1971-72 >>

1970-71 Results

Three seasons after the NHL expanded from six to twelve teams, the league expanded once again. This time, Vancouver and Buffalo joined the circuit. For a $6,000,000 entry fee, the Canucks and Sabres selected cast-offs, has-beens and never-weres from the established NHL club and hit the ice. On opening night, the city, province and country watched as the celebrities came to the Pacific Coliseum for the big event. Unfortunately, the Canucks didn't play very well and lost 3-1.

Over the rest of the season, the Canucks performed admirably (for an expansion club). They were actually in a playoff position in mid-December, but faded when captain Orland Kurtenbach suffered an injury and missed several games. Players like Andre Boudrias, Wayne Maki, rookie Dale Tallon, Rosaire Paiement, Murray Hall and goaltender Charlie Hodge led the team many nights. At season's end, the team had a record of 24-46-8 which left them sixth in the seven team East Division.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT  9  H  LOS ANGELES  1-3 L     1  0  1  0   1   3   0 0.000 Wilkins first goal from Lunde  
OCT 11  H  TORONTO      5-3 W     2  1  1  0   6   6   2 0.500 First Canuck victory           
OCT 12  A  ST. LOUIS    1-4 L     3  1  2  0   7  10   2 0.333 First road game                
OCT 14  A  CHICAGO      2-8 L     4  1  3  0   9  18   2 0.250 First NHL point for Dale Tallon
OCT 15  A  PHILADELPHIA 4-5 L     5  1  4  0  13  23   2 0.200 First powerplay goal (Boudrias)
OCT 18  H  BOSTON       3-5 L     6  1  5  0  16  28   2 0.167 Maki & Green meet again        
OCT 20  H  CALIFORNIA   2-1 W     7  2  5  0  18  29   4 0.286 Maki, Boudrias score           
OCT 23  H  ST. LOUIS    1-1 T     8  2  5  1  19  30   5 0.313 First Canuck tie               
OCT 25  H  PITTSBURGH   1-1 T     9  2  5  2  20  31   6 0.333 Maki only Canuck scorer again  
OCT 27  H  BUFFALO      7-2 W    10  3  5  2  27  33   8 0.400 First NHL goal for Dale Tallon 
OCT 31  A  MONTREAL     3-6 L    11  3  6  2  30  39   8 0.364 Mike Corrigan two goals        
NOV  4  A  PITTSBURGH   3-8 L    12  3  7  2  33  47   8 0.333 Defenseman Pat Quinn two points
NOV  5  A  BUFFALO      4-1 W    13  4  7  2  37  48  10 0.385 First road win, penalty shot   
NOV  7  H  TORONTO      3-2 W    14  5  7  2  40  50  12 0.429 First goal during 2 man adv.   
NOV 10  A  BOSTON       3-6 L    15  5  8  2  43  56  12 0.400 Boston up 5-0 after two periods
NOV 11  A  TORONTO      4-2 W    16  6  8  2  47  58  14 0.438 Ray Cullen scores two goals    
NOV 14  A  MINNESOTA    3-3 T    17  6  8  3  50  61  15 0.441 Wayne Maki two assists         
NOV 15  A  CHICAGO      2-4 L    18  6  9  3  52  65  15 0.417 Vancouver leads 2-1 after first
NOV 17  H  DETROIT      2-5 L    19  6 10  3  54  70  15 0.395 Hall, Boudrias score           
NOV 20  H  LOS ANGELES  7-1 W    20  7 10  3  61  71  17 0.425 First NHL goal for Jim Wiste   
NOV 21  A  LOS ANGELES  3-1 W    21  8 10  3  64  72  19 0.452 Kurtenbach pops game winner    
NOV 24  H  MINNESOTA    3-2 W    22  9 10  3  67  74  21 0.477 Pat Quinn lays out Star Lawson 
NOV 26  A  DETROIT      2-4 L    23  9 11  3  69  78  21 0.457 Boudrias, Popiel score         
NOV 28  A  ST. LOUIS    1-5 L    24  9 12  3  70  83  21 0.438 Tallon only Canuck to score    
NOV 29  A  PHILADELPHIA 2-4 L    25  9 13  3  72  87  21 0.420 Flyer LaCroix records hat trick
DEC  1  H  PHILADELPHIA 5-4 W    26 10 13  3  77  91  23 0.442 Maki two goals and an assist   
DEC  5  A  PITTSBURGH   1-3 L    27 10 14  3  78  94  23 0.426 Boudrias breaks shutout        
DEC  6  A  NY RANGERS   1-4 L    28 10 15  3  79  98  23 0.411 Paiement in two separate fights
DEC  8  H  NY RANGERS   4-1 W    29 11 15  3  83  99  25 0.431 Mike Corrigan scores twice     
DEC  9  A  CALIFORNIA   1-6 L    30 11 16  3  84 105  25 0.417 Ferguson high sticks Doak      
DEC 12  H  CALIFORNIA   5-2 W    31 12 16  3  89 107  27 0.435 First hat trick (Kurtenbach)   
DEC 15  H  PHILADELPHIA 3-2 W    32 13 16  3  92 109  29 0.453 Canucks 5 points ahead of 5th  
DEC 18  H  MONTREAL     3-4 L    33 13 17  3  95 113  29 0.439 Kurtenbach, Maki 3 points each 
DEC 20  A  NY RANGERS   1-5 L    34 13 18  3  96 118  29 0.426 Boudrias scores only goal      
DEC 23  A  TORONTO      2-7 L    35 13 19  3  98 125  29 0.414 Orland Kurtenbach injured      
DEC 26  H  CHICAGO      2-4 L    36 13 20  3 100 129  29 0.403 Boudrias goal while 2 men short
DEC 30  A  LOS ANGELES  4-1 W    37 14 20  3 104 130  31 0.419 Paiement has three point night 
JAN  2  H  ST. LOUIS    1-3 L    38 14 21  3 105 133  31 0.408 Boudrias scores lone goal      
JAN  6  A  MONTREAL     3-7 L    39 14 22  3 108 140  31 0.397 Tallon scores, adds assist     
JAN  7  A  BOSTON       4-6 L    40 14 23  3 112 146  31 0.388 Tallon scores twice            
JAN  9  A  ST. LOUIS    2-2 T    41 14 23  4 114 148  32 0.390 Dunc Wilson makes 45 saves     
JAN 12  H  NY RANGERS   2-4 L    42 14 24  4 116 152  32 0.381 Barry Wilkins records 2 assists
JAN 16  H  PITTSBURGH   3-4 L    43 14 25  4 119 156  32 0.372 First NHL goal for Rizzuto     
JAN 17  A  CALIFORNIA   3-1 W    44 15 25  4 122 157  34 0.386 Dunc wilson makes 30 saves     
JAN 20  H  TORONTO      1-5 L    45 15 26  4 123 162  34 0.378 Popiel scores lone goal        
JAN 23  A  PITTSBURGH   1-4 L    46 15 27  4 124 166  34 0.370 Murray Hall scores only goal   
JAN 24  A  DETROIT      3-7 L    47 15 28  4 127 173  34 0.362 Wings score five in third      
JAN 26  H  CHICAGO      3-3 T    48 15 28  5 130 176  35 0.365 Corrigan scores twice in second
JAN 29  H  MINNESOTA    1-2 L    49 15 29  5 131 178  35 0.357 George Gardner faces 34 shots  
JAN 31  H  BUFFALO      1-6 L    50 15 30  5 132 184  35 0.350 Murray Hall scores only goal   
FEB  2  H  MONTREAL     2-5 L    51 15 31  5 134 189  35 0.343 Corrigan records two assists   
FEB  6  H  NY RANGERS   4-5 L    52 15 32  5 138 194  35 0.337 Tied at three after two periods
FEB  9  H  BUFFALO      6-3 W    53 16 32  5 144 197  37 0.349 First four goal game (Paiement)
FEB 12  H  DETROIT      5-3 W    54 17 32  5 149 200  39 0.361 Mike Corrigan scores twice     
FEB 14  A  CHICAGO      1-3 L    55 17 33  5 150 203  39 0.355 Ted Taylor scores only goal    
FEB 16  H  BOSTON       5-4 W    56 18 33  5 155 207  41 0.366 Paiement records five points   
FEB 19  H  PHILADELPHIA 2-3 L    57 18 34  5 157 210  41 0.360 Dale Tallon records two points 
FEB 22  H  MONTREAL     3-3 T    58 18 34  6 160 213  42 0.362 Boudrias scores two goals      
FEB 25  A  BOSTON       3-8 L    59 18 35  6 163 221  42 0.356 Bruins score three in 0:20     
FEB 27  A  PHILADELPHIA 1-8 L    60 18 36  6 164 229  42 0.350 Taylor breaks shutout in third 
FEB 28  A  NY RANGERS   2-4 L    61 18 37  6 166 233  42 0.344 Ice very poor at MSG           
MAR  3  A  TORONTO      1-3 L    62 18 38  6 167 236  42 0.339 Orland Kurtenbach returns      
MAR  6  A  MINNESOTA    1-3 L    63 18 39  6 168 239  42 0.333 Dunc Wilson faces 25 shots     
MAR  7  A  BUFFALO      3-6 L    64 18 40  6 171 245  42 0.328 Eliminated from playoffs       
MAR  9  A  MONTREAL     3-3 T    65 18 40  7 174 248  43 0.331 Postponed from March 4 (snow)  
MAR 11  H  DETROIT      7-3 W    66 19 40  7 181 251  45 0.341 Was scheduled for March 10     
MAR 13  H  BOSTON       3-6 L    67 19 41  7 184 257  45 0.336 Paiement records two points    
MAR 16  H  CHICAGO      4-7 L    68 19 42  7 188 264  45 0.331 Dale Tallon records four points
MAR 19  H  PITTSBURGH   6-4 W    69 20 42  7 194 268  47 0.341 Paiement scores 30th goal      
MAR 21  H  MINNESOTA    3-6 L    70 20 43  7 197 274  47 0.336 Goldsworthy scores four goals  
MAR 23  H  ST. LOUIS    4-1 W    71 21 43  7 201 275  49 0.345 Danny Johnson scores winner    
MAR 25  A  DETROIT      3-4 L    72 21 44  7 204 279  49 0.340 Dunc Wilson faces 39 shots     
MAR 26  A  BUFFALO      1-3 L    73 21 45  7 205 282  49 0.336 Mike Corrigan scores only goal 
MAR 28  H  CALIFORNIA   11-5W    74 22 45  7 216 287  51 0.345 Team record set: 11 goals      
MAR 30  A  MINNESOTA    2-1 W    75 23 45  7 218 288  53 0.353 George Gardner makes 42 saves  
MAR 31  A  LOS ANGELES  2-2 T    76 23 45  8 220 290  54 0.355 Wayne Maki scores both goals   
APR  2  A  CALIFORNIA   7-2 W    77 24 45  8 227 292  56 0.364 Canucks score two goals in 0:08
APR  4  H  LOS ANGELES  2-4 L    78 24 46  8 229 296  56 0.359 27 sellouts in 1970-71         

          Canucks finish 6th out of 7 teams in the East Division (out of the playoffs)