Vancouver Canucks facts for kids

Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
Conference	Western
Division	Pacific
Founded	1945 (PCHL); 1970 (as NHL expansion team)
History	Vancouver Canucks; 1945–1952 (PCHL); Vancouver Canucks; 1952–1970 (WHL); Vancouver Canucks; 1970–present (NHL)
Home arena	Rogers Arena
City	Vancouver, British Columbia
Colours	Blue, green, white;
Media	Sportsnet Pacific; Sportsnet One; Sportsnet 650
Owner(s)	Canucks Sports & Entertainment; (Francesco Aquilini, Chairman)
General manager	Jim Benning
Head coach	Travis Green
Captain	Bo Horvat
Minor league affiliates	Utica Comets (AHL); Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	0
Conference championships	3 (1981–82, 1993–94, 2010–11)
Presidents' Trophies	2 (2010–11, 2011–12)
Division championships	10 (1974–75, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13)

The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place, which has an official capacity of 18,910. Travis Green is the head coach and Jim Benning is the general manager.

The Canucks joined the league in 1970 as an expansion team along with the Buffalo Sabres. In its NHL history, the team has advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals three times, losing to the New York Islanders in 1982, the New York Rangers in 1994 and the Boston Bruins in 2011. They have won the Presidents' Trophy in back-to-back seasons as the team with the league's best regular season record in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. They won three division titles as a member of the Smythe Division from 1974 to 1993, and seven titles as a member of the Northwest Division from 1998 to 2013. The Canucks, along with fellow expansion team, the Buffalo Sabres, are the two oldest teams to have never won the Stanley Cup.

The Canucks have retired six players' jerseys in their history—Stan Smyl (12), Trevor Linden (16), Markus Naslund (19), Daniel Sedin (22), Henrik Sedin (33), and Pavel Bure (10); all but Bure and Daniel Sedin have served as team captain. Smyl has the distinction of being the only Canuck to have his jersey number retired at their former arena, the Pacific Coliseum.

History

Early games

The Canucks were first an amateur team in the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL), winning the championship in 1946 and 1948. In 1952, the PCHL joined with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League to form the minor-league Western Hockey League. The Canucks won the championship in this league in 1958, 1960, 1969, and 1970.

The term "Canuck" is slang for "Canadian". It is sometimes used in an insulting way in the USA. Canadians generally do not find the term offensive.

Beginning

The Canucks joined the NHL in 1970. They were not a good team at first, though they won their division in 1975. Andre Boudrias was a star for the team at this time. The team made the Stanley Cup finals in 1982, which surprised many people, since they had finished below average in the regular season. Goaltender Richard Brodeur, along with forwards Stan Smyl, Thomas Gradin, and Darcy Rota, led the team. Coach Roger Neilson and some players raised white towels on top of their hockey sticks to "surrender" to the referees, who they thought were unfair (a white flag means surrender or "I give up"). After that, the fans all waved white flags during Canucks playoff games (this is called "Towel Power"). The team lost four games to zero in the finals to the New York Islanders.

Comeback

In the late 1980s, players such as Toni Tanti and Petri Skriko led the team. They made the finals again in 1994, due to players such as goaltender Kirk MacLean, the "Russian Rocket" Pavel Bure (who scored the most goals in the NHL that year), Trevor Linden, and Cliff Ronning. However, they lost the series four games to three to the New York Rangers.

Images for kids

Eagle sculpture featuring Stan Smyl, the team's longest serving captain
A statue of coach Roger Neilson outside of Rogers Arena, commemorating the 1982 Stanley Cup run
Pavel Bure, nicknamed "The Russian Rocket", became the first Canuck to win the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1992 and is the only sixty-goal scorer in team history. He is regarded as the team's first superstar player.
Kirk McLean was a key member of the Canucks' 1994 Stanley Cup run.
The Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers warm up before a match at the new General Motors Place, October 1997
Marc Crawford became the Canucks' head coach in 1998–99. Crawford also played for the team in the 1980s.
Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi formed the "West Coast Express" line.
Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cloutier of the Vancouver Canucks leave the ice after warmup for a match in 2005. 2005–06 was their final season as members of the team.
Towel Power in the 2007 Playoffs
Henrik Sedin accepts the Campbell Bowl on behalf of the Canucks as the 2011 Western Conference champions
Ryan Kesler spent the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the Canucks.
A hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Arena in March 2013
The Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators participated in the 2014 Heritage Classic at BC Place.
Henrik and Daniel Sedin seen with Ryan Miller during a pre-game warm up
Fin, the official mascot of the Vancouver Canucks, in 2009
Game-worn jerseys belonging to Wayne Maki, Pavel Bure and Glen Hanlon on display at Rogers Arena
Trevor Linden, who was drafted by the Canucks, served as team captain from 1991–97. He is currently the team's President of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor.
The Canucks selected Henrik Sedin third overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He has served as the team's captain since 2010.