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1978-79 Results

At the start of the 1978-79 season, the Canucks unveiled a radical (and we do mean radical) new uniform design. Gone were the peaceful green, blue and white uniforms, replaced with the more aggressive red, black and yellow "V" jerseys. In addition to new jerseys, the team featured many new faces including a rookie line of Thomas Gradin, Stan Smyl and Curt Fraser plus newcomers Lars Lindgren, Lars Zetterstrom, Rob Tudor, Roland Eriksson, Bill Derlago and Gary Bromley. Glen Hanlon, who played four games at the end of 1977-78 became "the franchise" and was a serious candidate for NHL rookie of the year honours until his season ending injury in January. Overall, the team was moving in the right direction, although they still lacked the consistency to get them to the .500 mark.

They did, however, finish second in the Smythe Division and made the playoffs. The Canucks opened the best-of-three series in Philadelphia against a Flyers team that finished the regular season 32 points ahead in the standings. Vancouver stunned the Philadelphia crowd with a victory. Unfortunately, the Flyers won the next two games to take the series.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT 11  H  COLORADO     8-2 W     1  1  0  0   8   2   2 1.000 Debut of Gradin, Smyl, Fraser  
OCT 13  H  ST. LOUIS    8-4 W     2  2  0  0  16   6   4 1.000 Don Lever 2 goals, 2 assists   
OCT 15  A  CHICAGO      3-3 T     3  2  0  1  19   9   5 0.833 Pit Martin scores twice        
OCT 17  A  ST. LOUIS    6-8 L     4  2  1  1  25  17   5 0.625 First NHL goal for Stan Smyl   
OCT 18  A  MINNESOTA    2-7 L     5  2  2  1  27  24   5 0.500 First NHL goal for Bill Derlago
OCT 20  H  BOSTON       1-5 L     6  2  3  1  28  29   5 0.417 Pit Martin scores only goal    
OCT 22  H  BUFFALO      3-2 W     7  3  3  1  31  31   7 0.500 Hilliard Graves notches winner 
OCT 25  A  NY RANGERS   2-6 L     8  3  4  1  33  37   7 0.438 Rangers score first six goals  
OCT 28  A  NY ISLANDERS 2-5 L     9  3  5  1  35  42   7 0.389 Gillis, Sedlbauer score        
OCT 29  A  PHILADELPHIA 5-2 W    10  4  5  1  40  44   9 0.450 Glen Hanlon makes 33 saves     
NOV  1  A  CHICAGO      1-0 W    11  5  5  1  41  44  11 0.500 Hanlon shutout, Smyl injured   
NOV  3  H  TORONTO      1-3 L    12  5  6  1  42  47  11 0.458 Don Lever scores lone goal     
NOV  5  H  NY RANGERS   2-5 L    13  5  7  1  44  52  11 0.423 Tied 2-2 after first period    
NOV  7  A  ATLANTA      2-4 L    14  5  8  1  46  56  11 0.393 Atlanta leads 4-0 in second    
NOV  8  A  DETROIT      6-4 W    15  6  8  1  52  60  13 0.433 Kearns' 500th game as Canuck   
NOV 10  H  MINNESOTA    2-3 L    16  6  9  1  54  63  13 0.406 McIlhargey records two points  
NOV 12  H  PHILADELPHIA 0-4 L    17  6 10  1  54  67  13 0.382 Flyer Parent gets shutout      
NOV 16  H  PITTSBURGH   3-6 L    18  6 11  1  57  73  13 0.361 Jere Gillis has two point night
NOV 18  H  MONTREAL     2-4 L    19  6 12  1  59  77  13 0.342 Canucks lead 2-1 after first   
NOV 21  H  CHICAGO      5-2 W    20  7 12  1  64  79  15 0.375 Sedlbauer has three point game 
NOV 23  A  COLORADO     7-2 W    21  8 12  1  71  81  17 0.405 Tied at two after forty minutes
NOV 25  H  NY ISLANDERS 2-5 L    22  8 13  1  73  86  17 0.386 Derlago put out for the season 
NOV 28  A  ST. LOUIS    6-3 W    23  9 13  1  79  89  19 0.413 Sedlbauer records the hat trick
NOV 29  A  CHICAGO      1-1 T    24  9 13  2  80  90  20 0.417 Glen Hanlon makes 24 saves     
DEC  1  H  DETROIT      2-1 W    25 10 13  2  82  91  22 0.440 Ververgaert scores game winner 
DEC  5  H  ATLANTA      3-0 W    26 11 13  2  85  91  24 0.462 Hanlon shutout, Graves 2 goals 
DEC  7  H  CHICAGO      4-2 W    27 12 13  2  89  93  26 0.481 Curt Fraser scores twice       
DEC  9  H  WASHINGTON   5-7 L    28 12 14  2  94 100  26 0.464 Cap Lofthouse gets hat trick   
DEC 12  A  BOSTON       3-7 L    29 12 15  2  97 107  26 0.448 Snepsts records three points   
DEC 13  A  TORONTO      1-5 L    30 12 16  2  98 112  26 0.433 Sedlbauer records lone marker  
DEC 16  A  PITTSBURGH   5-6 L    31 12 17  2 103 118  26 0.419 Sedlbauer scores twice         
DEC 17  A  BUFFALO      3-6 L    32 12 18  2 106 124  26 0.406 Down 3-0 after first period    
DEC 19  A  MINNESOTA    3-5 L    33 12 19  2 109 129  26 0.394 Canucks up 3-2 after second    
DEC 20  A  DETROIT      2-7 L    34 12 20  2 111 136  26 0.382 Wing McCourt nets hat trick    
DEC 23  H  LOS ANGELES  2-0 W    35 13 20  2 113 136  28 0.400 Glen Hanlon makes 24 saves     
DEC 28  H  BUFFALO      3-3 T    36 13 20  3 116 139  29 0.403 Stan Smyl has a two point night
DEC 30  A  LOS ANGELES  0-4 L    37 13 21  3 116 143  29 0.392 McCarthy injured in first game 
JAN  2  A  NY ISLANDERS 0-9 L    38 13 22  3 116 152  29 0.382 Bossy hat trick, Resch shutout 
JAN  3  A  PITTSBURGH   5-3 W    39 14 22  3 121 155  31 0.397 Don Lever records three points 
JAN  5  A  NY RANGERS   4-6 L    40 14 23  3 125 161  31 0.388 Ranger Nillson scores three    
JAN  6  A  MONTREAL     0-2 L    41 14 24  3 125 163  31 0.378 Hab Dryden gets the shutout    
JAN  8  A  TORONTO      5-1 W    42 15 24  3 130 164  33 0.393 Don Lever scores twice         
JAN 11  H  ST. LOUIS    4-3 W    43 16 24  3 134 167  35 0.407 Canucks down 3-0 in second     
JAN 13  A  ST. LOUIS    3-3 T    44 16 24  4 137 170  36 0.409 Canucks down 2-0 after first   
JAN 14  A  WASHINGTON   3-5 L    45 16 25  4 140 175  36 0.400 Goodenough records two points  
JAN 16  H  MONTREAL     2-2 T    46 16 25  5 142 177  37 0.402 Gillis records two points      
JAN 19  H  TORONTO      3-3 T    47 16 25  6 145 180  38 0.404 Gassoff records two points     
JAN 24  H  CHICAGO      0-5 L    48 16 26  6 145 185  38 0.396 Hawk Esposito records shutout  
JAN 26  H  ST. LOUIS    4-1 W    49 17 26  6 149 186  40 0.408 Thomas Gradin 1 goal, 2 assists
JAN 27  A  COLORADO     2-2 T    50 17 26  7 151 188  41 0.410 Glen Hanlon injured            
JAN 30  H  NY RANGERS   3-5 L    51 17 27  7 154 193  41 0.402 First NHL goal for Flockhart   
FEB  1  A  ATLANTA      1-4 L    52 17 28  7 155 197  41 0.394 Gillis scores lone goal        
FEB  3  A  WASHINGTON   5-1 W    53 18 28  7 160 198  43 0.406 First NHL goal for Lindgren    
FEB  4  A  BOSTON       1-6 L    54 18 29  7 161 204  43 0.398 Bob Manno only Canuck to score 
FEB 13  A  ST. LOUIS    3-3 T    55 18 29  8 164 207  44 0.400 Sedlbauer ties game in third   
FEB 14  A  MINNESOTA    1-8 L    56 18 30  8 165 215  44 0.393 Ron Sedlbauer opens the scoring
FEB 17  H  NY ISLANDERS 3-5 L    57 18 31  8 168 220  44 0.386 Stan Smyl scores twice         
FEB 20  H  PHILADELPHIA 3-3 T    58 18 31  9 171 223  45 0.388 Chris Oddleifson injured       
FEB 22  H  COLORADO     3-0 W    59 19 31  9 174 223  47 0.398 Gary Bromley makes 25 saves    
FEB 24  H  BOSTON       3-4 L    60 19 32  9 177 227  47 0.392 Boston up 4-1 after second     
FEB 26  A  LOS ANGELES  0-2 L    61 19 33  9 177 229  47 0.385 King Lessard gets shutout      
FEB 28  H  CHICAGO      4-4 T    62 19 33 10 181 233  48 0.387 Sedlbauer has four point game  
MAR  2  H  WASHINGTON   2-6 L    63 19 34 10 183 239  48 0.381 Sedlbauer fails on penalty shot
MAR  4  H  LOS ANGELES  2-3 L    64 19 35 10 185 242  48 0.375 Snepsts assists on both goals  
MAR  7  A  TORONTO      0-2 L    65 19 36 10 185 244  48 0.369 Leaf Palmateer makes 45 saves  
MAR  8  A  MONTREAL     1-11L    66 19 37 10 186 255  48 0.364 Gassoff's goal not quite enough
MAR 10  H  COLORADO     1-3 L    67 19 38 10 187 258  48 0.358 Don Lever scores lone goal     
MAR 13  H  PITTSBURGH   3-9 L    68 19 39 10 190 267  48 0.353 Canucks score three in third   
MAR 15  A  BUFFALO      2-4 L    69 19 40 10 192 271  48 0.348 Vancouver up 2-0 in second     
MAR 16  A  COLORADO     4-1 W    70 20 40 10 196 272  50 0.357 Dunc Wilson makes 28 saves     
MAR 18  H  ATLANTA      2-1 W    71 21 40 10 198 273  52 0.366 Lever scores winner in second  
MAR 21  H  ST. LOUIS    1-1 T    72 21 40 11 199 274  53 0.368 Thomas Gradin scores the goal  
MAR 23  H  BUFFALO      3-4 L    73 21 41 11 202 278  53 0.363 Canucks up 3-1 after second    
MAR 25  H  MINNESOTA    2-1 W    74 22 41 11 204 279  55 0.372 Gary Bromley picks up the win  
MAR 27  H  DETROIT      5-2 W    75 23 41 11 209 281  57 0.380 Don Lever scores game winner   
MAR 29  A  PHILADELPHIA 0-5 L    76 23 42 11 209 286  57 0.375 Flyer Robbie Moore gets shutout
MAR 31  A  COLORADO     2-0 W    77 24 42 11 211 286  59 0.383 Bromley gets the shutout       
APR  1  A  CHICAGO      2-2 T    78 24 42 12 213 288  60 0.385 Martin and Manno score         
APR  3  H  COLORADO     2-1 W    79 25 42 12 215 289  62 0.392 Jere Gillis has two point night
APR  6  H  MINNESOTA    2-2 T    80 25 42 13 217 291  63 0.394 Sedlbauer first to hit 40 goals

                           Canucks finish second in Smythe Division                       

Playoffs

APR 10  A  PHILADELPHIA 3-2 W     1  1  0  0   3   2   2 1.000 Huge upset, Smyl gets 2 points 
APR 12  H  PHILADELPHIA 4-6 L     2  1  1  0   7   8   2 0.500 Close: Flyers score twice late 
APR 14  A  PHILADELPHIA 2-7 L     3  1  2  0   9  15   2 0.333 Gradin manages two points      

                     Philadelphia wins best of three series two games to one