Vancouver Canucks: Presenting the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
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.
Next. Markus Naslund. dark
4. Markus Naslund
Ahead of the 1996 trade deadline, the Canucks acquired Markus Naslund in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, with big forward Alek Stojanov going the other way. It turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history.
Naslund posted three points for the Canucks in 1995-96 over 10 games, but his stardom was only about to arrive. During the dark days of the late ’90s under head coach Mike Keenan and captian Mark Messier, Naslund kept on trucking and provided Vancouver with plenty of hope for the future.
Naslund scored 21 goals and 41 points in the 1996-97 season, but his real breakout year came in 1998-99 – where he posted 36 goals and 66 points. In 2000-01, Naslund was named captain of the Canucks, just as the franchise began to turn a corner.
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Captain Naslund guided the Canucks to the playoffs in each of the next four years — forming the franchise-changing “West Coast Express line” alongside Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison. Naslund enjoyed a career year in 2002-03 with 46 goals and 104 points — narrowly losing out on both the Hart and Art Ross Trophies to fellow Swede Peter Forsberg — who recorded 106 points.
The following season, Naslund led the Canucks to their first division title in 11 years, but they were upset by the Calgary Flames in the opening round of the playoffs. Naslund would play three more years for the Canucks following the 2004-05 lockout before signing with the New York Rangers in 2008.
Naslund finished with 346 goals and 756 points in 884 games over his 12 years with the Canucks, and his No. 19 was retired on Dec. 11, 2010. Naslund is second all-time in goals for the franchise, and third in points. He and Tony Tanti also share the team record for most hat tricks with 10 apiece.
Next. Trevor Linden. dark
3. Trevor Linden
There are plenty of draft picks that completely changed the history of the Canucks, but perhaps nobody brought a bigger impact to the franchise than Trevor Linden. Vancouver drafted the Medicine Hat, Alberta native second overall in 1988 — behind future Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Modano.
Linden led by example from the very beginning, sharing the captaincy (when he was only 20) with Dan Quinn and Doug Lidster in the 1990-91 season. Head coach Pat Quinn chose Linden as the regular captain for the 1991-92 season, and the Canucks wouldn’t look back under his leadership.
Led by Linden and ‘Russian Rocket’ Pavel Bure, the Canucks would reach the second round of the playoffs in both 1991-92 and 1992-93. Backed by Bure’s 60 goals and 107 points — along with Linden’s 32 goals — the Canucks embarked on an unlikely and miraculous run to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
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The Canucks weren’t supposed to have much of a chance against a star-studded New York Rangers team that was loaded with Hall of Famers.
But Linden and the Canucks never went down without a fight, pushing the series to seven games. Linden’s resilience was on display in Game 7, where he scored two goals in Vancouver’s crushing 3-2 defeat — but the run to the final re-energized the fan base and showed them what a real winner looked like.
In Feb. 1998, the Canucks sent Linden to the New York Islanders in a package deal that brought Bertuzzi over to Vancouver. Linden was brought back to the west coast during the 2001-02 season — and he led them back to the postseason in four of the next five years.
Linden scored the series-winning goal in Game 7 of the third period during the opening round of the 2007 playoffs against the Dallas Stars. He’d retire in 2007-08 as, by far, the most beloved and admired Canuck of all-time. Linden’s No. 16 was retired by the franchise on Dec. 17, 2008.
Off the ice, Linden was heavily involved in the community, launching the Trevor Linden Foundation and performing countless charitable works before and after his playing career. He wasn’t the greatest all-around player in team history, but nobody defined the heart and soul of a “Canuck” more than Linden. Plain and simple.
Next. Daniel Sedin. dark
2. Daniel Sedin
General manager Brian Burke entered the 1999 draft with one simple goal, and that was to land Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Burke worked his magic to obtain the second and third overall selections, and the rest is history.
Daniel and Henrik debuted for the Canucks in the 2000-01 season. The former scored 20 goals and 34 points. The twins produced key secondary scoring and helped the Canucks qualify for the postseason for the first time in five years.
Like Henrik, Daniel took his game to an All-Star level in the 2005-06 season, the first after the lockout. They each broke out with 71-point seasons, though the Canucks fell just short of reaching the playoffs.
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Daniel would only take his game to another level from there, recording a career-high 84 points in 2006-07. Three years later, he won the scoring title after tallying 41 goals and 104 points — finishing second in Hart Trophy voting behind Corey Perry.
Henrik may have been the captain, and he may have finished with more points than his twin. But Daniel was the finisher, and he retired as the franchise all-time leader in goals with 393. That record stands to last for a very long time, too.
Not only did he do so much for this organization on the ice, but Daniel was heavily involved in the community off the ice. It’s no wonder that he and Henrik shared their plans to remain in Vancouver following their playing careers. Once a Canuck, forever a Canuck.
Along with his twin brother, Daniel retired following the 2017-18 season. The Canucks are set to retire their jersey numbers this upcoming season.
dark. Next. Henrik Sedin
1. Henrik Sedin
Right after brother Daniel was taken at No. 2 overall, the Canucks used the third selection on Henrik. It’s safe to say that neither twin would have enjoyed such a legendary career on the west coast if they didn’t have the other.
You can make a case that Daniel was the better player, but Henrik’s resume cannot be matched by any other Canuck. He is the only player in franchise history to win the Hart Trophy — having won it plus the Art Ross in 2009-10. Daniel is the only other Canuck to win the scoring title. Don’t forget that he won those awards even though Daniel was sidelined for 19 games.
Henrik dazzled throughout his 17 seasons with remarkable puck-moving and premier playmaking abilities. Daniel simply wouldn’t have put all those pucks in the net without his twin brother. No. 33 had eight seasons of 50-plus assists, too.
Without Henrik and Daniel, the Canucks wouldn’t have won all those Northwest Division titles. They wouldn’t have won consecutive Presidents’ Trophies in 2010-11 and 2011-12. They wouldn’t have come within one game of a Stanley Cup championship.
Think about all the players that Henrik and Daniel turned into big-time goal-scorers. Anson Carter had a career-high 33 goals in his lone season with the Canucks back in 2005-06. Mikael Samuelsson’s only 30-goal season came with Vancouver in 2009-10. Alexandre Burrows had four seasons of 26-plus goals. Radim Vrbata posted 31 in 2014-15.
On top of that, Henrik was captain of the Canucks for eight seasons from 2010-11 up until his retirement in 2017-18 — taking over for Roberto Luongo.
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Henrik holds many impressive franchise records, including points (1,070), games played (1,330) and plus/minus (plus-165). Add up those numbers with all of his accomplishments, and Henrik sits atop the Canucks’ Mount Rushmore.