The 2002-03 season was one of the better outings in Vancouver Canucks history, as they finished with a 45-23-13-1 record, good for second place in the Northwest Division and a run to the second round of the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where they lost in seven games to the Minnesota Wild. During the season, the longest streak in team history also occurred, one that lasted throughout the final three weeks of November 2002.
Despite enjoying a successful year, things started off murky for the 2002-03 Canucks, as they stumbled to a 5-5-4-0 record following a shutout loss to the Dallas Stars on November 6th. However, when November 9th rolled around, Vancouver won 5-2 against the Phoenix Coyotes, kicking off a 10-game winning streak that lasted until the final day of November.
Longest streak in Canucks history changed the outlook of their 2002-03 season
By the time their final W of the streak occurred against the Florida Panthers, the Canucks went from playing 0.500 hockey to possessing a dominant 15-5-4-0 record. Throughout the 10-game run, Vancouver outscored the opposition 41-20, good for an average finish of 4.1 to 2.0 and an ultra-respectable 2.1-goal margin of victory.
The Canucks would win 30 more games that season en route to their third straight playoff appearance. Their high-octane approach also continued following the winning streak, as Vancouver finished the year second in scoring with 264 goals. Markus Naslund led the way with 48 goals and 104 total points, while Todd Bertuzzi was a close second as he found the back of the net 46 times and scored 97 points overall.
While the Canucks haven’t enjoyed such a dominant regular season stretch in the two decades since, the mid-2020s are shaping up to be quite a good time to hop onto the organization’s bandwagon. The likes of J.T. Miller and company have the potential to give this winning streak from 2002-03 a run and to perhaps even supersede it in the near future.
(Statistics and data provided by Hockey-Reference)