The Vancouver Canucks, the talk of the town, are a professional ice hockey team that is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the National Hockey League (NHL), and they play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference.
Their home games are played at General Motors (GM) Place, downtown Vancouver, which holds 18,630 screaming fans every game night.
The Canucks broke into the league in 1970, joining as an expansion team, along with the Buffalo Sabres. Since its induction into the NHL, the team has been to the Stanley Cup finals twice, but they have been trumped by teams from New York both times: the Islanders in 1982, and the Rangers in 1994. The search for the elusive Stanley Cup continues.
During the Canucks first run to the finals, in 1982, the tradition of “Towel Power” was initiated. The Canucks were playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the early rounds, when then-coach Roger Neilson, who was fed up with the officiating, placed a white towel on the end of a hockey stick and held it up in a gesture of mocking surrender - “waiving the white flag”, so to speak.
His players on the bench followed suit. Vancouver ended up losing that game, and went home for the next game where they found their fans in the arena cheering their team on by waiving white towels above their heads.
This original “towel power incident” has started a trend in which fans of other teams have chosen to show their support for the home club by waving around a towel. This is present not only in the NHL, but in other sports as well.
The 1982 run…
After about 12 years of dismal performance after dismal performance, the Canucks finally made their impact in the post season of 1982. They finished 3 games under .500 in the regular season, but they flew through the Campbell Conference in the playoffs, posting a record of 11-2 en route to the finals. Led by King Richard (goaltender Richard Brodeur), they beat the Flames in the first round, the Kings in the second, and the Hawks in the third to reach the finals and face the the mighty Islanders.
They became the first team from Western Canada to play for the cup in 56 years. Their glory was short-lived, as they were swept by the Islanders in 4 games. The Islanders dynasty would win their third straight Cup and Canuck fans would be left waiting for a taste from Lord Stanley’s mug..
1994 Cup run…
In '94, the Canucks made their second trip to the Stanley Cup finals. They entered the playoffs as underdogs in the seventh seed, in the newly-named Western Conference. They trailed the Flames 3-1 in the first round, and fans were thinking "here we go again". This time, however, they showed a lot of heart, gutting out the next two games in overtime, forcing a game 7. During this game, goaltender Kurt McLean made what Canucks faithful refer to as “the save”: stacking the pads on the goal line to stop a sure Flames goal. Russian sniper Pavel Bure scored the series-winning goal on a breakaway in the 2nd overtime.
Following this massive upset, the Canucks cruised past the Stars in the second round and the rival Leafs from Toronto in the Conference finals, to set the stage for a showdown on Broadway with the Rangers, who were trying to end a Cup drought that began in 1940.
After a shocking upset of the Rangers in Game 1, the Canucks went on to lose the next 3. Again, down and out, they pulled off the improbable and forced a seventh game, but the playoff-savvy Rangers prevailed by a score of 3-2 on home ice in game 7, winning their first cup in 54 years and, in the process, leaving the hearts of Canuck fans broken once again.
The loss was followed by a riot in downtown Vancouver, incited by disappointed fans. Many of the fans were so upset that they couldn’t hold their rage and decided to trash the inner city. The Stanley Cup riots, as they became known caused over $1.1 million in damage to the city.
The Canucks held a rally at BC Place, following this riot, and 40,000 plus fans attended, congratulating the Canucks on their valiant effort.
Since then the Canucks have won various playoff series, but have not managed a return to the Stanley Cup final.
