Vancouver Canucks: 5 greatest head coaches in franchise history
Head coach Travis Green has a promising core of young stars to work with, but will he be as successful as these former Vancouver Canucks bench bosses?
The Vancouver Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup, but they’ve still enjoyed plenty of success throughout their five decades of existence.
This team has reached the Stanley Cup Final three times — 1982, 1994 and 2011. Of course, those runs wouldn’t have happened if the Canucks weren’t blessed with some excellent and successful head coaches.
Now, Vancouverites can only hope that they have the right man in place for another run at the Stanley Cup. They’re already on their fourth coach of the 2010s, after all.
Travis Green became the 19th bench boss in franchise history when the Canucks hired him to replace the fired Willie Desjardins, who lasted three seasons. Green has gone 66-76-22 through his first two seasons, which isn’t all that bad when you consider that he’s been forced to work through a frustratingly long rebuild.
It’s not going to be easy, but Green has the chance to lead the Canucks to their greatest stretch run in franchise history. He has a promising young core consisting of Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat, Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko.
Only two Canucks head coaches have ever won the Jack Adams Award, but Green just might get his name on it one day. Five years from now, we’ll have a firm idea on where Green stands among Vancouver’s all-time greatest coaches. Here’s hoping he’ll find himself on this list some day.
That’s all for another day. For now, let’s take a trip down memory lane and look back on the five greatest head coaches in Canucks history.
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5. Roger Neilson
He may have only spent three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, but Roger Neilson certainly left behind an extremely memorable impression. How many other former NHL head coaches have a statue of themselves right in front of an arena?
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Neilson inadvertently started the “Towel Power” tradition that every NHL team has since mimicked. During a 1982 playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Neilson grew fed up with the controversial officiating and protested by waving a hockey towel around with a stick.
Canucks fans stood by Neilson and began waving white towels for the ensuing home game. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story behind why you see thousands of screaming fans waving towels during NHL playoff games.
Neilson coached the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 1982, but they were swept by the dynastic New York Islanders. He has a tremendous legacy here in Vancouver, thanks in large part to the towel wave and the ’82 run.
4. Harry Neale
Countless millennials (myself included) spent many years listening to legendary commentator Harry Neale on Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts. You kids may not be aware that Neale also had a successful head coaching career in the World Hockey Assocation, before he became Vancouver’s bench boss for the 1978-79 season.
Neale was also general manager of the Canucks from 1982 to ’85. In his six seasons behind the bench, the Canucks made the postseason four times. Neale was handed a 10-game suspension late in the 1981-82 season after getting into a scuffle with Quebec Nordiques supporters, which prompted Neilson to take over as head coach for the Stanley Cup run.
Neale finished with a 142-189-76 record as Vancouver’s head coach.
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3. Pat Quinn
Pat Quinn joined the Canucks organization in 1988 as the new general manager, and he assumed the head coaching position for the final 26 games of the 1990-91 campaign, compiling a 9-13-14 record.
Even though his tenure in Vancouver was fairly short, Quinn’s impact on the organization hasn’t been forgotten over two decades later. While overseeing the development of young stars like Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure, Quinn guided the Canucks to the playoffs in the 1991-92 (winning the Jack Adams Award) and 1992-93 seasons — losing in the Division Finals both years.
But 1993-94 wasn’t only his best season in Vancouver, but perhaps the finest of Quinn’s legendary coaching career. The Canucks barely squeaked into the postseason with 85 points (a 41-40-3 record), upsetting the arch rival Calgary Flames in round one. Quinn and the Canucks then took down the powerhouse Dallas Stars in the second round, before upsetting the Toronto Maple Leafs to book the second Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history.
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The Canucks met Mark Messier and the New York Rangers in a clash for the Cup. Vancouver fell behind 3-1 in the series, but they pulled off a pair of gutsy victories to force a decisive Game 7. Quinn’s squad battled hard against the superior Rangers, who were loaded with Hall of Famers, but they ultimately fell 3-2.
But there was nothing to be ashamed of. Quinn took an overlooked Vancouver team and got them to within one victory of a championship. After coaching six games in 1995-96, Quinn relinquished the head coaching gig to Rick Ley and stayed on as GM until he was fired in 1997.
Quinn finished with 141 wins (fourth-most in franchise history), and a superb .554 winning percentage — tied for second-best among all Canuck coaches. Quinn passed away in 2014 and was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame two years later.
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2. Marc Crawford
Just two years after guiding the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship, Marc Crawford announced his resignation in 1998. He became head coach of the Canucks during the 1998-99 season, replacing the fired Mike Keenan.
This was a huge win for a Canucks team that struggled mightily in 1996-97 (77 points), and 1997-98 (64 points). Crawford was tasked with steering the ship on a rebuilding team that consisted of future stars in Todd Bertuzzi, Markus Naslund, Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
The Canucks went 8-23-6 under Crawford in 1998-99, but the front office and ownership wisely stayed patient. The club improved to 30-29-15-8 the following season, finishing with 81 points. Things would finally take off for the better during the 2000-01 season.
Vancouver would capture the final playoff spot in the Western Conference over the next two years,. They were eliminated by the Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings during the opening round of the 2001 and 2002 postseason, respectively.
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But the Canucks finally broke through under Crawford in 2002-03, finishing with 104 points. Naslund (48 goals, 104 points) and Bertuzzi (46 goals, 97 points) led an offensive machine that scored the second-most goals that season (264).
Vancouver took down the St. Louis Blues in the opening round of the playoffs, but they blew a 3-1 series lead to the Minnesota Wild in the second round and lost a heartbreaker in Game 7. The following year, Vancouver finished with 101 points to capture the Pacific Division — their first division title since 1992-93. They would fall to the Calgary Flames in overtime of Game 7 during the opening round, however.
In 2005-06, Vancouver finished with 92 points and narrowly missed out on the postseason. The team fired Crawford after seven seasons.
But his legacy in Vancouver is a special one nonetheless, with four playoff berths, 246 wins (the most in franchise history at the time) and a .554 winning percentage. Only one Canucks coach has topped those numbers.
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1. Alain Vigneault
After the firing of Crawford, the Vancouver Canucks introduced Alain Vigneault as their new head coach during the 2006 offseason. Vigneault had spent the 2005-06 campaign as head coach of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, Vancouver’s affiliate at the time.
Vigneault had previously served as bench boss of the Montreal Canadiens, starting out in the 1997-98 season. He was let go 20 games into the 2000-01 season, but Vigneault’s second head coaching tenure in the NHL went much more smoothly.
The Canucks went 49-26-7 in their first season under Vigneault, capturing the Pacific Division title. They fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in the second round, but this was only the start of something special for Vigneault in Vancouver. He was the winner of the Jack Adams Award — the first Canucks coach to do so since Quinn in 1991-92.
Though the Canucks missed the postseason in 2007-08, they turned a corner and won the Pacific Division in each of the next five years. This included a pair of Presidents’ Trophies (2010-11 and 2011-12).
And of course, Vigneault led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. It was only the third appearance in franchise history, and they unfortunately fell to the Boston Bruins in seven games. But it was still, unquestionably, the greatest season in franchise history.
After being swept by the San Jose Sharks in the opening round of the 2013 playoffs, Vigneault was fired and replaced by John Tortorella. The New York Rangers hired Vigneault, and he spent five seasons there — leading them to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. This offseason, the Philadelphia Flyers hired Vigneault as their new head coach.
Vigneault 313 wins, .632 winning percentage and 33 playoff victories place him first all-time among Canucks coaches. Even if his tenure ended on a disappointing note, there’s no doubting that he’s the greatest coach in franchise history.
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The six playoff berths, two Presidents’ Trophies and Stanley Cup Final appearance back that up. Without Vigneault, the Canucks wouldn’t have endured their greatest stretch run in franchise history.