Vancouver Canucks or, as they are called in Russia, “Vancouver Killer Whales” is a professional hockey team from Canada, which has gained popularity not only in the territory of its country, but also far beyond its borders.
Famous players
At one time, such famous players as Igor Larionov, Marcus Neslund, Pavel Bure, Todd Bertuzzi, Henrik Sedin, Vladimir Krutov and Mark Messier fought for the team. So far , Pavel Bure’s record in the club has not been beaten by anyone - 60 goals and 110 points.
Title
The name "Vancouver Canucks" has North American roots. The word Canuck ("kanak") residents of the United States often call their neighbors - Canadians. "Kenak" is a household name. Captain Johnny Canack is the name of one of the heroes of the comic book created by Canadian animator Ron Leishman.
Emblem
Fans often call HC Vancouver Canucks simply “killer whales.” This is due to the emblem, which depicts a killer whale. Earlier, “Canucks” was written on the team’s emblem, however, after the team bought the company Orka, whose logo is a killer whale, it was decided to change the team’s logo to a killer whale, resembling the letter “C”, by analogy with “Canucks”.
Team History
The team was founded in 1970 and replaced the other famous team from Vancouver "Millionaires". The team’s first rivals were LA Kings and, unfortunately, lost 3-1. But they soon rehabilitated and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fans celebrate the club’s birthday on May 22.
Already in 1982, the Vancouver Canucks team managed to reach the finals of the legendary Stanley Cup. They repeated this success in 1994, but failed to snatch victory from the New York Rangers.
The Stanley Cup, which Killer Whales managed to get closer to in 1994, forces the team to make a series of permutations and purchases. In 1995, Alexander Mogilny joined the team , and in 97, Mark Messier joined the club.
In the 1997-1998 season changes have also occurred in the coaching staff, removed from his post Pat Quinn. After that, coaches will change frequently. As a result, by 2000, the team could not even get into the playoffs. The composition of Vancouver Canucks is also undergoing changes, the team is leaving Bure, Mogilny and Messier, which leads to a renewal of the composition, young full of energy and desire to defeat Bertuzzi and Neslund appear in the club, and the team is coached by Mark Crawford, who has already brought his team from Colorado to The Stanley Cup.
With the arrival of a new coach, the team’s game begins to level off, however, after the team was unable to get out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2006, Mark Crawford leaves the coaching staff and is replaced by coach Alain Vigno.
In 2010-2011 Vancouver Canucks manages to get to the Stanley Cup finals after a series of bad years. But in the final, they lost to Boston quite a bit. Fans in their own way "noted" this event, taking to the streets of Vancouver and staging riots there. As a result, shop windows were broken, cars burned, and several particularly violent fans arrived at the police. The plot was most of all like losing some English club. Fans were not so much upset by the game of the team as they expressed their dissatisfaction with the refereeing of the referee team in this match. The debate on this issue has not subsided so far.
Since 2014, the team is again haunted by failure. 2014-2015 - second place in the Pacific Division, in 2015-2016. - sixth place in the same division, in 2016 - 2017 - seventh place, the team was unable to break even in the playoffs.
Current squad
Goalkeepers: Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson.
Defenders: Michael Del Zotto, Derrick Pulio, Christopher Tanev, Alexander Edler, Ben Hatton, Eric Goodbranson, Troy Stacher, Alex Biega.
Forwards: Louis Ericsson, Daniel Sedin, Thomas Vanek, Sven Birch, Brock Besser, Jake Virtanen, Nikolai Goldobin.
Center forwards: Nick Dowd, Brandon Sutter, Henrik Sedin, Michael Chapu, Brandan Gones, Bo Horvath, Marcus Granlund, Sam Gagnier.
Head coach: Travis Green.
Vancouver Canucks Form
The main motto of the We are all Canucks team can be seen on the streets of Vancouver not only during the game season. There really exists a hockey cult and a killer whale cult. Crowds of people walk around the year in the form of their favorites.
The team has three types of uniforms: a blue-green home uniform, an away uniform white with blue and green stripes, and a spare alternative blue uniform. A feature of the alternative form is the lack of a corporate logo - killer whales on the form. Instead of a killer whale, the club is the emblem of the form.