The Vancouver Canucks have seen many all-time greats come and go throughout their history. But which four players make up the team’s Mount Rushmore?
Even though the Vancouver Canucks have yet to win the Stanley Cup, the west coast has been home to a handful of superstars that forever changed the direction of this franchise.
When it comes to debating the greatest players in Canucks history, you hear the usual names: Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Pavel Bure, Markus Naslund, Roberto Luongo, Stan Smyl, Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison, Trevor Linden and more.
The Canucks aren’t one of the Original Six teams, so when it comes to picking the franchise’s Mount Rushmore, it’s not extremely overwhelming. They’re not loaded with Hall of Famers like the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Thus, it’s easier to narrow the field.
But there are still a handful of Canucks legends to choose from when it comes to forming the franchise Mount Rushmore. It wasn’t all that easy, but I was able to look over the history and settle on the top four.
Before we get to the list, here’s a look at a few honourable mentions.
Roberto Luongo
If he had played more than seven years with the organization, ‘Bobby Lu’ would have made the final four. He may not have won the Stanley Cup in Vancouver, but Luongo backstopped this team to six division titles and two Presidents’ Trophies.
He earned Hart and Vezina Trophy nominations in 2006-07 and won the William M. Jennings Trophy with Cory Schneider in 2010-11. He holds the franchise records for wins (252) and shutouts (38).
Pavel Bure
This was the toughest omission from the list. You can argue that when healthy, no Canuck ever dazzled and single-handedly took over a game like Bure. He’s the only Canuck to score 60 goals in a season, and he did it twice (1992-93 and 1993-94). His No. 10 is retired by the Canucks.
Like Luongo, the main reason for leaving Bure out was that he played just seven seasons with the Canucks. The others on our list spent far more time with the franchise.
Stan Smyl
He was captain from 1982-83 to 1989-90. Smyl was instrumental in guiding the Canucks to the 1982 Stanley Cup Final — where they lost to the New York Islanders in a four-game sweep. Smyl scored 262 goals and 673 goals in 896 career games — all with the Canucks.