<< 1971-72

1973-74 >>

1972-73 Results

What do you do when your $6,000,000 worth of talent fails to produce a playoff berth? Fire the coach. After just two seasons, the Canucks replaced head coach Hal Laycoe with Vic Stasiuk. In addition to the new bench boss, the Canucks had a few new faces in the lineup, including rookies Don Lever and Don Tannahill. Orland Kurtenbach returned as captain, while familiar names like Andre Boudrias, Bobby Schmautz, Dale Tallon, Don Lever and Dunc Wilson returned to the team. In December, Wayne Maki suffered from a brain tumour and was forced to retire. By season's end, the team had accumulated 53 points and finished seventh in the East Division (ahead of only the expansion New York Islanders).

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT  7  H  CALIFORNIA   3-2 W     1  1  0  0   3   2   2 1.000 Tannahill, Wright first goals  
OCT 11  A  NY RANGERS   3-5 L     2  1  1  0   6   7   2 0.500 Dave Balon injured             
OCT 12  A  PHILADELPHIA 3-7 L     3  1  2  0   9  14   2 0.333 First NHL goal for Don Lever   
OCT 14  A  MINNESOTA    3-3 T     4  1  2  1  12  17   3 0.375 Kurtenbach records two points  
OCT 17  H  CHICAGO      6-3 W     5  2  2  1  18  20   5 0.500 Dale Tallon gets game winner   
OCT 19  A  BUFFALO      0-6 L     6  2  3  1  18  26   5 0.417 Forward line of defenseman     
OCT 21  A  MONTREAL     3-5 L     7  2  4  1  21  31   5 0.357 Schmautz records two points    
OCT 22  A  BOSTON       5-4 W     8  3  4  1  26  35   7 0.438 Canucks down 3-1 after first   
OCT 24  H  PITTSBURGH   0-4 L     9  3  5  1  26  39   7 0.389 Penguin Herron gets shutout    
OCT 28  H  ATLANTA      1-2 L    10  3  6  1  27  41   7 0.350 First game against Flames      
OCT 31  A  LOS ANGELES  1-4 L    11  3  7  1  28  45   7 0.318 King Goring gets hat trick     
NOV  3  H  NY ISLANDERS 7-2 W    12  4  7  1  35  47   9 0.375 First game against Islanders   
NOV  5  H  BOSTON       2-4 L    13  4  8  1  37  51   9 0.346 Canucks down 3-0 in first      
NOV  8  A  NY RANGERS   2-5 L    14  4  9  1  39  56   9 0.321 Wilkins, Kurtenbach score      
NOV 11  A  PITTSBURGH   4-3 W    15  5  9  1  43  59  11 0.367 Coaching turmoil inspires team 
NOV 12  A  ATLANTA      1-3 L    16  5 10  1  44  62  11 0.344 Guevremont scores lone goal    
NOV 14  H  DETROIT      3-3 T    17  5 10  2  47  65  12 0.353 Canucks trail 3-0 in first     
NOV 17  H  LOS ANGELES  8-4 W    18  6 10  2  55  69  14 0.389 Schmautz records hat trick     
NOV 19  H  BUFFALO      9-5 W    19  7 10  2  64  74  16 0.421 Schmautz scores four goals     
NOV 21  A  ST. LOUIS    2-4 L    20  7 11  2  66  78  16 0.400 Maki, Lalonde score            
NOV 22  A  CHICAGO      2-5 L    21  7 12  2  68  83  16 0.381 Dunc Wilson injured            
NOV 24  H  MONTREAL     1-9 L    22  7 13  2  69  92  16 0.364 O'Flaherty scores in 1st minute
NOV 26  H  MINNESOTA    1-3 L    23  7 14  2  70  95  16 0.348 Schmautz scores lone marker    
NOV 28  H  NY RANGERS   2-1 W    24  8 14  2  72  96  18 0.375 Lalonde gets winner in third   
DEC  1  H  ST. LOUIS    2-6 L    25  8 15  2  74 102  18 0.360 Tied at two after forty minutes
DEC  5  H  TORONTO      2-5 L    26  8 16  2  76 107  18 0.346 John Henderson backup goalie   
DEC  7  A  ATLANTA      2-5 L    27  8 17  2  78 112  18 0.333 Tannahill, Boudrias score      
DEC  9  A  TORONTO      5-5 T    28  8 17  3  83 117  19 0.339 Canucks trail 3-0 in second    
DEC 10  A  DETROIT      3-3 T    29  8 17  4  86 120  20 0.345 O'Flaherty records two assists 
DEC 12  H  CHICAGO      1-5 L    30  8 18  4  87 125  20 0.333 Wilkins scores only goal       
DEC 15  H  MONTREAL     2-4 L    31  8 19  4  89 129  20 0.323 Lalonde assists on both goals  
DEC 16  H  CALIFORNIA   4-3 W    32  9 19  4  93 132  22 0.344 Canucks trail 3-1 in second    
DEC 20  A  BUFFALO      3-6 L    33  9 20  4  96 138  22 0.333 Canucks down 3-0 in second     
DEC 21  A  NY ISLANDERS 4-4 T    34  9 20  5 100 142  23 0.338 Dunc Wilson returns in net     
DEC 23  A  DETROIT      1-5 L    35  9 21  5 101 147  23 0.329 Barry Wilkins scores the goal  
DEC 26  H  CALIFORNIA   4-3 W    36 10 21  5 105 150  25 0.347 Rookie Tannahill gets hat trick
DEC 29  H  PHILADELPHIA 4-4 T    37 10 21  6 109 154  26 0.351 Flyers brawl with crowd        
DEC 30  H  NY ISLANDERS 5-2 W    38 11 21  6 114 156  28 0.368 Another Schmautz hat trick     
JAN  1  H  BOSTON       2-8 L    39 11 22  6 116 164  28 0.359 Bruin Orr records six assists  
JAN  3  A  CALIFORNIA   3-11L    40 11 23  6 119 175  28 0.350 First NHL goal for Wilcox      
JAN  6  A  PITTSBURGH   2-4 L    41 11 24  6 121 179  28 0.341 Canucks lead 2-1 after two     
JAN  7  A  ATLANTA      2-5 L    42 11 25  6 123 184  28 0.333 McSheffrey records two points  
JAN  9  H  ST. LOUIS    3-0 W    43 12 25  6 126 184  30 0.349 Dunc Wilson stops 33 shots     
JAN 12  H  DETROIT      1-7 L    44 12 26  6 127 191  30 0.341 Wing Redmond gets hat trick    
JAN 14  H  MONTREAL     0-3 L    45 12 27  6 127 194  30 0.333 Hab Thomas shutout in 1st start
JAN 16  H  TORONTO      6-4 W    46 13 27  6 133 198  32 0.348 Boudrias gets the hat trick    
JAN 19  H  LOS ANGELES  0-4 L    47 13 28  6 133 202  32 0.340 King Edwards gets shutout      
JAN 20  H  NY RANGERS   3-4 L    48 13 29  6 136 206  32 0.333 Schmautz in on all three goals 
JAN 24  A  CHICAGO      3-3 T    49 13 29  7 139 209  33 0.337 Canucks trail 2-0 in second    
JAN 26  H  NY ISLANDERS 5-1 W    50 14 29  7 144 210  35 0.350 Boudrias records 100th assist  
JAN 27  H  ST. LOUIS    1-3 L    51 14 30  7 145 213  35 0.343 Boudrias scores lone goal      
FEB  1  A  PHILADELPHIA 4-5 L    52 14 31  7 149 218  35 0.337 Tallon has three point night   
FEB  3  A  TORONTO      2-1 W    53 15 31  7 151 219  37 0.349 Lalonde wins it late in third  
FEB  4  A  DETROIT      2-8 L    54 15 32  7 153 227  37 0.343 O'Flaherty, Lemieux score      
FEB  6  A  ST. LOUIS    1-5 L    55 15 33  7 154 232  37 0.336 Five Blues goals in first      
FEB  9  H  PHILADELPHIA 5-10L    56 15 34  7 159 242  37 0.330 Flyers return to face charges  
FEB 11  A  MINNESOTA    3-6 L    57 15 35  7 162 248  37 0.325 Schmautz records two points    
FEB 13  A  BOSTON       3-7 L    58 15 36  7 165 255  37 0.319 Lemieux one goal, one assist   
FEB 14  A  PITTSBURGH   2-6 L    59 15 37  7 167 261  37 0.314 Tannahill, Guevremont score    
FEB 16  H  ATLANTA      5-0 W    60 16 37  7 172 261  39 0.325 Ed Dyck records first shutout  
FEB 17  H  DETROIT      2-2 T    61 16 37  8 174 263  40 0.328 Tallon, Schmautz score         
FEB 20  H  BOSTON       6-7 L    62 16 38  8 180 270  40 0.323 Canucks up 4-0 in first        
FEB 22  A  BUFFALO      1-3 L    63 16 39  8 181 273  40 0.317 Jim Mair scores lone goal      
FEB 24  A  MONTREAL     3-7 L    64 16 40  8 184 280  40 0.313 Kurtenbach returns to lineup   
FEB 28  A  TORONTO      2-7 L    65 16 41  8 186 287  40 0.308 Kearns, Boudrias score         
MAR  3  A  NY ISLANDERS 3-9 L    66 16 42  8 189 296  40 0.303 Islander Cook scores hat trick 
MAR  4  A  NY RANGERS   4-3 W    67 17 42  8 193 299  42 0.313 Boudrias scores twice          
MAR  9  H  BUFFALO      5-2 W    68 18 42  8 198 301  44 0.324 Boudrias scores on penalty shot
MAR 10  H  CHICAGO      2-4 L    69 18 43  8 200 305  44 0.319 Replay shows Canuck goal       
MAR 14  A  CALIFORNIA   5-2 W    70 19 43  8 205 307  46 0.329 Dunc Wilson gets an assist     
MAR 16  H  LOS ANGELES  4-2 W    71 20 43  8 209 309  48 0.338 Barry Wilkins scores two goals 
MAR 17  H  PITTSBURGH   6-1 W    72 21 43  8 215 310  50 0.347 Bobby Lalonde records hat trick
MAR 21  A  MONTREAL     2-3 L    73 21 44  8 217 313  50 0.342 Boudrias, Wright score         
MAR 22  A  PHILADELPHIA 0-9 L    74 21 45  8 217 322  50 0.338 Favell shutout, Lonsberry hat  
MAR 25  H  TORONTO      7-4 W    75 22 45  8 224 326  52 0.347 Don Tannahill records hat trick
MAR 27  A  MINNESOTA    3-4 L    76 22 46  8 227 330  52 0.342 Schmautz has two point night   
MAR 30  H  MINNESOTA    3-3 T    77 22 46  9 230 333  53 0.344 Schmautz ties it in third      
MAR 31  A  LOS ANGELES  3-6 L    78 22 47  9 233 339  53 0.340 Wilson, Stasiuk argue at bench 

          Canucks finish 7th out of 8 teams in the East Division (out of the playoffs)