1994–95 Vancouver Canucks season


The 1994–95 Vancouver Canucks season was the team's 25th NHL campaign. Goaltender Kirk McLean earned all eighteen of the Canucks' wins during the lockout-shortened, 48–game season. Pavel Bure was not the same offensive dynamo that he had been over the prior two seasons, each of which saw him hit the 60-goal mark, but he did still lead the club in goals, assists, points and shots. A trade with the Dallas Stars on April 7, 1995, saw Russ Courtnall join his brother Geoff on the Canucks. The team finished the season with as many wins as losses, good for 6th place in the Western Conference, and they led the league with 12 ties. This was also the team's final season at the Pacific Coliseum before moving to GM Place, now known as Rogers Arena.

Playoffs

In the post-season, Vancouver was the clear underdog against the third-place St. Louis Blues, who had members from the 1994 Stanley-Cup champion Rangers team, as well as their head coach, Mike Keenan. After losing game one at the Kiel Center by a score of 2-1, the Canucks won game two by a score of 5-3 behind Kirk McLean's 33-save performance and Pavel Bure's shorthanded insurance goal in the third period. The shots on goal were 26 for Vancouver and 36 for St. Louis, as they had been in the first game. The Canucks carried over their momentum from their win in game two to the Pacific Coliseum for game three, where they triumphed 6-1. Sergio Momesso scored twice. The Canucks were looking to win game four as well, leading 2-1 after Russ Courtnall's shorthanded goal at 4:41 of the second period. But the Blues got their jump from Brendan Shanahan who scored a natural hat trick to give the Blues a 4-2 lead. Glenn Anderson would add another goal at 13:01 of the third period as St. Louis went on to win 5-2 to square the series at two games apiece. In game five at the Kiel Center, the Canucks scored four times on their first 19 shots, as Curtis Joseph would be pulled in favor of Jon Casey. Trailing Vancouver 5-4 with under 12 minutes to play, Murray Baron tied the game at 8:22 of the third period. The game would go into overtime where Cliff Ronning scored at 1:48 of the first overtime period to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead in the series.
Looking to close out the series at home in game six, the Canucks were dominated by the Blues who won by a score of 8-2. Esa Tikkanen picked up four points in the game. Kirk McLean allowed six goals on just 17 shots. With the series tied at 3-3, a crucial game seven in St. Louis took place on Friday, May 19. Although the Blues had twice as many shots as the Canucks, Curtis Joseph allowed 4 goals on 21 shots while Kirk McLean made 41 saves. Call-up rookie Adrian Aucoin began a successful NHL career by blasting a slapshot on the power-play to give the Canucks the lead, and Pavel Bure added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds remaining to seal the game 5-3 and earn the Canucks a 4-3 series win. It was Bure's seventh goal of the playoffs. It was a series with marked offensive output, as each team scored 27 goals over the seven games. The Canucks' special teams dominated throughout, as Vancouver scored 11 power-play goals and six short-handed goals in the series.
In the second round, the Canucks faced the Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams skated to a 1-1 tie before Joe Murphy scored the winner at 9:04 of the first overtime period. Blackhawks goaltender Ed Belfour stopped 26 of 27 Vancouver shots. Game two was also close, as Chicago edged Vancouver 2-0 on goals by Jim Cummins and Patrick Poulin. Down two games to none in the series, the Canucks battled desperately to get a win at home in game three, but relinquished leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Ironically it was ex-Canuck Murray Craven who tied the game at 2-2 with 45 seconds remaining in the third period to send the game to overtime. Chris Chelios scored at 6:22 of the first overtime period as the Hawks took a commanding three-games-to-none series lead. In game four, Vancouver broke a 1-1 tie on two goals by Roman Oksiuta to lead 3-1 in the second period, but Chicago came back again on goals by another ex-Canuck Gerald Diduck and Jeremy Roenick, leaving the score after 60 minutes tied at three goals apiece. Once again, the overtime hero was Chris Chelios, who scored 5:35 into the extra frame to give the Blackhawks a 4-0 sweep over the Canucks, advancing them to the third round for the first time in three years.

Regular season

Schedule and results

Note: R = result
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecord
1TJanuary 20, 19951–1 OTDallas Stars 0–0–1
2LJanuary 21, 19951–7St. Louis Blues 0–1–1
3LJanuary 24, 19953–6@ Detroit Red Wings 0–2–1
4LJanuary 25, 19952–6@ Toronto Maple Leafs 0–3–1
5WJanuary 28, 19953–1@ St. Louis Blues 1–3–1
6TFebruary 1, 19954–4 OTToronto Maple Leafs 1–3–2
7LFebruary 5, 19954–9Chicago Blackhawks 1–4–2
8TFebruary 7, 19954–4 OTEdmonton Oilers 1–4–3
9WFebruary 9, 19955–1Winnipeg Jets 2–4–3
10TFebruary 11, 19951–1 OTSan Jose Sharks 2–4–4
11LFebruary 15, 19951–3@ San Jose Sharks 2–5–4
12TFebruary 17, 19952–2 OT@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 2–5–5
13WFebruary 18, 19956–2@ Los Angeles Kings 3–5–5
14WFebruary 20, 19958–2Los Angeles Kings 4–5–5
15LFebruary 22, 19951–4Winnipeg Jets 4–6–5
16TFebruary 24, 19953–3 OT@ Dallas Stars 4–6–6
17WFebruary 26, 19955–1@ San Jose Sharks 5–6–6
18LFebruary 28, 19953–4San Jose Sharks 5–7–6
19TMarch 2, 19952–2 OT@ Calgary Flames 5–7–7
20WMarch 4, 19955–4@ Los Angeles Kings 6–7–7
21LMarch 6, 19952–5Detroit Red Wings 6–8–7
22WMarch 11, 19955–3Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 7–8–7
23WMarch 12, 19955–2@ Edmonton Oilers 8–8–7
24TMarch 14, 19953–3 OT@ Winnipeg Jets 8–8–8
25LMarch 16, 19952–9@ Chicago Blackhawks 8–9–8
26LMarch 17, 19951–3@ Detroit Red Wings 8–10–8
27WMarch 21, 19953–1Toronto Maple Leafs 9–10–8
28LMarch 23, 19951–3Chicago Blackhawks 9–11–8
29LMarch 25, 19951–2Detroit Red Wings 9–12–8
30LMarch 26, 19950–2@ Calgary Flames 9–13–8
31WMarch 29, 19955–2Los Angeles Kings 10–13–8
32WMarch 31, 19956–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 11–13–8
33WApril 1, 19955–1@ Edmonton Oilers 12–13–8
34TApril 4, 19952–2 OTDallas Stars 12–13–9
35LApril 7, 19954–7@ Winnipeg Jets 12–14–9
36WApril 8, 19954–2@ Calgary Flames 13–14–9
37WApril 11, 19955–0Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 14–14–9
38LApril 13, 19954–6Edmonton Oilers 14–15–9
39WApril 15, 19953–1@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 15–15–9
40TApril 17, 19952–2 OT@ Dallas Stars 15–15–10
41LApril 18, 19951–4@ St. Louis Blues 15–16–10
42TApril 20, 19952–2 OTCalgary Flames 15–16–11
43WApril 22, 19956–1Edmonton Oilers 16–16–11
44LApril 25, 19953–4 OT@ Chicago Blackhawks 16–17–11
45LApril 26, 19952–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs 16–18–11
46WApril 28, 19953–1St. Louis Blues 17–18–11
47WApril 30, 19956–4Calgary Flames 18–18–11
48TMay 3, 19953–3 OT@ San Jose Sharks 18–18–12

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG = Power Play Goals; SHG = Shorthanded Goals; GWG = Game Winning Goals
PlayerPosGPGAPts+/-PIMPPGSHGGWG
RW44202343-848622
C48182240-540901
LW45161834281701
Jeff BrownD3382331-216301
LW48101525-265601
C4161925-427302

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice ; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Playoffs

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
PlayerGPGAPts+/-PIM

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice ; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOSv%GAA

Draft picks

Vancouver's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
Round#PlayerNationalityCollege/Junior/Club Team
113Mattias OhlundLuleå HF
239Robb GordonPowell River Kings
242Dave ScatchardPortland Winter Hawks
365Chad AllenSaskatoon Blades
492Mike DubinskyBrandon Wheat Kings
5117Yanick DubeLaval Titan
7169Yuri KuznetsovAvangard Omsk
8195Rob TrumbleyMoose Jaw Warriors
9221Bill MuckaltKelowna Spartans
10247Tyson NashKamloops Blazers
11273Robert LongpreMedicine Hat Tigers