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Snapshots: The worst Canucks MVP choices of all time

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
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Jun 13 2020, 12:57 am
Snapshots: The worst Canucks MVP choices of all time

I went on a Twitter rant earlier this week.

The source of my ire? Canucks fans.

I’m usually a defender of Canuck Nation, but there’s one area they’ve disappointed me in on a few occasions: awards voting.

Due to the pandemic, the Canucks decided not to hand out their annual awards this season, but that hasn’t stopped fans from debating who this year’s MVP should be.

Jacob Markstrom was a popular choice, though support for Elias Pettersson seems to be picking up steam. You can also make a case for leading-scorer JT Miller or top defenceman Quinn Hughes.

But if Canucks fans got a vote, there’s a decent chance they’d get it wrong. Again.

If you’re angry reading what I’ve written so far, consider this: Mark Messier was named Canucks MVP, as voted by the fans, in 2000.

I rest my case.

Time for some Snapshots:

Worst Canucks MVP choices of all time

One of the worst indictments of the Canucks MVP award (known formally as the Cyclone Taylor Trophy) is that the Sedins won it just twice each during their careers. Henrik and Daniel were both passed over until each one of them won the Art Ross Trophy in 2010 and 2011.

As promised, here are the worst MVP choices in Canucks history. I’ve limited them to worst seven:

7. Trevor Linden (1996)

Trevor Linden is one of the best players in Canucks history, and he was good in 1995-96, scoring 33 goals and tallying 80 points. But MVP? This was a ludicrous decision by Canucks fans, as Alex Mogilny scored 55 goals and 107 points.

6. Mark Messier (2000)

Mark Messier most certainly did not have a fine Canucks career, but his numbers were respectable in 2000, with 54 points in 66 games. But come on. Markus Naslund, the team’s new young star, led the team in scoring with 65 points in 82 games. How do you snub him for Mark freaking Messier?!

5. Radim Vrbata (2015)

The Sedin snubs should have ended by the time fans voted for the 2015 award. Fans must have been impressed by Radim Vrbata’s 31 goals, while forgetting who was passing him the puck: Daniel and Henrik, the greatest players in franchise history who led the team in scoring with 76 and 73 points in 2014-15, remember them?

4. Alex Auld (2006)

Alex Auld was put in a tough spot in 2005-06, appearing in a whopping 67 games after Dan Cloutier was lost to injury. He performed capably, though only had a .902 save percentage. Probably would have made sense to give the MVP to Markus Naslund (79 points) or Henrik Sedin (75 points), given they were near point-a-game players.

3. Glen Hanlon (1979)

Goaltender Glen Hanlon impressed in net for the Canucks in 1979, sharing the MVP award with Thomas Gradin. But he only appeared in 31 games! Surely, Ron Sedlbauer, who scored 40 goals that year, deserved to be picked ahead of him.

2. Orland Kurtenbach (1973)

Orland Kurtenbach was a deserving selection of team MVP in 1971 and 1972. But in 1973? It was before my time, but seems like a bold choice given he only played 47 games and finished 12th in scoring with 28 points in 47 games. Bobby Schmautz (71 points) and Andre Boudrias (70 points) seem like more obvious choices.

1. Richard Brodeur (1985)

How low were the standards for the 1984-85 Canucks, one of the worst teams in franchise history? Well, their goaltender, Richard Brodeur, was named MVP with an 0.855 save percentage, which ranked dead last among all NHL goalies with 35+ games played that year.

More memories

Looks like nobody wanted anything to do with Pat Quinn (#3) during this bench-clearing brawl from 1971.

Back on the ice

Back to present-day hockey, I found it interesting that the Canucks haven’t opened up Rogers Arena for Phase 2 yet. The reason is because there aren’t many of their players in town, I was told.

Instead, Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher joined Flames forward Milan Lucic and Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher at Planet Ice in Delta recently.

Boeser and Pettersson talk to fans

This video of Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson talking to fans was pretty entertaining. Boeser did most of the talking while Pettersson chimed in while getting a round of golf in.

Nice work all around:

Have you noticed…

I think most Canucks fans are happy with the job Travis Green has done this season, but the list of Jack Adams candidates has to make you raise an eyebrow.

The top three are all former Canucks coaches:

Seattle NHL team

We’re still waiting to hear what Seattle’s new NHL team will be named. “Kraken” has my vote, but I’m not on board with this purple fan concept art.

Seattle Kraken NHL Concept

MLS draw

I don’t know if the MLS draw was rigged, but they couldn’t have drawn it up much better than this:

The Whitecaps play rival Seattle, while Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact are in the same group also. Rigged or not, the Whitecaps will be the only team in town playing games, beginning on July 8 in Orlando.

C’s update

I would be surprised if the Vancouver Canadians play any games this summer. They’re not making any final decisions yet, but the writing seems to be on the wall.

Here’s the latest update:

As for the CFL…

Yep.

What if Michael Jordan bought the Vancouver Grizzlies?

Michael Jordan discussed buying the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1999, according to ESPN’s Greg WyshynskiĀ (credit to the Province’s Patrick Johnston for digging into this).

Here’s the excerpt, from the ESPN article:

After his retirement, Jordan spent much of 1999 flirting with the idea of owning an NBA team. His bid to buy the Charlotte Hornets — a decade before he would buy the Bobcats — fell through. So did a bid to purchase the Milwaukee Bucks. There were discussions with the then-Vancouver Grizzlies, but nothing materialized.

The Grizzlies were initially sold to Bill Laurie in September 1999, but the transaction was stopped by the NBA because he didn’t hide the fact that he intended to move the team to St. Louis.

Michael Heisley instead bought the team in April 2000 and pretended that he wanted to keep the Grizzlies in Vancouver. Less than 12 months later, he announced the team was moving to Memphis.

Speaking of Jordan…

Have a good weekend, everybody.

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