The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames pulled off a huge trade involving star center Elias Lindholm, but that hasn't been the only big trade between the two franchises.
The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames have made a number of trades to each other over the years, including a blockbuster deal Wednesday that sent star forward Elias Lindholm to Vancouver in exchange for a package of players, draft picks and prospects.
And in this feature story from THN’s Feb. 29, 1980 edition – Vol. 33, Issue 22 – Canucks correspondent Tony Gallagher wrote about a major trade between the two franchises, even though the Flames weren't in Calgary yet.
(And here’s your regular reminder: for access to THN’s exclusive Archive, you can subscribe to the magazine by visiting THN.com/Free.)
The Feb. 8, 1980 trade saw the Canucks acquire center Ivan Boldirev and winger Darcy Rota in exchange for wingers Don Lever and Brad Smith. At that point, the Flames were still the Atlanta Flames, but it was a massive move for both franchises. Rota would play his final four-and-a-half NHL seasons with the Canucks, amassing 120 goals and 236 points with Vancouver. And Boldirev would go on to play parts of four seasons with the Canucks, generating 80 goals and 184 points in that span. Needless to say, the Canucks were thrilled with the deal.
“Boldirev could be just what we need on the power play,” then-Canucks coach Harry Neale told Gallagher. “He gives us some size at center, he can carry the puck and he seems to know what to do out there.”
Boldirev played for six NHL teams and appeared in 1,052 regular-season games. And his reception from the Canucks included being used prominently in his debut with Vancouver, scoring the game-winning goal in a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
“It’s great for my confidence when (Neale) sends me in for an important faceoff like that,” Boldirev said. “That never happened to me in Atlanta.”
Lever, who was Vancouver’s captain at the time of the trade, was hurt by the move, but he shook it off and became a valuable addition for the Flames, helping the organization to its first NHL semifinal appearance in franchise history in 1981.
“It hurts right now to know that they don’t want you,” Lever said. “But I guess you have to look at it another way as well. There is another team that does want you and it’s going to be good playing back in the east.”
BOLDIREV GIVES CANUCKS BEST SHOT
Vol. 33, No. 22, Feb. 29, 1980
By Tony Gallagher
VANCOUVER – Ivan Boldirev, one of the newest Vancouver Canucks, probably has a secret desire for oneupsmanship he hasn’t revealed to the breathless scribes yet.
His debut with Vancouver was the stuff of which dreams are made.
After being dealt by the Atlanta Flames (along with his friend and roommate Darcy Rota) to Vancouver for Don Lever and Brad Smith, he stepped onto the ice at the Montreal Forum and promptly helped make the traveling black, red and orange look pretty good.
With the score tied 3-3 with 90 seconds remaining, Boldirev, who had been used a great deal on the power play, took a pass from Lars Lindgren and worked a little magic.
He cruised past Guy Lafleur at the blueline, split the defense of Rod Langway and Larry Robinson and then slipped the puck past Michel Larocque. The 4-3 victory gave the Canucks only their second regular season win in the Forum in 10 years and their second massive upset of this year and this road trip. The first was a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia at a time when the Canucks were supposed to be sinking into oblivion.
“I was going to shoot it,” said Boldirev, who at 30 could be the shot in the arm the Canucks need, “but when I saw Robinson trying to deflect the shot, I thought I’d try to go around him. After that I almost lost it again. I had a feeling something like that would happen.”
What seems to have bolstered Boldirev’s feelings about being traded to the fifth NHL team of his career was the confidence in his abilities shown by coach Harry Neale in Ivan’s first game with the Canucks.
“It’s great for my confidence when Harry sends me in for an important faceoff like that,” he said. “That never happened to me in Atlanta.”
While helping the Canucks snap out of the doldrums, Boldirev also made general manager Jake Milford look like a genius.
In giving up Lever, the Canucks parted with their captain and as honest a player as there will ever be in the league. But they needed to get some more goals, and Boldirev has scored 35 in each of his last two seasons — firepower the Canucks could certainly use.
Getting Rota, who was very happy at coming back to B.C. where he was born and raised, means that the left wing hole left by Lever is filled to some extent; Darcy has averaged around 20 goals in each of the last two years, only slightly less than the production of Lever, who this year should get 30.
“Boldirev could be just what we need on the power play,” Neale said. “He gives us some size at center, he can carry the puck and he seems to know what to do out there.”
In parting, Lever was not bitter, other than to say he was shocked at the trade and that it hurts to say goodbye to a team for which he had played eight years.
“It hurts right now to know that they don’t want you,” said Lever. “But I guess you have to look at it another way as well. There is another team that does want you and it’s going to be good playing back in the east.”
The big problem as far as Milford is concerned is that Boldirev does not have a contract and is playing out his option this year. Lever had just signed a new three-year contract, so Milford has his work cut out for him.
Chris Oddleifson is also playing out his option, so Milford will be more than just a little interested to see what transpires in June when the owners and the Players Association try to reach some agreements on the free agent question.
The Canucks, meanwhile, sold goalie Curt Ridley to the Toronto Maple Leafs, mainly because his future in Vancouver was not good. Ridley had fallen into Neale’s doghouse, allegedly for not working in practice, though he is certainly capable of playing in the NHL. It was a straight cash deal.
With Boldirev and Rota arriving, the Canucks sent right winger Drew Callander to Dallas, reducing the roster to 20 players, right where Neale wants it to be.
The Hockey News Archive is a vault of more than 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 articles exclusively for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit the archives at THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com