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2008-09 Results

During the off-season, rookie General Manager Mike Gillis made a splash in the free agent market, offering Mats Sundin a truckload of money to join the team. Sundin took his time making up his mind and eventually joined the Canucks in January 2009. Until then, the Canucks relied on new veterans like Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier to bolster the lineup. Returning Canucks Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler, and Alex Burrows provided the offense most nights. Blueliners Kevin Bieksa, Mattias Ohlund, Alexander Edler, Sami Salo and Willie Mitchell anchored the defense.

Roberto Luongo returned for his third season, this time as the captain (sort of), but missed two months during the middle of the season. At the end of January, the Canucks were 22-20-8 and in danger of missing the playoffs. With Luongo returning to form, a balanced offense and healthy defense, the Canucks went 23-7-2 in their final 32 games. They won the Northwest Division title and home ice advantage for the playoffs.

The Canucks met the league's "other" hottest team, St. Louis in the first round. The Blues' amazing run hit a brick wall as the Canucks swept them aside in four close games. The Canucks waited nine days before they met Chicago in the second round. The Blackhawks would not quit, often coming back after the Canucks took the lead. In game four, the Canucks were leading 1-0 late in the third period, looking to return home with a 3-1 series lead. Chicago tied the game, won in overtime and went on to win the next two games and the series.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L OL  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES
OCT  9  H  CALGARY      6-0 W     1  1  0  0   6   0   2 1.000 "Captain" Luongo 25 saves   
OCT 11  A  CALGARY      5-4 W OT  2  2  0  0  11   4   4 1.000 Demitra gets the winner     
OCT 13  A  WASHINGTON   1-5 L     3  2  1  0  12   9   4 0.667 Edler gets lone goal        
OCT 16  A  DETROIT      4-3 W OT  4  3  1  0  16  12   6 0.750 Burrows wins it at 0:27     
OCT 17  A  BUFFALO      2-5 L     5  3  2  0  18  17   6 0.600 Kesler, Bernier score       
OCT 19  A  CHICAGO      2-4 L     6  3  3  0  20  21   6 0.500 Canucks score first and last
OCT 21  A  COLUMBUS     2-4 L     7  3  4  0  22  25   6 0.429 Wellwood's first two points 
OCT 25  H  EDMONTON     6-3 W     8  4  4  0  28  28   8 0.500 Raymond, Hansen score twice 
OCT 28  H  BOSTON       0-1 L     9  4  5  0  28  29   8 0.444 Thomas 31, Luongo 29 saves  
OCT 30  A  LOS ANGELES  4-0 W    10  5  5  0  32  29  10 0.500 Luongo 28 and penalty shot  
OCT 31  A  ANAHEIM      7-6 W SO 11  6  5  0  39  35  12 0.545 Bernier scores twice        
NOV  2  H  DETROIT      2-3 L    12  6  6  0  41  38  12 0.500 Henrik, Wellwood score      
NOV  4  H  NASHVILLE    4-0 W    13  7  6  0  45  38  14 0.538 Wellwood scores twice       
NOV  6  H  PHOENIX      1-0 W    14  8  6  0  46  38  16 0.571 Luongo makes 28 saves       
NOV  8  H  MINNESOTA WI 2-0 W    15  9  6  0  48  38  18 0.600 Luongo perfect again        
NOV 12  H  COLORADO AV. 1-2 L SO 16  9  6  1  49  40  19 0.594 Luongo shutout streak 242:36
NOV 15  H  TORONTO      4-2 W    17 10  6  1  53  42  21 0.618 Canucks up 4-0 after 2nd    
NOV 17  A  NY ISLANDERS 1-2 L SO 18 10  6  2  54  44  22 0.611 Demitra gets only goal      
NOV 19  A  NY RANGERS   6-3 W    19 11  6  2  60  47  24 0.632 Burrows gets two goals      
NOV 20  A  MINNESOTA WI 3-2 W    20 12  6  2  63  49  26 0.650 Demitra gets goal, assist   
NOV 22  A  PITTSBURGH   3-1 W    21 13  6  2  66  50  28 0.667 Luongo pulls groin in first 
NOV 24  H  DETROIT      3-2 W OT 22 14  6  2  69  52  30 0.682 Salo winner on powerplay    
NOV 27  H  CALGARY      3-4 L    23 14  7  2  72  56  30 0.652 Flame Cammalleri hat trick  
NOV 29  A  CALGARY      1-3 L    24 14  8  2  73  59  30 0.625 Schneider's first NHL game  
DEC  1  A  COLUMBUS     2-3 L    25 14  9  2  75  62  30 0.600 Wellwood, Bieksa score      
DEC  4  A  DETROIT      5-6 L    26 14 10  2  80  68  30 0.577 Twelve Canucks get a point  
DEC  5  A  MINNESOTA WI 2-1 W    27 15 10  2  82  69  32 0.593 Mitchell rock solid on D    
DEC  7  A  COLORADO AV. 4-5 L SO 28 15 10  3  86  74  33 0.589 Bernier pops a pair         
DEC  9  A  NASHVILLE    3-1 W    29 16 10  3  89  75  35 0.603 Edler gets the winner       
DEC 13  A  EDMONTON     0-3 L    30 16 11  3  89  78  35 0.583 Oilers score one each period
DEC 14  H  FLORIDA      5-3 W    31 17 11  3  94  81  37 0.597 Canucks down 2-0 early      
DEC 17  H  EDMONTON     4-2 W    32 18 11  3  98  83  39 0.609 Linden's number 16 retired  
DEC 20  H  CHICAGO      1-3 L    33 18 12  3  99  86  39 0.591 Sanford stops 31 of 33      
DEC 22  H  ANAHEIM      4-3 W    34 19 12  3 103  89  41 0.603 Daniel gets 2 goals, winner 
DEC 23  A  SAN JOSE     0-5 L    35 19 13  3 103  94  41 0.586 Shark Nabokov stops 33 shots
DEC 26  H  EDMONTON     2-3 L    36 19 14  3 105  97  41 0.569 Canucks down 3-0 late in 2nd
DEC 28  H  OTTAWA       3-0 W    37 20 14  3 108  97  43 0.581 Sanford first Canuck shutout
DEC 30  H  PHILADELPHIA 2-3 L    38 20 15  3 110 100  43 0.566 Daniel, Kesler score        
JAN  1  A  NASHVILLE    2-1 W    39 21 15  3 112 101  45 0.577 Jaffray gets the winner     
JAN  2  A  ATLANTA THR. 3-4 L SO 40 21 15  4 115 105  46 0.575 Henrik gets 2 goals, assist 
JAN  4  H  DALLAS       2-3 L SO 41 21 15  5 117 108  47 0.573 Canucks lead 2-0 in first   
JAN  7  A  EDMONTON     4-2 W    42 22 15  5 121 110  49 0.583 Bernier two goals, assist   
JAN  9  H  ST. LOUIS    4-6 L    43 22 16  5 125 116  49 0.570 Mitchell two goals, assist  
JAN 10  H  SAN JOSE     2-4 L    44 22 17  5 127 120  49 0.557 Sundin's first Canuck goal  
JAN 13  H  NEW JERSEY   3-5 L    45 22 18  5 130 125  49 0.544 Canucks trail 3-0 after 1st 
JAN 15  H  PHOENIX      1-4 L    46 22 19  5 131 129  49 0.533 Luongo returns from injury  
JAN 18  H  COLUMBUS     5-6 L SO 47 22 19  6 136 135  50 0.532 Canucks lead 3-1, trail 5-3 
JAN 20  A  SAN JOSE     1-2 L OT 48 22 19  7 137 137  51 0.531 Canucks 40 seconds from win 
JAN 28  H  NASHVILLE    3-5 L    49 22 20  7 140 142  51 0.520 Canucks lead 3-1 in second  
JAN 31  H  MINNESOTA WI 3-4 L OT 50 22 20  8 143 146  52 0.520 Kesler scores twice         
FEB  3  H  CAROLINA     4-3 W    51 23 20  8 147 149  54 0.529 Burrows shorthanded winner  
FEB  7  H  CHICAGO      7-3 W    52 24 20  8 154 152  56 0.538 Edler goal, three assists   
FEB 10  A  ST. LOUIS    6-4 W    53 25 20  8 160 156  58 0.547 Demitra goal, two assists   
FEB 12  A  PHOENIX      4-3 W    54 26 20  8 164 159  60 0.556 Canucks trail 3-1 after 2nd 
FEB 13  A  DALLAS       1-2 L    55 26 21  8 165 161  60 0.545 Pyatt opens the scoring     
FEB 15  H  MONTREAL     4-2 W    56 27 21  8 169 163  62 0.554 Canucks stay out of box     
FEB 17  A  CALGARY      4-3 W SO 57 28 21  8 173 166  64 0.561 Kesler gets two goals       
FEB 19  A  OTTAWA       5-2 W    58 29 21  8 178 168  66 0.569 Henrick gets goal, 3 assists
FEB 21  A  TORONTO      3-2 W SO 59 30 21  8 181 170  68 0.576 Sundin returns, gets winner 
FEB 24  A  MONTREAL     0-3 L    60 30 22  8 181 173  68 0.567 Hab Halek makes 34 stops    
FEB 27  H  TAMPA BAY    2-1 W    61 31 22  8 183 174  70 0.574 Bernier gets the winner     
MAR  1  H  COLUMBUS     3-1 W    62 32 22  8 186 175  72 0.581 Sundin gets two assists     
MAR  3  H  MINNESOTA WI 4-2 W    63 33 22  8 190 177  74 0.587 Burrows scores twice        
MAR  7  H  SAN JOSE     3-1 W    64 34 22  8 193 178  76 0.594 Eight Canucks get a point   
MAR  9  A  LOS ANGELES  2-3 L    65 34 23  8 195 181  76 0.585 Burrows, Pyatt score        
MAR 11  A  ANAHEIM      3-4 L OT 66 34 23  9 198 185  77 0.583 Demitra gets two assists    
MAR 13  H  LOS ANGELES  4-2 W    67 35 23  9 202 187  79 0.590 Henrik two goals in 0:30    
MAR 15  H  COLORADO AV. 4-2 W    68 36 23  9 206 189  81 0.596 Kesler gets three assists   
MAR 17  H  DALLAS       4-2 W    69 37 23  9 210 191  83 0.601 Kesler gets goal, assist    
MAR 19  H  ST. LOUIS    3-0 W    70 38 23  9 213 191  85 0.607 Luongo makes 30 saves       
MAR 21  A  PHOENIX      1-5 L    71 38 24  9 214 196  85 0.599 Burrows gets one late       
MAR 24  A  DALLAS       5-2 W    72 39 24  9 219 198  87 0.604 Kesler scores twice         
MAR 26  A  ST. LOUIS    2-4 L    73 39 25  9 221 202  87 0.596 Pyatt opens the scoring     
MAR 27  A  COLORADO AV. 4-1 W    74 40 25  9 225 203  89 0.601 Demitra goal, assist, PS    
MAR 29  A  CHICAGO      4-0 W    75 41 25  9 229 203  91 0.607 Burrows goal, two assists   
MAR 31  A  MINNESOTA WI 2-1 W OT 76 42 25  9 231 204  93 0.612 Luongo outshot 34-19        
APR  2  H  ANAHEIM      5-6 L SO 77 42 25 10 236 210  94 0.610 Canucks lead 4-2, 5-3       
APR  4  A  EDMONTON     3-5 L    78 42 26 10 239 215  94 0.603 Canucks fire 46 shots       
APR  5  H  COLORADO AV. 1-4 L    79 42 27 10 240 219  94 0.595 Demitra breaks goose egg    
APR  7  H  CALGARY      4-1 W    80 43 27 10 244 220  96 0.600 Ohlund scores twice         
APR  9  H  LOS ANGELES  1-0 W    81 44 27 10 245 220  98 0.605 Luongo makes 20 saves       
APR 11  A  COLORADO AV. 1-0 W OT 82 45 27 10 246 220 100 0.610 Henrik finally scores in OT 

               Canucks seeded 3rd out of 15 teams in the Western Conference

Playoffs

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES   
APR 15  H  ST. LOUIS    2-1 W     1  1  0  0   2   1   2 1.000 Daniel scores, assists      
APR 17  H  ST. LOUIS    3-0 W     2  2  0  0   5   1   4 1.000 Luongo makes 30 saves       
APR 19  A  ST. LOUIS    3-2 W     3  3  0  0   8   3   6 1.000 Canucks 3 for 5 on powerplay
APR 21  A  ST. LOUIS    3-2 W OT  4  4  0  0  11   5   8 1.000 Luongo makes 47 saves       
                 VANCOUVER WINS BEST OF SEVEN SERIES FOUR GAMES TO NONE  

APR 30  H  CHICAGO      5-3 W     5  5  0  0  16   8  10 1.000 Canucks up 3-0 after second 
MAY  2  H  CHICAGO      3-6 L     6  5  1  0  19  14  10 0.833 Canucks lead 2-0 after first
MAY  5  A  CHICAGO      3-1 W     7  6  1  0  22  15  12 0.857 Edler assists twice         
MAY  7  A  CHICAGO      1-2 L OT  8  6  2  0  23  17  12 0.750 Canucks 2:44 away from win  
MAY  9  H  CHICAGO      2-4 L     9  6  3  0  25  21  12 0.667 Sundin records two points   
MAY 11  A  CHICAGO      5-7 L    10  6  4  0  30  28  12 0.600 Daniel scores twice         
                  Chicago wins best of seven series four games to two