1974-75 Results

After showing little improvement in their first four seasons, the Vancouver Canucks had a breakthrough year in 1974-75. With the NHL expanding to eighteen teams, the league was divided into four divisions. The Canucks joined the new Smythe Division along with Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, and Kansas City. Most experts picked the Canucks to finish fourth although there was some doubt if they'd even be able to finish ahead of the expansion Scouts. Even the Canucks didn't expect to finish higher than second place in a division with the powerful Black Hawks.

Very early in the season, the Canucks made trades to obtain Garry Monahan, Gerry Meehan, Mike Robitaille and John Grisdale. The newcomers, along with veterans like Andre Boudrias, Don Lever, John Gould, Dennis Ververgaert and Gary Smith, led the team to the best start in their history. By the end of December, Phil Maloney's squad had built up a commanding lead on the Hawks for first place in the Smythe Division. Injuries and a lengthy road trip led to a record nine game losing streak that saw Chicago close to within a couple of points of the Canucks. The race for first in the Smythe Division went down to the wire, with Vancouver, Chicago and St. Louis finishing within four points of each other.

By virtue of the fact that the Canucks finished first in the division, they received a bye through the first round of the playoffs. In the quarter finals, they met with Montreal, a team that they had never beaten in their five year history. Gary Smith's heroics in the second game of the playoffs led to the first win over Montreal and the first playoff win in team history. Unfortunately, there was to be no major upset here as the Canucks finally fell in five games. Despite the disappointment of losing in the playoffs, the Canucks could feel proud that they had finally proved that they belonged in this league.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES        
OCT  9  H  ATLANTA      3-3 T     1  0  0  1   3   3   1 0.500 Ververgaert gets tying goal    
OCT 12  H  ST. LOUIS    3-5 L     2  0  1  1   6   8   1 0.250 Goalie Ken Lockett makes debut 
OCT 15  A  ST. LOUIS    6-4 W     3  1  1  1  12  12   3 0.500 Boudrias gets three assists    
OCT 16  A  MINNESOTA    1-1 T     4  1  1  2  13  13   4 0.500 Lever opens the scoring        
OCT 19  A  TORONTO      5-4 W     5  2  1  2  18  17   6 0.600 Canucks trail 4-1 in third     
OCT 20  A  NY RANGERS   1-0 W     6  3  1  2  19  17   8 0.667 Smith stops 33 shots           
OCT 22  H  MINNESOTA    2-3 L     7  3  2  2  21  20   8 0.571 All scoring in third period    
OCT 25  H  KANSAS CITY  5-3 W     8  4  2  2  26  23  10 0.625 First game agaist the Scouts   
OCT 26  H  PHILADELPHIA 2-3 L     9  4  3  2  28  26  10 0.556 Canucks lead 2-0 after first   
OCT 29  H  DETROIT      7-0 W    10  5  3  2  35  26  12 0.600 Oddleifson scores at 0:11      
NOV  1  H  PITTSBURGH   7-4 W    11  6  3  2  42  30  14 0.636 Lever, Lalonde two goals each  
NOV  5  H  NY RANGERS   2-1 W    12  7  3  2  44  31  16 0.667 Boudrias gets 100th goal       
NOV  7  A  KANSAS CITY  6-4 W    13  8  3  2  50  35  18 0.692 Oddleifson has four point night
NOV  9  A  MONTREAL     3-4 L    14  8  4  2  53  39  18 0.643 Canadien Shutt gets hat trick  
NOV 10  A  DETROIT      4-2 W    15  9  4  2  57  41  20 0.667 Canucks lead 4-0 after first   
NOV 12  H  CHICAGO      1-0 W    16 10  4  2  58  41  22 0.688 Gould scores only goal of game 
NOV 15  H  LOS ANGELES  2-2 T    17 10  4  3  60  43  23 0.676 Lever, Lalonde score           
NOV 16  H  TORONTO      5-2 W    18 11  4  3  65  45  25 0.694 Ververgaert 1 goal, 2 assists  
NOV 19  H  ST. LOUIS    6-3 W    19 12  4  3  71  48  27 0.711 Gerry Meehan gets game winner  
NOV 21  A  PHILADELPHIA 4-3 W    20 13  4  3  75  51  29 0.725 Oddleifson scores late in third
NOV 23  A  NY ISLANDERS 3-3 T    21 13  4  4  78  54  30 0.714 Oddleifson has two point night 
NOV 24  A  BOSTON       4-7 L    22 13  5  4  82  61  30 0.682 Canucks down 3-1 after two     
NOV 26  A  KANSAS CITY  3-4 L    23 13  6  4  85  65  30 0.652 Gregg Boddy two point night    
NOV 27  A  ST. LOUIS    6-1 W    24 14  6  4  91  66  32 0.667 John Gould two goals in first  
NOV 30  H  NY ISLANDERS 3-0 W    25 15  6  4  94  66  34 0.680 Lalonde has three point night  
DEC  3  H  MINNESOTA    6-5 W    26 16  6  4 100  71  36 0.692 Boddy wins it late in third    
DEC  6  H  ATLANTA      7-5 W    27 17  6  4 107  76  38 0.704 Oddleifson records hat trick   
DEC  8  A  DETROIT      2-4 L    28 17  7  4 109  80  38 0.679 Lever records two points       
DEC 10  H  CALIFORNIA   3-0 W    29 18  7  4 112  80  40 0.690 Bordeleau scores twice         
DEC 12  A  BUFFALO      5-3 W    30 19  7  4 117  83  42 0.700 O'Flaherty records four points 
DEC 14  A  KANSAS CITY  2-2 T    31 19  7  5 119  85  43 0.694 O'Flaherty, Oddleifson score   
DEC 15  A  CHICAGO      2-4 L    32 19  8  5 121  89  43 0.672 Boddy, Meehan score            
DEC 17  H  WASHINGTON   4-2 W    33 20  8  5 125  91  45 0.682 Tracy Pratt scores twice       
DEC 20  H  MONTREAL     1-6 L    34 20  9  5 126  97  45 0.662 Boudrias opens scoring         
DEC 22  A  CALIFORNIA   6-4 W    35 21  9  5 132 101  47 0.671 Lalonde records three points   
DEC 26  A  LOS ANGELES  1-5 L    36 21 10  5 133 106  47 0.653 O'Flaherty scores lone goal    
DEC 28  H  BOSTON       6-4 W    37 22 10  5 139 110  49 0.662 Bruins up 4-3 in second        
JAN  1  H  PHILADELPHIA 0-2 L    38 22 11  5 139 112  49 0.645 Flyer Parent gets shutout      
JAN  4  A  PITTSBURGH   3-4 L    39 22 12  5 142 116  49 0.628 Canucks down 4-1 in second     
JAN  5  A  NY RANGERS   2-6 L    40 22 13  5 144 122  49 0.613 First NHL point for Sedlbauer  
JAN  8  A  TORONTO      4-6 L    41 22 14  5 148 128  49 0.598 First NHL goal for Snepsts     
JAN  9  A  BOSTON       1-5 L    42 22 15  5 149 133  49 0.583 Bruin Esposito gets hat trick  
JAN 12  A  BUFFALO      1-5 L    43 22 16  5 150 138  49 0.570 Dailey scores lone goal        
JAN 15  A  CHICAGO      1-2 L    44 22 17  5 151 140  49 0.557 Dailey only scorer again       
JAN 17  H  BUFFALO      2-4 L    45 22 18  5 153 144  49 0.544 Monahan, De Marco score        
JAN 18  H  NY RANGERS   2-3 L    46 22 19  5 155 147  49 0.533 Team record ninth loss in a row
JAN 23  A  WASHINGTON   3-2 W    47 23 19  5 158 149  51 0.543 Lever's winner snaps streak    
JAN 24  A  ATLANTA      4-1 W    48 24 19  5 162 150  53 0.552 Lever scores a pair            
JAN 26  H  TORONTO      6-4 W    49 25 19  5 168 154  55 0.561 First NHL goal for Sedlbauer   
JAN 28  H  MONTREAL     1-3 L    50 25 20  5 169 157  55 0.550 Monahan scores lone goal       
FEB  1  H  WASHINGTON   5-2 W    51 26 20  5 174 159  57 0.559 Don Lever records hat trick    
FEB  4  H  PITTSBURGH   2-3 L    52 26 21  5 176 162  57 0.548 De Marco, Meehan score         
FEB  7  H  CHICAGO      3-1 W    53 27 21  5 179 163  59 0.557 Gould has a three point night  
FEB 11  H  KANSAS CITY  4-0 W    54 28 21  5 183 163  61 0.565 Gary Smith makes 30 saves      
FEB 14  H  DETROIT      5-4 W    55 29 21  5 188 167  63 0.573 Boudrias records four points   
FEB 15  H  ATLANTA      3-3 T    56 29 21  6 191 170  64 0.571 Lever scores twice, one assist 
FEB 18  H  BOSTON       1-3 L    57 29 22  6 192 173  64 0.561 Lever gets lone goal           
FEB 21  A  NY ISLANDERS 4-1 W    58 30 22  6 196 174  66 0.569 Gould gets natural hat trick   
FEB 22  A  MINNESOTA    1-4 L    59 30 23  6 197 178  66 0.559 Ververgaert scores lone goal   
FEB 26  A  MONTREAL     3-4 L    60 30 24  6 200 182  66 0.550 Gould records two points       
FEB 27  A  PHILADELPHIA 1-3 L    61 30 25  6 201 185  66 0.541 Ab De Marco scores lone goal   
MAR  1  A  PITTSBURGH   3-7 L    62 30 26  6 204 192  66 0.532 Canucks down 4-0 after first   
MAR  2  A  WASHINGTON   7-3 W    63 31 26  6 211 195  68 0.540 Bordeleau, Ververgaert two each
MAR  4  A  MINNESOTA    4-6 L    64 31 27  6 215 201  68 0.531 Boudrias scores a pair         
MAR  5  A  ST. LOUIS    2-5 L    65 31 28  6 217 206  68 0.523 Blues lead 4-0 in first        
MAR  7  H  CHICAGO      2-1 W    66 32 28  6 219 207  70 0.530 Rochefort scores game winner   
MAR  8  H  NY ISLANDERS 5-7 L    67 32 29  6 224 214  70 0.522 Lalonde has a three piont game 
MAR 11  H  KANSAS CITY  3-3 T    68 32 29  7 227 217  71 0.522 Lever scores two in third      
MAR 14  H  BUFFALO      5-1 W    69 33 29  7 232 218  73 0.529 Smith shutout ends late in game
MAR 16  A  CHICAGO      4-3 W    70 34 29  7 236 221  75 0.536 O'Flaherty scores two goals    
MAR 18  A  NY ISLANDERS 4-4 T    71 34 29  8 240 225  76 0.535 Lever ties game in third       
MAR 19  A  NY RANGERS   0-3 L    72 34 30  8 240 228  76 0.528 Ranger Giacomin records shutout
MAR 21  A  ATLANTA      4-12L    73 34 31  8 244 240  76 0.521 O'Flaherty manages hat trick   
MAR 23  H  ST. LOUIS    3-3 T    74 34 31  9 247 243  77 0.520 Dailey has a three point game  
MAR 25  H  PHILADELPHIA 3-5 L    75 34 32  9 250 248  77 0.513 Canucks up 3-2 in second       
MAR 28  H  LOS ANGELES  4-2 W    76 35 32  9 254 250  79 0.520 Lever records three points     
MAR 29  A  LOS ANGELES  3-3 T    77 35 32 10 257 253  80 0.519 Lockett begins shutout sequence
APR  1  H  CALIFORNIA   7-0 W    78 36 32 10 264 253  82 0.526 Lever scores 38th goal         
APR  2  A  CALIFORNIA   3-0 W    79 37 32 10 267 253  84 0.532 Lockett second straight shutout
APR  4  H  MINNESOTA    4-1 W    80 38 32 10 271 254  86 0.538 Lever on ice for final 5:00    

                            Canucks finish first in Smythe Division                          

Playoffs

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES       
APR 13  A  MONTREAL     2-6 L     1  0  1  0   2   6   0 0.000 First ever playoff game       
APR 15  A  MONTREAL     2-1 W     2  1  1  0   4   7   2 0.500 First ever playoff win        
APR 17  H  MONTREAL     1-4 L     3  1  2  0   5  11   2 0.333 First playoff game at Coliseum
APR 19  H  MONTREAL     0-4 L     4  1  3  0   5  15   2 0.250 Canadien Dryden gets shutout  
APR 22  A  MONTREAL     4-5 L OT  5  1  4  0   9  20   2 0.200 First ever overtime game      

                        Montreal wins best of seven series 4 games to 1