1980-81 Results

For the fourth straight season, the Canucks finished with more points than the year before. General Manager Jake Milford made a seemingly minor deal just before the season, picking up goaltender Richard Brodeur in an exchange for fifth round draft picks with the New York Islanders. Early in the season, Glen Hanlon suffered a serious injury and Brodeur became the number one goaltender (a position he held for several seasons). Tiger Williams led by example, scoring 35 goals and recording over 300 penalty minutes. Bobby Schmautz returned to the Canucks and played well during the season. While the Canucks did make the playoffs, they made a quick exit, losing out the the Sabres (again) in three games.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES      
OCT 10  H  DETROIT      5-3 W     1  1  0  0   5   3   2 1.000 First NHL goal for Rick Lanz   
OCT 12  H  QUEBEC       8-2 W     2  2  0  0  13   5   4 1.000 Stan Smyl records the hat trick
OCT 15  A  CHICAGO      2-4 L     3  2  1  0  15   9   4 0.667 Schmautz's first goal since '74
OCT 16  A  PHILADELPHIA 5-2 W     4  3  1  0  20  11   6 0.750 Fraser twinkles the twine twice
OCT 18  A  MONTREAL     1-4 L     5  3  2  0  21  15   6 0.600 Glen Hanlon out three months   
OCT 21  A  NY ISLANDERS 6-3 W     6  4  2  0  27  18   8 0.667 Brodeur new number one goalie  
OCT 22  A  NY RANGERS   2-3 L     7  4  3  0  29  21   8 0.571 Fraser scores both goals       
OCT 24  H  BOSTON       3-2 W     8  5  3  0  32  23  10 0.625 Gradin records two points      
OCT 26  H  TORONTO      8-5 W     9  6  3  0  40  28  12 0.667 Brasar, Williams 4 points each 
OCT 29  A  QUEBEC       3-3 T    10  6  3  1  43  31  13 0.650 Williams scores a pair         
NOV  1  A  HARTFORD     4-4 T    11  6  3  2  47  35  14 0.636 Boldirev ties it in third      
NOV  2  A  BUFFALO      3-4 L    12  6  4  2  50  39  14 0.583 Brodeur outshot 40-26          
NOV  5  H  EDMONTON     4-3 W    13  7  4  2  54  42  16 0.615 Canucks down 2-0 after first   
NOV  7  H  MINNESOTA    3-2 W    14  8  4  2  57  44  18 0.643 Smyl scores two, game winner   
NOV  8  H  NY RANGERS   6-4 W    15  9  4  2  63  48  20 0.667 Six different Canucks score    
NOV 11  H  ST. LOUIS    2-8 L    16  9  5  2  65  56  20 0.625 Fraser, Schmautz score         
NOV 14  H  MONTREAL     3-3 T    17  9  5  3  68  59  21 0.618 First NHL goal for Gerry Minor 
NOV 16  H  LOS ANGELES  2-3 L    18  9  6  3  70  62  21 0.583 Boldirev in on both goals      
NOV 18  H  WINNIPEG     6-1 W    19 10  6  3  76  63  23 0.605 Winnipeg opens the scoring     
NOV 19  A  EDMONTON     6-4 W    20 11  6  3  82  67  25 0.625 Darcy Rota gets three points   
NOV 22  A  HARTFORD     3-4 L    21 11  7  3  85  71  25 0.595 Whaler Stoughton four points   
NOV 23  A  NY RANGERS   2-2 T    22 11  7  4  87  73  26 0.591 Marois, Schmautz score         
NOV 26  A  PITTSBURGH   7-4 W    23 12  7  4  94  77  28 0.609 Four Caunck goals in 1:23      
NOV 28  H  CHICAGO      6-4 W    24 13  7  4 100  81  30 0.625 Schmautz records four assists  
NOV 29  H  PHILADELPHIA 3-3 T    25 13  7  5 103  84  31 0.620 Canucks down 3-0 after first   
DEC  3  H  HARTFORD     4-4 T    26 13  7  6 107  88  32 0.615 Gerry Minor gets three points  
DEC  4  A  LOS ANGELES  1-3 L    27 13  8  6 108  91  32 0.593 Brasar scores lone goal        
DEC  7  H  NY ISLANDERS 3-5 L    28 13  9  6 111  96  32 0.571 Fraser, Smyl, Ashton score     
DEC  9  A  WASHINGTON   4-2 W    29 14  9  6 115  98  34 0.586 Tiger Williams scores a pair   
DEC 10  A  TORONTO      8-5 W    30 15  9  6 123 103  36 0.600 Brasar, Schmautz 4 points each 
DEC 13  A  BOSTON       2-1 W    31 16  9  6 125 104  38 0.613 Second win in Boston Gardens   
DEC 14  A  BUFFALO      2-2 T    32 16  9  7 127 106  39 0.609 Sabres up 2-0 in second        
DEC 17  H  MONTREAL     4-4 T    33 16  9  8 131 110  40 0.606 Brasar scores twice in third   
DEC 19  H  PITTSBURGH   10-4W    34 17  9  8 141 114  42 0.618 Smyl records the hat trick     
DEC 21  H  BUFFALO      3-3 T    35 17  9  9 144 117  43 0.614 Gradin, Smyl, McCarthy score   
DEC 26  H  LOS ANGELES  3-6 L    36 17 10  9 147 123  43 0.597 Fraser scores twice            
DEC 28  H  ST. LOUIS    2-3 L    37 17 11  9 149 126  43 0.581 Williams, Brasar score         
DEC 30  H  WASHINGTON   3-3 T    38 17 11 10 152 129  44 0.579 Brasar ties it late in third   
JAN  2  A  DETROIT      2-2 T    39 17 11 11 154 131  45 0.577 First game at Joe Louis Arena  
JAN  3  A  ST. LOUIS    3-6 L    40 17 12 11 157 137  45 0.563 Gerry Minor opens the scoring  
JAN  6  A  COLORADO     7-3 W    41 18 12 11 164 140  47 0.573 Williams has a three point game
JAN  7  A  MINNESOTA    1-1 T    42 18 12 12 165 141  48 0.571 Brodeur outshot 40-19          
JAN  9  A  WINNIPEG     4-4 T    43 18 12 13 169 145  49 0.570 Williams scores twice          
JAN 13  H  COLORADO     3-3 T    44 18 12 14 172 148  50 0.568 Ashton scores two in third     
JAN 16  H  DETROIT      3-1 W    45 19 12 14 175 149  52 0.578 Rota in on all three goals     
JAN 17  A  COLORADO     5-2 W    46 20 12 14 180 151  54 0.587 Five different Canucks score   
JAN 20  H  TORONTO      2-2 T    47 20 12 15 182 153  55 0.585 Rota ties it in third          
JAN 21  A  EDMONTON     1-5 L    48 20 13 15 183 158  55 0.573 McCarthy scores lone goal      
JAN 24  H  NY RANGERS   5-7 L    49 20 14 15 188 165  55 0.561 Canucks trail 4-0 after first  
JAN 28  A  CHICAGO      3-7 L    50 20 15 15 191 172  55 0.550 Hawk Paterson gets hat trick   
JAN 29  A  WASHINGTON   1-3 L    51 20 16 15 192 175  55 0.539 Smyl scores lone marker        
FEB  1  H  CALGARY      6-2 W    52 21 16 15 198 177  57 0.548 First game against Calgary     
FEB  3  H  WASHINGTON   3-3 T    53 21 16 16 201 180  58 0.547 Boldirev ties it late in third 
FEB  7  A  ST. LOUIS    2-9 L    54 21 17 16 203 189  58 0.537 Blue Pettersson gets hat trick 
FEB  8  A  DETROIT      2-3 L    55 21 18 16 205 192  58 0.527 Minor, Smyl score              
FEB 12  A  PHILADELPHIA 3-4 L    56 21 19 16 208 196  58 0.518 Canucks down 4-1 in third      
FEB 14  A  PITTSBURGH   2-2 T    57 21 19 17 210 198  59 0.518 Canucks down 2-0 in second     
FEB 15  A  MINNESOTA    2-7 L    58 21 20 17 212 205  59 0.509 Rota, Ashton score             
FEB 18  H  BOSTON       5-7 L    59 21 21 17 217 212  59 0.500 Schmautz has a three point game
FEB 20  H  QUEBEC       3-9 L    60 21 22 17 220 221  59 0.492 Two Stastnys get hat tricks    
FEB 22  H  CALGARY      3-5 L    61 21 23 17 223 226  59 0.484 McCarthy records two assists   
FEB 24  H  PHILADELPHIA 6-4 W    62 22 23 17 229 230  61 0.492 Williams records three points  
FEB 26  A  LOS ANGELES  3-4 L    63 22 24 17 232 234  61 0.484 Canucks up 3-0 early in first  
FEB 27  H  NY ISLANDERS 1-5 L    64 22 25 17 233 239  61 0.477 Williams scores lone tally     
MAR  1  H  HARTFORD     3-0 W    65 23 25 17 236 239  63 0.485 Schmautz gets a pair of goals  
MAR  4  A  TORONTO      5-2 W    66 24 25 17 241 241  65 0.492 Gradin gets the hat trick      
MAR  7  A  NY ISLANDERS 1-3 L    67 24 26 17 242 244  65 0.485 Gradin gets the lone goal      
MAR  8  A  BOSTON       1-4 L    68 24 27 17 243 248  65 0.478 Gradin opens the scoring       
MAR 10  A  CALGARY      2-11L    69 24 28 17 245 259  65 0.471 First trip to the Corral       
MAR 13  H  CHICAGO      5-3 W    70 25 28 17 250 262  67 0.479 Hanlon injured again           
MAR 14  H  BUFFALO      2-1 W    71 26 28 17 252 263  69 0.486 Rota gets both goals           
MAR 17  H  PITTSBURGH   4-3 W    72 27 28 17 256 266  71 0.493 Butler records two points      
MAR 21  A  MONTREAL     3-5 L    73 27 29 17 259 271  71 0.486 Fraser opens the scoring       
MAR 23  A  QUEBEC       3-3 T    74 27 29 18 262 274  72 0.486 McDonald, Minor, Smyl score    
MAR 25  H  COLORADO     4-4 T    75 27 29 19 266 278  73 0.487 Schmautz scores in final minute
MAR 27  A  WINNIPEG     10-2W    76 28 29 19 276 280  75 0.493 Nine Canucks score goals       
MAR 29  H  MINNESOTA    2-4 L    77 28 30 19 278 284  75 0.487 MacDonald, Brasar score        
APR  1  H  WINNIPEG     4-4 T    78 28 30 20 282 288  76 0.487 Gradin ties it in third        
APR  3  H  EDMONTON     2-7 L    79 28 31 20 284 295  76 0.481 Rota, Williams score           
APR  4  A  CALGARY      5-6 L    80 28 32 20 289 301  76 0.475 Canucks up 2-0 after first     

                            Canucks finish third in Smythe Division               

Playoffs

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES        
APR  8  A  BUFFALO      2-3 L  OT 1  0  1  0   2   3   0 0.000 Rota, Fraser score             
APR  9  A  BUFFALO      2-5 L     2  0  2  0   4   8   0 0.000 Gradin assists on both goals   
APR 11  H  BUFFALO      3-5 L     3  0  3  0   7  13   0 0.000 Canucks bow out quietly        
                       Buffalo wins best of five series three games to none