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Johnnycanuck

Vancouver Canucks WHL logo circa 1961.

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.

Willy O'Ree-Carmichael-Boileau-Mantha-McCallum

Willie O'Ree scores on Gilles Villemure during the 1965-66 Western Hockey League season.

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.

Personnel[]

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

Honoured Members[]

Hall of Famers[]

Players

WHL League Award Winners[]

Players

George Leader Cup - MVP

WHL Leading Rookie

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

WHL Leading Scorer

WHL Leading Goaltender

Year by Year Standings (WHL)[]

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

Year by Year Statistical Leaders[]

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


Gallery[]

External Links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Vancouver Canucks (WHL). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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