Vancouver Canucks

History

Background and establishment

The first professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver was the Vancouver Millionaires, formed by Frank and Lester Patrick. Established in 1911, the Millionaires were one of three teams in the new Pacific Coast Hockey Association. To accommodate the Millionaires, the Patrick brothers directed the building of the Denman Arena, which was known at the time as the world's largest artificial ice rink. The arena was later destroyed in a fire in 1936. The Millionaires played for the Stanley Cup five times, winning over the Ottawa Senators in 1915 on home ice. It marked the first time the Stanley Cup was won by a West Coast team in the trophy's history. Absorbed by the Western Canada Hockey League in 1924, the team continued operations until folding at the end of the 1925–26 WHL season.

From 1926 to 1970, Vancouver was home to only minor league teams. Most notably the present-day Canucks' minor league predecessor (also known as the Vancouver Canucks) played from 1945 to 1970 in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

With the intention of attracting an NHL franchise, Vancouver began the construction of a new modern arena, the Pacific Coliseum, in 1966 (with the arena opening in January 1968). The WHL's Canucks were playing in a small arena at the time, the Vancouver Forum, situated on the same Pacific National Exhibition grounds as the Coliseum. Meanwhile, a Vancouver group led by WHL Canucks owner and former Vancouver mayor Fred Hume made a bid to be one of the six teams due to join the league in 1967, but the NHL rejected their application. Bid leader Cyrus McLean called the denial a "cooked-up deal", referring to several biases that factored against them. Speculation long abounded afterwards that the bid was hindered by Toronto Maple Leafs president Stafford Smythe; after a failed Vancouver-based business deal, he was quoted as saying that the city would not get an NHL franchise in his lifetime. Additionally, the Leafs, along with the Montreal Canadiens, purportedly did not wish to split Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) hockey revenues three ways rather than two.

Less than a year later, one of the 1967 expansion teams, the Oakland Seals were in financial difficulty and having trouble drawing fans. An apparent deal was in place to move the team to Vancouver, but the NHL did not want to see one of their franchises from the expansion of 1967 move so quickly and vetoed the deal. In exchange for avoiding a lawsuit, the NHL promised Vancouver would get a team in the next expansion round. Another group, headed by Minnesota entrepreneur Tom Scallen, made a new presentation and was awarded an expansion franchise for the price of $6 million (three times the cost in 1967). The new ownership group purchased the WHL Canucks, and brought the team into the league with the Buffalo Sabres as expansion teams for the 1970–71 season.

Early years (1970–1982)

To fill the Canucks' roster for their inaugural season, the league held an expansion draft in the preceding summer. A draft lottery was held on June 9, 1970, determining who between the Canucks and Sabres would get the first selection in the expansion draft, as well as the 1970 NHL amateur draft; the Sabres won both spins. With his first selection in the expansion draft, Canucks general manager Bud Poile chose defenceman Gary Doak. Among the other players chosen by Vancouver were centre Orland Kurtenbach, who was named the Canucks' first captain, as well as defenceman Pat Quinn, who later became the team's general manager and coach in the 1990s. Two days later, on June 11, 1970, the Canucks made defenceman Dale Tallon their first-ever Amateur Draft selection. Tallon played three seasons with the club before being traded away to the Chicago Black Hawks. By comparison, the Sabres chose centre Gilbert Perreault with the first overall selection they won from the lottery; Perreault went on to become a nine-time All-Star and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

With the Canucks' roster set, the team played its inaugural game against the Los Angeles Kings on October 9, 1970. They lost the contest 3–1; defenceman Barry Wilkins scored the Canucks' lone goal in the game and first in franchise history, a backhander against goaltender Denis DeJordy. Two days later, the squad recorded the first win in franchise history, a 5–3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Canucks struggled in their early years, failing to make the playoffs in their first four seasons. Placed in the competitive East Division, Poile assembled a core of players during this period led by Kurtenbach that included defencemen Tallon and Jocelyn Guevremont, as well as wingers André Boudrias and Dennis Ververgaert. Boudrias emerged as the team's leading point-scorer in four of their first five seasons.

Prior to the 1974–75 season, Scallen and his ownership group from Minnesota sold the team to local media mogul Frank Griffiths for $9 million. Also in the summer of 1974, the Canucks were re-aligned within the league and placed in the new Smythe Division. They responded with their first winning record (38 wins, 32 losses and 10 ties), backstopped by goaltender Gary "Suitcase" Smith finishing first in the Division with 86 points. Making their debut in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canucks lost the opening series of the 1975 playoffs in five games to the Montreal Canadiens. Head coach and general manager Phil Maloney (the third general manager in team history after Poile and Hal Laycoe) recalled the importance of a successful season for the Canucks in that year specifically, as the rival league World Hockey Association (WHA) had established another major professional team in the city, the Vancouver Blazers. Competing for the same hockey market, the Canucks emerged over the Blazers as the latter relocated to Calgary, Alberta, the following season. The Canucks posted a second consecutive winning record and made the playoffs in 1975–76, but lost to the New York Islanders in a two-game preliminary series. It would be another 16 years until the team would have another winning record though they made the playoffs nine times in that span.

Decline (1982–1987)

After their improbable Stanley Cup run, the Canucks slipped back into mediocrity for the rest of the 1980s, making the playoffs only four times for the rest of the decade. Notable players that joined the Canucks' core following the 1982 playoffs included offensively skilled forwards Patrik Sundström and Tony Tanti. Beginning in 1983–84, the Canucks' scoring title was held by either Sundström or Tanti for four of the next five seasons, the only season in which neither won the team scoring title was in 1985–86, when it was won by Petri Skriko. For most of the second half of the 1980s, the Canucks competed with the Los Angeles Kings for the final playoff spot in the Smythe Division. In the years in which they qualified for the playoffs, the team was eliminated in the first round by either the Edmonton Oilers (in 1986) or the Calgary Flames (in 1983, 1984 and the Flames' championship season in 1989, which was decided in game 7), both division rivals.

Following Milford's tenure as general manager from 1977 to 1982, the position was held by Harry Neale for three years, then Jack Gordon for two. The latter was responsible for trading away power forward Cam Neely to the Boston Bruins in 1986. In addition to Neely, the Canucks gave up their 1987 first-round draft pick, with which the Bruins chose Glen Wesley, and in return acquired centre Barry Pederson. While Pederson collected back-to-back 70-point seasons with the Canucks in his first two seasons after the trade, he was traded away to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1989 as his performance quickly declined. Neely went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Bruins, recording three 50-goal seasons, and Wesley had a solid 20-year career.

Pat Quinn era (1987–1998)

After the installation of former Canucks defenceman Pat Quinn as general manager in the summer of 1987, the team underwent an immediate rebuilding process, trading away core veterans for younger prospects and players. Among the more key transactions was a deal with the New Jersey Devils, in which Sundström was traded away in exchange for winger Greg Adams and goaltender Kirk McLean. In addition to Quinn's trades, the team improved through the draft route with two selections, in particular. With the second overall selection in the 1988 NHL entry draft, the Canucks chose winger Trevor Linden from the Western Hockey League (WHL). The following year, the team made a controversial selection by choosing Russian winger Pavel Bure 113th overall. Bure was believed by most teams to be ineligible for selection that year. Consequently, his draft by the Canucks took a year to be verified by the league as team management went about procuring documents to prove his eligibility.

As the decade turned, a shift in the Canucks' leadership occurred as Stan Smyl resigned his captaincy prior to the 1990–91 season due to a reduced on-ice role with the team. In his place, the Canucks implemented a rotating captaincy of Linden, Dan Quinn and Doug Lidster; of the three, Linden retained the captaincy thereafter, becoming the youngest permanent captain in team history at 21 years of age. At the end of the season, Smyl retired as the team's all-time leader in games played, goals, assists and points. Led by Linden and in large part to Quinn's dealings, the Canucks rose to prominence in the early 1990s. This increased success came roughly around the time the Oilers and Flames began to sink in the standings. As a result, Vancouver won their first division title in 17 years with 42 wins, 26 losses and 12 ties during the 1991–92 season (it was also the team's first winning season since the 1975–76 season). During the campaign, the Canucks honoured Smyl, who had remained on the team as an assistant coach, by making him the first player in team history to have his jersey (number 12) retired. In the 1992 playoffs, the Canucks won their first series since 1982 before being eliminated by the Oilers in the second round. Quinn and Bure became the first Canucks recipients of major NHL awards in the off-season, being awarded the Jack Adams Award as the best coach (Quinn assumed a dual coaching and general managerial role starting that year) and the top rookie in the league, respectively. The following year, the Canucks repeated as regular season division champions, while Bure emerged as arguably the team's first superstar with his first of back-to-back 60-goal seasons, totals which remain the highest recorded in Canucks history. As the team struggled to score in the second half of the 1993–94 season, Bure recorded 49 goals in the club's final 51 games and contributed to 46.45% of his team's goals in the final 47 games of the season to carry the Canucks into the 1994 postseason. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal called Bure "the NHL's best forward the last 40 games, scoring almost a goal a game."

Brian Burke era (1998–2004)

After the Canucks finished the 1997–98 season last in the Western Conference, former NHL vice president Brian Burke was named general manager in the summer. Suffering their worst season since 1977–78 the subsequent year, Keenan was fired midway through and replaced with Marc Crawford (who had won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996). Meanwhile, Pavel Bure, unhappy in Vancouver, had withheld himself from the team and requested a trade at the beginning of the campaign. By January 1999, he was dealt to the Florida Panthers in a seven-player trade, which saw eventual five-time NHL All-Star Ed Jovanovski heading west. The trade also involved two draft picks. Finishing last in the Western Conference for a second straight year, Vancouver possessed the third overall pick in the 1999 NHL entry draft. Set on drafting highly touted Swedish forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Burke orchestrated several transactions to move up to the second and third overall picks, with which he chose both players.

The Canucks began to show improvement in the 1999–2000 season, finishing four points out of a playoff spot. During the campaign, Mogilny was traded to the New Jersey Devils for forwards Denis Pederson and Brendan Morrison. With Bure gone and Messier in the last year of his contract, several previously under-achieving players began developing into key contributors for the team, most notably Markus Näslund and Todd Bertuzzi. In the off-season, Messier left the team and returned to the Rangers; during the team's September 2000 training camp, held in Sweden, Näslund was selected to replace Messier as captain, a position he held for seven seasons. As part of the team's stay in Sweden, they played exhibition games against Swedish and Finnish teams as part of the NHL Challenge.

Under the leadership of general manager Brian Burke and head coach Marc Crawford, the Canucks once again became a playoff team. After qualifying for the postseason in 2001 and 2002 as the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference (losing to the eventual Stanley Cup winners Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings, respectively), the Canucks became regular contenders for the Northwest Division title.

Coinciding with the team's success in the early 2000s was the rise of power forward Todd Bertuzzi and captain Markus Näslund into high-scoring wingers and NHL All-Stars. Joined by centre Brendan Morrison during the 2001–02 season, the trio were nicknamed the "West Coast Express" (after the Vancouver rail service of the same name) among Canucks fans and media. Over the next three years, Näslund ranked in the top five among league scorers and was a Lester B. Pearson Award winner and Hart Memorial Trophy finalist in 2003. Bertuzzi was also a top-five scorer in the league in 2001–02 and 2002–03. During this span, Burke made a trade with the Washington Capitals to facilitate the return of Trevor Linden. The ex-captain returned to a markedly different Canucks team with a young core consisting of the aforementioned trio, defencemen Ed Jovanovski and Mattias Öhlund, as well as goaltender Dan Cloutier.

Dave Nonis era (2004–2008)

Upon the resolution of the labour dispute between NHL players and owners, new gameplay rules were set in place for the 2005–06 season that were intended to benefit skilled players and generate more goal-scoring. As the Canucks' basis of success in previous seasons was built on playing a fast-paced, high-scoring style of play, expectations for the team were high going into the season. However, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs, completing the regular season ninth place in the conference. The first line of Näslund, Bertuzzi and Morrison suffered offensively, as all three players recorded decreased points totals. Head coach Marc Crawford later recalled the campaign as a turning point for the team's offensive leadership as the Sedin twins began their rise to stardom, matching the top line's production. Crawford was fired in the off-season and replaced with Alain Vigneault, who had been coach of the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Three days after Vigneault's hiring, Nonis dealt Bertuzzi to the Florida Panthers, ending the "West Coast Express" era. In return, the Canucks received All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo as part of a six-player trade. With the acquisition of Luongo, Cloutier was traded away to the Los Angeles Kings.

With widespread changes to team personnel in 2006–07, the Canucks won the Northwest Division title for the second time in three seasons. In his first season with the Canucks, Luongo was nominated for the Hart Memorial and Vezina Trophies. He also tied Bernie Parent for the second-most wins in a single-season by an NHL goaltender, with 47. The Canucks opened the 2007 playoffs with a quadruple-overtime win against the Dallas Stars. Ending at the 138-minute mark, the game was the longest in club history and the sixth-longest in NHL history. The Canucks also set a league record for shots against in one game, allowing 76. Vancouver won the series in seven games despite a lack of goal-scoring; Stars goaltender Marty Turco recorded three shutouts in the series and equalled the league record for most shutouts in a playoff series. Advancing to the second round, the team was defeated in five games by the Anaheim Ducks, who went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. Following the playoffs, head coach Vigneault received the Jack Adams Award.

Suffering numerous injuries to players in the 2007–08 season, the Canucks struggled and finished three points out of a playoff spot. The final game of the season, a 7–1 loss to the Calgary Flames, marked Trevor Linden's last NHL game, as the former Canucks' all-time leading scorer retired. Having missed the playoffs for the second time in three years, the team underwent numerous personnel changes in the off-season.

Mike Gillis era (2008–2014)

After Nonis was fired and replaced with former player agent Mike Gillis in April 2008, longtime Canucks captain Markus Näslund, as well as Brendan Morrison, were let go via free agency. Also in the off-season, on May 29, 2008, the Canucks lost defensive prospect Luc Bourdon to a fatal motorcycle crash near his hometown of Shippagan, New Brunswick.

With Näslund's departure, Gillis announced on September 30, 2008, that Roberto Luongo had been named team captain, marking the first time since Bill Durnan of the Montreal Canadiens in 1947–48 that a goaltender had been named the captain of an NHL team. During the ensuing season, the Canucks retired their second jersey number in team history, hanging Linden's number 16 beside Smyl's number 12 in a pre-game ceremony on December 17, 2008. Later that month, the Canucks acquired unrestricted free agent Mats Sundin. The arrival of the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain and 500-goal scorer in the NHL came with high expectations. However, Sundin scored below his usual pace and retired in the subsequent off-season. The team finished the regular season with another Northwest Division title and the third seed in the Western Conference. In the 2009 playoffs, the Canucks swept their first round series against the sixth-seeded St. Louis Blues (the first four-game sweep in franchise history), but were defeated in six games by the fourth-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the second round.

In the 2009–10 season, the Canucks faced the longest road trip in NHL history, playing 14 games over six weeks, from January 27 to March 13, 2010. The schedule was a result of Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, which shut down the NHL for two weeks, facilitating General Motors Place's use for ice hockey during the games. It marked the first time that an NHL market hosted an Olympics since the league allowed its players to compete in the games, beginning with the 1998 Games in Nagano. Among the several Canucks players named to their respective national teams, centre Ryan Kesler of the United States and goaltender Roberto Luongo of Canada played against each other in the gold medal game; Luongo and Team Canada emerged with the win.

As the NHL season resumed, Henrik Sedin went on to become the first Canucks player to win the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophies as the league's leading scorer and most valuable player, respectively. He achieved the feat with a franchise-record 112 points, surpassing Pavel Bure's mark of 110 set in 1991–92. Vancouver won the Northwest Division title and finished third in the Western Conference for the second-straight year. They opened the playoffs by defeating the sixth-place Los Angeles Kings in six games, but were once again eliminated by Chicago in six games, who went on to win the Stanley Cup that year, the following round in six games.

Jim Benning era (2014–2021)

On May 21, 2014, Jim Benning was announced as general manager, having previously served as assistant general manager of the 2010–11 Boston Bruins championship team that had beaten the Canucks three years prior. On June 23, Willie Desjardins was named the 18th head coach of the Canucks. The team underwent a series of changes under the new management – veteran forward Ryan Kesler was traded to the Anaheim Ducks, veteran defenceman Jason Garrison was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning and veteran forward David Booth was let go in free agency, while Ryan Miller and Radim Vrbata were signed as free agents. This season saw the team honour former general manager and head coach Pat Quinn, following his death, by renaming a city street after him (Pat Quinn Way) as well as having his family participate in a pregame ceremonial puck drop. The Canucks finished second in the Pacific Division in the 2014–15 season, reaching the 100-point plateau for the ninth time in franchise history. They faced the Calgary Flames in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, losing in six games.

As the team fared poorly throughout the 2016–17 season, more veteran players were traded – Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen were dealt in an effort to rebuild. On March 25, 2017, the Canucks' 2015 first-round pick Brock Boeser made his NHL debut in his home state of Minnesota. Desjardins and his coaching staff, with the exception of assistant coach Doug Jarvis, were let go at the end of the season, replaced by Travis Green who coached their AHL affiliate in Utica. They also added Nolan Baumgartner, Newell Brown, and Manny Malhotra as assistant coaches.

The 2017–18 season was another poor year for the Canucks, but rookie Boeser was a bright spot for the team. Despite an injury late in the season, Boeser's 29 goals and 55 points in 62 games were enough to place him second in Calder Memorial Trophy voting for rookie of the year. Longtime Canucks Daniel and Henrik Sedin played their final game on April 7, 2018, against the Edmonton Oilers. On June 5, 2018, longtime Canucks' public address announcer John Ashbridge died, having worked in his capacity with the franchise since 1987. During the off-season, Linden stepped down as president of hockey operations.

The 2018–19 season saw the debut of the Canucks' 2017 first-round draft pick, Elias Pettersson. Pettersson broke the Canucks' record for points by a rookie, set by Ivan Hlinka (1981–82) and matched by Pavel Bure (1991–92), and finished with 66 points to lead all NHL rookies, winning the Calder Trophy.

Jim Rutherford era (2021–2026)

On December 9, 2021, Jim Rutherford was named president of hockey operations and interim general manager. He hired Patrik Allvin as general manager on January 26, 2022. On January 22, 2023, after weeks of speculation, the Canucks fired head coach Bruce Boudreau and hired Rick Tocchet as the franchise's 21st head coach. As the news broke that Boudreau would be fired while he was still coaching, the Canucks organization faced widespread criticism by fans and journalists mainly directed towards owner Francesco Aquilini, Rutherford and Allvin, for their public mishandling of the coaching switch. Following Horvat's trade to the New York Islanders in exchange for Anthony Beauvillier and Aatu Raty, Quinn Hughes was named the 15th captain in franchise history during the 2023 off-season, making him the youngest captain in the NHL and first American captain of the Canucks.

The 2023–24 season was the first season with Hughes as captain and the first full season with Tocchet as head coach. With low expectations from fans and media at the start of the season, the team started 9–2–1 in their first twelve regular season games, and finished third in the Western Conference en route to winning their first-ever Pacific Division title (and their first franchise division title since 2013). The Canucks qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the expanded playoffs in 2020 and played their first playoff games in Vancouver since 2015. The Canucks defeated their first round opponent, the wild card Nashville Predators in six games, but lost their second round series in seven games to the Edmonton Oilers. Following the season, Tocchet was announced as the winner of the Jack Adams Award and Hughes won the James Norris Memorial Trophy; Allvin was voted as a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.

The Canucks failed to build on the growth shown in the 2023–24 season, and missed the playoffs in the 2024–25 season by just six points. Entering the season without starting goaltender Thatcher Demko due to a knee injury suffered during the 2024 playoffs, the Canucks initially started the season 11–6–3 through the first 20 games but slipped in and out of a playoff spot as the season progressed. The team as a whole struggled to perform consistently due to significant regression from their star players, poor goaltending, injuries, and off-ice issues between players. Star forward Elias Pettersson, who had come off a disappointing playoff run in which he only recorded six points in 13 games, finished the season with just 45 points in 64 games after recording 89 points the season prior. Pettersson also became a focal point in a purported locker room rift with other star forward J. T. Miller, which forced the Canucks to trade Miller on January 31, 2025.

Sedin era (2026–present)

On May 14, 2026, Henrik and Daniel Sedins were promoted from their roles in player development to become co-presidents of hockey operations, and Ryan Johnson was simultaneously promoted to general manager, having previously served in the same role with Vancouver's AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. On May 19, the Canucks fired head coach Adam Foote, along with assistant coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean and Brett McLean. On June 1, the team named Manny Malhotra, who at the time was the head coach of Vancouver's AHL affiliate, the 23rd head coach in franchise history.

Team information

Home arenas

The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver. The venue opened in 1995 as General Motors Place, and seats up to 18,890 for Canucks games. Rogers Arena was also the main venue for ice hockey games during the 2010 Winter Olympics, where it was temporarily named Canada Hockey Place. The arena is owned and operated by Canucks Sports & Entertainment. Before moving to Rogers Arena, the Canucks played their home games at Pacific Coliseum in Hastings Park for 25 years. The arena holds 16,281 for ice hockey games, though capacity at its opening was 15,713. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, it was the venue for figure skating and short-track speed skating. The Pacific Coliseum was also the home of the Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Vancouver Giants from 2001 to 2016.

Logos and jerseys

The team has gone through four primary logos and six major uniform designs over the years, with numerous minor changes to each, in addition to several alternate logos and jerseys.

The team's first NHL jerseys, worn from the inaugural season of 1970–71 (modified for the 1972–73 season) until the end of the 1977–78 season, featured a hockey stick in the shape of a shallow "V" superimposed on a blue rink-shaped rectangle forming the letter "C", designed by North Vancouver artist Joe Borovich. During this era, the Canucks wore blue and white jerseys with green stripes, though for the first two seasons, a white "V" adorned the sleeve stripes. A modified version of this logo is still in use, as a shoulder patch on the team's current jerseys and as the primary logo of their alternate jerseys.

In 1978, aiming for a more aggressive image, the organization asked San Francisco-based design agency Beyl & Boyd to design new uniforms. These consisted of a huge, yellow, red-orange and black striped "V" coming down from the shoulders (suggesting "victory", according to its designers). Hockey writer Stephen Cole described it as looking like "a punch in the eye". The colour of the home jerseys changed from white to yellow with the logo and uniform change. The "Flying V" theme, which included several slight modifications over the years, was abandoned in 1985, to feature the team's emblem on the front rather than the "V" (the emblem had previously been worn only on the sleeves; the V's would appear on the shoulders from 1985 to 1989). The logo consisted of the word "Canucks" in a diagonal slant as part the blade of a skate and was designed by San Francisco graphic artist Mike Bull. The logo, with its laser-like design, was sometimes referred to as the "Star Wars" logo, the "waffle iron", the "plate of spaghetti", and most commonly as the "Flying Skate."

The yellow home jerseys were scrapped in 1989 in favour of more conventional white ones, and the triangular shoulder stripes which adorned the post-"V" jerseys were discarded as well. The new incarnation was worn from 1989 to 1992, when a subtle change was made, which went largely unnoticed for the rest of the jersey's lifespan. The orange was changed to red, and the deep "gold" colour was changed to a much brighter yellow, reportedly because jersey-maker CCM no longer produced the required hues. In 1996, an alternate jersey was introduced, retaining the "Flying Skate" logo, but using a salmon colour graduating to black near the bottom.

Mascot

The Vancouver Canucks' mascot is an anthropomorphic killer whale (orca) named Fin the Orca. He is often seen banging a First Nations drum or skating around during intermissions firing t-shirts out of a compressed air cannon. On occasion, "smoke" also comes out of the blowhole on his head. Fin is known for his "chomping" where he bites the heads of fans.

Two fans of the Canucks became unofficial mascots of the team at the end of the 2009–10 season, donning zentai-style, skin-tight green bodysuits in slightly different shades of green as The Green Men, and have been known to accompany the team on road games, as they did in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final to the TD Garden against the Boston Bruins. On September 5, 2012, as an acknowledgement of their rising popularity, ESPN inducted The Green Men into the "Hall of Fans", a semi-satirical take on a Hall of Fame. In November 2014, the Green Men announced that 2014–15 would be their final season. After an eight-season absence, the Green Men made two surprise appearances during the 2023–24 season, on February 24, 2024, during a game against the Bruins, and on May 8, 2024, during the Canucks' first game of the conference semifinals against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Media

After a relationship with CKNW stretching since the Canucks joined the NHL in 1970, the Canucks entered into a new radio broadcast deal in 2006 with CKST—an AM sports/talk station. John Shorthouse continues to call the play-by-play, as he has since 1999, though with his role on the Canucks' television broadcasts becoming more prominent in recent years. As of 2023, Shorthouse now works the Canucks' TV broadcasts on a full-time basis alongside analysts Dave Tomlinson (primary) and Ray Ferraro (select games). Brendan Batchelor and Randip Janda call Canucks games on radio. The games aired on 14 stations across British Columbia. On March 9, 2017, it was announced that Rogers Media had acquired radio rights to the Canucks under a 5-year deal to begin in the 2017–18 season. On April 25, 2017, Rogers announced that it would acquire CISL from Newcap Radio and convert it to a sports radio format to serve as team flagship.

Sportsnet and Rogers hold a monopoly on all television broadcasts of the Canucks; regional games are aired by Sportsnet Pacific, and occasionally on the overflow channel Sportsnet Canucks. Sportsnet had held the television rights to the team since 1998. Since 2014, Sportsnet also held the NHL national TV rights in Canada, allowing Canucks broadcasts to be televised nationally on a number of occasions.

Ownership

The initial owners were Tom Scallen's Medicor group. In 1972, hints of impropriety were circulating about Scallen. He was charged with stock fraud and spent the last two years of his Canuck ownership in prison. In 1974, Scallen and Medicor sold the team to media executive Frank Griffiths.

From 1988 to 1997, the Vancouver Canucks were owned by local businessman and philanthropist Arthur Griffiths, who had inherited ownership from his father, Frank. However, he was forced to sell his majority interest in the Canucks after overextending his resources trying to build a new arena, General Motors Place (now known as Rogers Arena). As a result, he sold his majority share to an American billionaire, John McCaw Jr.

On November 17, 2004, the Aquilini Investment Group, headed by Francesco Aquilini, purchased a 50% share in Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment (the owners of both the Canucks franchise and Rogers Arena) from John McCaw Jr. Prior to the sale, Aquilini and two business partners, Tom Gaglardi and Ryan Beedie, had negotiated with Orca Bay for several months without concluding an agreement. In January 2005, Gaglardi and Beedie filed a lawsuit against Aquilini and Orca Bay, alleging that Aquilini and Orca Bay had acted in bad faith in concluding a deal using information obtained from their joint offer.

On November 8, 2006, Aquilini, along with his brothers Roberto and Paolo, purchased the remaining 50% of the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena from McCaw.

In May 2007, Gaglardi and Beedie's civil lawsuit over Aquilini's purchase reached the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The court ruled for Aquilini, on January 10, 2008. The court held that there was no legal partnership between Aquilini, Beedie, and Gaglardi, and that McCaw was free to sell the team to anyone he wished.

On January 29, 2008, the company responsible for operating the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, changed its name from Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment to Canucks Sports & Entertainment.

Minor league affiliates

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Canucks. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Vancouver Canucks seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Players and personnel

Current roster

Updated August 28, 2026

Retired numbers

Notes

Bure wore number 10 for five of his seven seasons in Vancouver. He wore number 96 during the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons before returning to number 10 during the 1997–98 season.

The NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's #99 for all its member teams at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game.

11 – Wayne Maki, LW, 1970–1973, taken out of circulation following his death from brain cancer on May 1, 1974. Chris Oddleifson (C, 1974–1976) and Mark Messier (C, 1997–2000) are the only Canucks players to have worn it since.

28 – Luc Bourdon, D, 2006–2008, taken out of circulation following his death in a motorcycle crash on May 29, 2008. Ian Cole (D, 2023–24) initially chose to wear the number after being acquired by the team, but ultimately switched to #82 before his first game as a Canuck, out of respect for Bourdon and to pay tribute to his memory.

37 – Rick Rypien, C, 2005–2011, taken out of circulation following his death from suicide on August 15, 2011.

Hall of Famers

Several former players and builders from the Canucks have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Nine former players have been inducted, and six builders (executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners).

Players

Builders

Ring of Honour inductees

The Vancouver Canucks Ring of Honour is a collection of permanent in-arena displays, that commemorates individuals that made an impact with the franchise. Inductees to the Ring of Honour include:

Orland Kurtenbach, C, 1970–1974, inducted on October 26, 2010.

Kirk McLean, G, 1987–1998, inducted on November 24, 2010.

Thomas Gradin, C, 1978–1986, inducted on January 24, 2011.

Harold Snepsts, D, 1974–1984; 1988–1990, inducted on March 14, 2011.

Pat Quinn, D, 1970–1972; president and general manager, 1987–1997; head coach, 1991–1994; 1996, inducted on April 13, 2014.

Mattias Öhlund, D, 1997–2009, inducted on December 16, 2016.

Alex Burrows, RW, 2005–2017, inducted on December 3, 2019.

Roberto Luongo, G, 2006–2014, inducted on December 14, 2023.

Team captains

There have been 15 Canucks players who have served as the captain. The franchise's first captain was Orland Kurtenbach, who captained the team until his retirement in 1974. The longest-tenured Canucks captains have been Stan Smyl and Henrik Sedin, who each served as captain for eight seasons; each were also the only captains to have spent their entire NHL career with the Canucks. Swedish winger Markus Naslund, who captained for seven seasons, was the first non-Canadian to have captained the Canucks.

Though goaltenders are not permitted to act as captains during games, Roberto Luongo served as the captain from 2008 to 2010, but because of the NHL rule against goaltender captains, the league did not allow Luongo to serve as on-ice captain. In his place, the three alternate captains were responsible for dealing with officials during games. They also handled ceremonial face-offs. Luongo was not permitted to wear the "C" on his jersey. Instead, he incorporated it into the artwork on the front of one of his masks, which he occasionally wore for the early months of the 2008–09 season.

Draft picks

The Canucks selected Dale Tallon, a defenceman from the Toronto Marlboros with their first pick, second overall in the 1970 NHL amateur draft. In 1978, they drafted Stan Smyl from the New Westminster Bruins. Ten years later, the Canucks also drafted Trevor Linden from the Medicine Hat Tigers in 1988. The Canucks have had 13 top-five draft picks in franchise history, but have never had the first overall pick. The Canucks are one of the two franchises in the NHL to have drafted two twin brothers in the same year. They drafted Daniel Sedin second overall and Henrik Sedin third overall in 1999. Three players from British Columbia have been selected by the Canucks in the first round of an NHL entry draft: Cam Neely in 1983, Jake Virtanen in 2014, and Caleb Malhotra in 2026.

Head coaches

There have been 23 head coaches for the Canucks. The franchise's first head coach was Hal Laycoe, who coached the Canucks for two seasons. Alain Vigneault coached the most games of any Canucks head coach with 540 games, and has the most points all-time with the Canucks with 683, from the 2006–07 season through the 2012–13 season. He is followed by Marc Crawford, who has 586 points all-time with the Canucks. Vigneault also has the most points in a season of any Canucks coach, with 117 in the 2010–11 season. Roger Neilson and Pat Quinn are the only Hockey Hall of Fame inductees to coach the Canucks. Quinn, Vigneault, and Rick Tocchet are the only three Canucks head coaches to win a Jack Adams Award with the team. Bill LaForge, who coached at the beginning of the 1984–85 season, has the fewest points with the Canucks, with 10. Harry Neale served the most terms as head coach of the Canucks with three while Pat Quinn served two. The current head coach, Manny Malhotra, was hired on June 1, 2026.

Awards and trophies

All-Star

NHL All-Rookie Team

Jim Sandlak: 1986–87

Trevor Linden: 1988–89

Corey Hirsch: 1995–96

Mattias Öhlund: 1997–98

Brock Boeser: 2017–18

Elias Pettersson: 2018–19

Quinn Hughes: 2019–20

Franchise records

Scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

* – current Canucks player

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Goaltending leaders

These are the top-ten goaltenders in franchise history by wins. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

* – current Canucks player

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/O = Ties/Overtime losses; GA = Goal against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts

Individual records

As of the 2025–26 season

Skaters

Most games played in a career – Henrik Sedin, 1,330 (2000–2018)

Most goals in a career – Daniel Sedin, 393 (2000–2018)

Most assists in a career – Henrik Sedin, 830 (2000–2018)

Most points in a career – Henrik Sedin, 1,070 (2000–2018)

Most penalty minutes in a career – Gino Odjick, 2,127 (1990–1998)

Most goals in a season – Pavel Bure, 60 (1992–93 and 1993–94)

Most assists in a season – Henrik Sedin, 83 (2009–10)

Most points in a season – Henrik Sedin, 112 (2009–10)

Highest plus/minus in a season – Christian Ehrhoff, 36 (2009–10); Daniel Sedin, 36 (2009–10)

Most penalty minutes in a season – Donald Brashear, 372 (1997–98)

Most points in a season, defenceman – Quinn Hughes, 92 (2023–24)

Most points in a season, rookie – Elias Pettersson, 66 (2018–19)

Fastest goal recorded by a Canuck – Alex Burrows, 6 seconds (2012–13)

Goaltenders

Most games played in a career, goaltender – Kirk McLean, 516 (1987–1997)