THN Archive: In 1988, Canucks Were Mired In Major Malaise

The Vancouver Canucks have climbed the NHL’s ranks this season, moving into top spot in the league this week. However, in this cover story from The Hockey News’ Jan. 29, 1988 edition – Vol. 41, Issue 18 – THN contributor Tony Gallagher captured the somber tone around the Canucks when nothing was going right for them.

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At the time the article was published, Vancouver was smack in the middle of a nine-year period where they either failed to make the playoffs or failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs. It all happened beginning the season after they went to the Stanley Cup final in 1982, and team owner Frank Griffiths Sr. lamented his team’s inability to hire a leader who would deliver a Cup championship.

“We’ve never been able to find the right man for the hockey (team),” Griffiths told Gallagher. “In the other (Griffiths-owned) businesses (radio and television), it’s been easier that way.”

Even beloved Canucks players such as forward and captain Stan Smyl had to admit that it was difficult to produce a top-level team in Vancouver.

“(I)n fact it’s always been tough here,” Smyl said. “There was never really the feeling what was happening upstairs was right until this year. I know when I went in for my contract (at the beginning of last season) they were very good to me. They gave me five years. I couldn’t believe it.”

Another longtime Canucks fixture, forward Tony Tanti, told Gallagher it was routinely tough sledding for the organization.

“The first couple of years weren’t too bad,” says Tanti. “We had teams really close to .500 and Harry Neale had traded for me and I liked him for that reason. I wasn’t playing in Chicago but right away Roger (Neilson) had faith in me and got me in the lineup so things were fine. But when we started to go down and have those 59-point seasons back-to-back, it started to grind a little. With Jack Gordon upstairs, we didn’t make that many deals.”

The man in charge of hockey for Vancouver at the time the story was published was NHL icon Pat Quinn, someone who laid bare the difficult road ahead for the Canucks.

“It’s going to take some time and we have to take steps to see the club improves,” Quinn said. “I think we need a major-league scout, every organization does. And we may need some help in that area…We have to work through the draft, but also we have to have an extensive knowledge of the minor leagues. Other clubs do make mistakes now and then and we could help ourselves that way if we have the knowledge.”

Despite Vancouver’s struggles, the core members did their best to stay optimistic.

“It’s been tough here, I suppose,” Tanti said, “but you keep hoping things will get better.”

VEXED IN VANCOUVER

Vol. 41, No. 18, Jan. 29, 1988

By Tony Gallagher

The wheel of fortune has not been kind to the Vancouver Canucks. Nearly two decades ago, it was a roulette wheel that dealt them a memorable loss. And the Canucks have been spinning their wheels ever since.

Of the 21 current National Hockey League teams, only two — Detroit and New Jersey — have worse cumulative winning percentages during Vancouver’s 17-season existence. In all of major professional sport, just 12 of 97 hockey, baseball, football and basketball franchises have fared worse.

And it all began on Black Tuesday, June 9, 1970. That’s when Lady Luck bit Vancouver. Little did the Canucks know they suffered from hemophilia. The bleeding has yet to stop.

It was in the Grand Salon of Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel that Punch Imlach’s number came up on a roulette wheel, giving the Buffalo Sabre general manager first choice in the amateur draft.

No subsequent loss has been more devastating — not even the New York Islanders’ four-game sweep in the 1982 Stanley Cup final. Because it was with the spoils of that chance victory that Buffalo chose Gilbert Perreault first overall. Vancouver’s consolation prize was Dale Tallon.

Perreault went on to a superstar career in Buffalo, Tallon an undistinguished career with Vancouver, Chicago and Pittsburgh. The Canucks’ history has been equally undistinguished — apart from an alarming capacity for mismanagement.

Of that, there is no doubt. Or argument.

Owner Frank Griffiths Sr., who took over the club in 1974 when Tom Scallen of Medicor went to jail over the lifting of $3 million in club funds, admits that until hiring president-general manager Pat Quinn last January, finding the right man to run the club was a critical shortcoming.

Even Quinn’s signing created more problems than it solved in the short term. The Canucks were investigated and fined by the NHL for signing Quinn while he was coaching the Los Angeles Kings.

“We’ve never been able to find the right man for the hockey,” says Griffiths. “In the other businesses (radio and television), it’s been easier that way.”

The first year wasn’t bad, all things considered. General manager Bud Poile and coach Hal Laycoe didn’t get along, but they did work together well enough to fare well in the expansion draft. Their choices included Gary Doak, Orland Kurtenbach, Quinn and Rosaire Paiement.

“Here’s $6 million (the price for admission in the NHL) worth of talent,” Poile said to Laycoe. “Now don’t screw it up.”

Laycoe did and Poile soon developed poor health and had to leave. Laycoe became GM and in 1973 he had an opportunity to hire Al Arbour as coach. But the man who coached the New York Islanders to four Stanley Cups had misgivings about Vancouver management and turned it down. Successive GMs Phil Maloney (who led the Canucks to their only two plus-.500 seasons as coach-GM in 1974-75 and 1975-76), Jake Milford, Harry Neale and Jack Gordon had limited success getting what they wanted.

Collectively, their draft fortunes were mediocre at best, miserable at worst. The only franchise players to speak of are those who have become cornerstones of minor-league teams. The early first-rounders were Tallon, Jocelyn Guevremont (1971), Don Lever (1972) and two 1973 selections — Dennis Ververgaert and Bob Dailey. None of them fulfilled expectations.

One celebrated incident surrounded the formal introduction of Ververgaert as a Canuck. Coley Hall, then-club-president and a fitness buff, decided he and the rookie should take off their shirts and compare physiques. It was meant as a publicity gimmick, but most reporters concluded the Canucks would have been better off drafting Hall after seeing the two bare-chested.

More disappointing have been the second-rounders. Only three — Brent Ashton, Ron Sedlbauer and Curt Fraser — have remained in the NHL for more than two years.

Draft woes had a trickle-down effect, sometimes leading to ill-advised deals. Dailey, for example, was given to Philadelphia for Larry Goodenough, who wasn’t, and Jack Mcllhargey, whom the Flyers later retrieved in time to play in the ‘80 Stanley Cup final.

At the insistence of coaches Neale and Dave Dunn, Milford traded the best player ever drafted by the club before he’d played 50 games. Rick Vaive, labeled an underachiever, was sent off to Toronto along with talented Bill Derlago, to satisfy an obsession with Tiger Williams. Jerry Butler also joined Vancouver in the deal.

With Williams something of a leader, they went on to their finest hour — the Stanley Cup final in 1982 — while the Leafs were messing up despite good scoring years from Vaive and Derlago. But now Williams and Butler are long gone and Vaive is reaffirming he’s the goal-scorer the Canucks have always sought. Enjoying a banner season in Chicago, he recently scored his 600th point.

Say what you might about the late Milford, he left the team in fair shape before his departure in 1982. Milford didn’t want Neale to be his successor. He recommended Jim Gregory to Griffiths.

But Neale has greater social skills than Julie Andrews and had worked his way into the heart of Griffiths, who then watched in dismay during Neale’s reign from 1982 to 1985.

In fairness to Neale, he could see the club that went to the final had to be changed. The game was going the way of the Oilers. At least that’s what everyone was thinking, and his team was getting older. But he let things ride in terms of scouting.

Neale was apparently pressured into firing Roger Neilson by the owners, once Arthur Griffiths, Frank’s son, came on the scene. Neilson, whose towel waving inspired a crush of fans and tactics guided the players, coached Vancouver into the Cup final.

Neale’s choice of replacements missed the mark by miles. He hired Bill LaForge over Mike Keenan. Twenty games into the 1984-85 season, with Vancouver 4-14-2, Neale moved out LaForge and moved behind the bench himself.

Personnel decisions didn’t help matters. Out went Colin Campbell, Ivan Boldirev, Ivan Hlinka, Lars Molin, Lars Lindgren, Curt Fraser, Jim Nill, Kevin McCarthy, Williams and Harold Snepsts.

These departures brought only Tony Tanti from Chicago. The rest were replaced by a series of first draft choices, most of them best described as not yet ready for prime time. Examples are many. Michel Petit did little his first year (1982) in a Vancouver uniform, but within two years Vancouver opted for another defenseman who was no bigger and no better. And certainly no healthier on draft day. Jean-Jacques Daigneault had an injured leg when the Canucks chose him 10th overall in 1984. One newspaper ran a picture of Daigneault emerging from the seats on crutches. The accompanying caption read: “Help is on the way.”

When the team sank to 59 points in 1984-85, Neale was sacked and the search began — again — for a top gun. An intensive search yielded nothing but names. So, after Keith Allen, Harry Sinden, John Ferguson, Arbour and a host of others were felt out, Gordon was named GM.

He had been an assistant to Neale and Milford since 1980. His presence had done nothing to improve matters. His appointment reflected badly on Arthur Griffiths, who was blamed, in part, for the Canucks’ inability to attract a well-known hockey man. He was labeled a meddler.

“I’ve never interfered in the running of the hockey club, I would never presume to do that,” says Griffiths. “I maintain an ownership presence and as such I would be in on contracts and money decisions. That’s it.”

While Gordon was managing and Tom Watt coaching, the level of despair reached unprecedented depths.

There were times when Canuck Stan Smyl, the quintessential hard worker, seemed hopelessly depressed. Players were lost on waivers accidently. Thomas Gradin, stolen from Chicago by Milford, was given away for nothing. Promising youngsters and high draft picks Cam Neely and Jim Sandlak sat on the bench. On and on it went.

“Those days were tough, in fact it’s always been tough here,” says Smyl, a captain who has earned each and every penny he’s ever made in hockey. “There was never really the feeling what was happening upstairs was right until this year. I know when I went in for my contract (at the beginning of last season) they were very good to me. They gave me five years. I couldn’t believe it.”

Smyl is the kind of man you’d love to have your son emulate. As a worker and a person, he’s perfect. As a player, he has limits, boundaries which help to define the Canucks.

The club has never had an all-star, first or second team. No Canuck has ever had a 100-point or 50-goal season. There have been no trophy winners.

Tanti, a consistent 40-goal scorer and the closest player the Canucks have to an all-star, joined Vancouver during the 1982-83 season. His acquisition, in return for Fraser, rates as a coup for Neale.

“The first couple of years weren’t too bad,” says Tanti. “We had teams really close to. 500 and Harry Neale had traded for me and I liked him for that reason. I wasn’t playing in Chicago but right away Roger (Neilson) had faith in me and got me in the lineup so things were fine. But when we started to go down and have those 59-point seasons back-to-back, it started to grind a little. With Jack Gordon upstairs, we didn’t make that many deals.”

One deal that Gordon is blamed for is the trading of Neely and a first-round draft choice to Boston for free agent Barry Pederson. But all accounts indicate the signing of Pederson was actually done at the ownership level. Gordon was left to arrange compensation. It has, of course, not worked out well.

With Pederson, the Canucks finished 19th overall, giving the Bruins third overall pick in the 1987 draft. They converted that into Glen Wesley, a promising defenseman who has played regularly as a 19-year-old. Neely blossomed into a 36-goal man and candidate for Canada’s entry in the ‘87 Canada Cup.

Despite the widespread woes, Tanti reflects the eternal optimism of all athletes. “It’s been tough here, I suppose,” he says, “but you keep hoping things will get better.”

When the Canucks will get better is anyone’s guess. Given the travel inflicted by geography, it won’t be easy. Former marketing director John Whitman once said: “When I see how beat the players are from the trips, I don’t think any team here will ever play .600 hockey, no matter how much talent they have.”

The talent now begins at the top.

“We feel very strongly that we have found the right man in Pat to manage the hockey club now, especially after he’s been here a while,” says Arthur Griffiths. “There really was direction missing since Jake could no longer be involved. Who knows, maybe history will show we made a very astute move in getting Pat. I certainly consider it one of my top contributions to the operation. We hope he’s going to be here 10 or 15 years.”

Quinn, director of hockey operations Brian Burke and coach Bob McCammon know they are working on a long-term project. The first phase included the acquisition of center Greg Adams and goalie Kirk McLean from New Jersey Devils in return for center Patrik Sundstrom. The trade has been a very good one.

“The three of us weren’t so naive we thought we could come in here and make miracles happen just because we felt we were winners,” says Quinn. “It’s going to take some time and we have to take steps to see the club improves.

“I think we need a major-league scout, every organization does. And we may need some help in that area. I’d also like another coach to work with our young players. We’ve got two coaches (McCammon and Jack Mcllhargey) and they’re both doing a helluva job, but I think another guy working with our young players would help.

“We have to work through the draft, but also we have to have an extensive knowledge of the minor leagues. Other clubs do make mistakes now and then and we could help ourselves that way if we have the knowledge.”

The Canucks know all about mistakes. They just hope most of them are in their past.

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