The Vancouver Canucks have had several strong teams over the years. When compiling a starting lineup of all Canadians, who would make the final cut?
While we consistently celebrate the foreign talents of the Sedins and Pavel Bure among others, it can be easy to forget some of the great Canadian talents that have graced NHL ice also played for the Vancouver Canucks.
As both the team and league have evolved, more international talent has been injected, so much so that the 2017 season was the last that the league was majority Canadian. It made me think, who would be on the Canucks All-Time Canadian team?
For this exercise, I have selected six players who fit into a line that would work on the ice; meaning that there is no way of picking three centres, rather the lineup needs a centre, a pair of wingers, defencemen and a goaltender. Let’s begin.
Goaltender: Roberto Luongo
Roberto Luongo is by far the best Canadian goaltender the Canucks have ever seen. Although he reached his breaking point in some of the biggest games in franchise history, what he did outside of those is worthy of being the best of All-Time.
He is the franchise leader in wins and was a part of the team that is the most successful in Vancouver’s history. The 2010-11 Canucks were a dominant team, backstopped by a dominant goaltender — who happened to be Canadian — therefore making this list.