Stan Smyl

Stanley Philip Smyl (born January 28, 1958 in Glendon, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian former player. He was a member of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks for his entire career, until he retired in 1991. His number 12 was the first retired number in Canucks' history (Trevor Linden's number 16 was retired on December 17, 2008), currently hanging from the rafters of General Motors Place in Vancouver (initially raised at the Pacific Coliseum). A long-time team captain and nicknamed "the Steamer", he is considered one of the most popular Canucks of all time. Until the 2003–04 NHL season, he held many offensive scoring records on the team.

Junior Career
Smyl played junior hockey for the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL)'s New Westminster Bruins, beginning in 1975, when he debuted in 3 playoff games for the Bruins. The following season, Smyl put up 74 points in 72 games as the Bruins captured the President's Cup as WCHL champions. Earning a spot in the 1976 Memorial Cup, they lost the Canadian Major Junior title to the Hamilton Fincups.

In 1976–77, New Westminster repeated as President's Cup champions as Smyl posted 66 points in the regular season, then 13 points in 13 playoff games. Returning to the Memorial Cup, the Bruins defeated the Ottawa 67's in the championship game. After winning his third consecutive President's Cup with the Bruins, Smyl was named the Memorial Cup MVP and received tournament All-Star Team honours as the Bruins captured their second consecutive Memorial Cup. After a decorated season with the Bruins, his final year of junior, Smyl was in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft by the Vancouver Canucks 40th overall in the 3rd Round.

Vancouver Canucks
Upon being drafted, Smyl played 3 games for the Central Hockey League's Dallas Black Hawks in 1978–79. After being promoted to the Canucks, he scored 14 goals and 38 points in 62 games as a rookie on a line that included fellow rookies Thomas Gradin and Curt Fraser. He also proved to be physical, earning 89 penalty minutes as well.

After posting 78 points in 1981–82, Smyl and the Canucks entered the playoffs with a losing record. However, joined by stars Thomas Gradin and Richard Brodeur, Smyl and the Canucks embarked on a run to the Stanley Cup Finals – the franchise's first finals appearance – against the New York Islanders dynasty. Despite forcing game one to overtime, the Canucks were swept by the Islanders. Smyl accumulated 19 points in 18 playoff games, second in team scoring to Thomas Gradin.

The next season, in 1982–83, Smyl was named captain of the Canucks (succeeding Kevin McCarthy), a position he held for the next eight years. He registered a club record and career-high 88 points that season, though it was broken by Patrik Sundstrom's 91 points in 1983–84. The Canucks would make the playoffs the following two seasons after their Stanley Cup run in 1982, but would fail to make it past the first round.

After recording eight consecutive 20-plus goal seasons, Smyl's production dipped to 12 goals and 37 points in 1987–88 (however, Smyl only played in 57 games). The following year, Smyl appeared in his last playoffs with the Canucks, as well as his first in five years. The Canucks were eliminated by the Calgary Flames in the first round in seven games. Smyl was held goalless in the series, but he had two glorious chances to win the series for the Canucks in overtime of the seventh game. He hit the goalpost on a wrap-around attempt and later was stopped by Mike Vernon on a breakaway.

In 1989–90, Smyl played his last season as team captain and recorded 16 points in 47 games. At the start of the next season, Smyl resigned his captaincy and it was split throughout the season between Dan Quinn, Doug Lidster and Trevor Linden (the captaincy would be retained by Linden). After managing 14 points in 45 games, Smyl retired at the end of the 1990–91 season.

Smyl retired with Canucks franchise records in virtually every statistical category – games, goals, assists, and points. His records would stand for more than a decade until Trevor Linden surpassed Smyl's goals mark in 2002–03, his points and games played marks in 2003–04, and his assists mark in 2006–07 (Markus Näslund would, in turn, surpass Linden's marks in goals and points).

Post-playing Career
The day of his retirement, July 3, 1991, also marked the start of a 13-year coaching career, as he was named assistant coach of the Canucks. He would hold this position until the 1999–00 season, when he was hired as head coach of the Canucks' minor league affiliate, the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch. During his time as an assistant coach, the Canucks would stage another Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals, in 1994, which was captained by Trevor Linden, but fell in 7 to the New York Rangers. The series brought both Smyl and former teammate Rangers Assistant Coach Colin Campbell, who like Smyl, was part of the Canucks' Cinderella run of 1982.

After a .500 season with the Crunch, he was moved to the International Hockey League to coach the Kansas City Blades, also a Canucks affiliate. When the IHL folded following Smyl's first season with the Blades, he was moved to the American Hockey League to coach the Manitoba Moose. He remained with the Moose for three seasons and coached them to the second round in 2002–03.

He later returned to the Canucks as Director of Player Development. After general manager Mike Gillis took over from Dave Nonis after the 2007–08 season, Smyl's position was taken over by former Canuck player Dave Gagner and Smyl was re-assigned as Director of Collegiate Scouting. However, before the 2008–09 season began, on September 11, 2008, Smyl was re-positioned once more as Senior Advisor to Gillis.