  41   3 1964-'65   Gilles Villemure      60   212       6  3.46  27  26   6 1965-'66   Gilles Villemure      69   223       5  3.20  32  34   3 1966-'67   Don Simmons           72   213   1   7  2.95  38  32   2 1967-'68   Tony Esposito         63   199   0   4  3.20  25  33   4 Jean-Guy Morissette  11    58   0   0  5.45   1   8   1 1968-'69   George Gardner        53   154   2   2  3.01  25  18   9 Charlie Hodge        13    32   1   0  2.54   7   2   4 Al Millar            12    34   0   0  3.52   4   4   1 1969-'70   George Gardner        60   171   0   3  2.88  41  14   6               - won Outstanding Goalkeeper Lynn Zimmerman       13    48   0   0  3.78