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1977-78 >>

1976-77 Results

After two .500 seasons, Phil Maloney was back for another season as General Manager and coach. Two months into the season, it was clear that the Canucks were in trouble. General Manager Phil Maloney fired coach Phil Maloney just before Christmas and former captain Orland Kurtenbach moved in behind the bench. He didn't fare much better as the Canucks finished the season fourth in the Smythe Division and out of the playoffs. Rick Blight, Dennis Kearns, Don Lever, Dennis Ververgaert, captain Chris Oddleifson defenseman Harold Snepsts and netminder Cesare Maniago made up the core of the team most nights.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT  6  A  PITTSBURGH   5-9 L     1  0  1  0   5   9   0 0.000 Rick Blight starts with 4 goals
OCT  9  A  MONTREAL     0-3 L     2  0  2  0   5  12   0 0.000 Canadien Dryden gets shutout   
OCT 10  A  CHICAGO      1-5 L     3  0  3  0   6  17   0 0.000 Gould scores only goal         
OCT 13  H  WASHINGTON   4-1 W     4  1  3  0  10  18   2 0.250 Walton records three assists   
OCT 16  H  ST. LOUIS    3-6 L     5  1  4  0  13  24   2 0.200 Tied at two after one period   
OCT 19  A  NY ISLANDERS 1-6 L     6  1  5  0  14  30   2 0.167 Ververgaert scores only goal   
OCT 20  A  BUFFALO      0-4 L     7  1  6  0  14  34   2 0.143 Sabre Desjardins gets shutout  
OCT 22  A  ATLANTA      5-3 W     8  2  6  0  19  37   4 0.250 Ververgaert scores 2 in second 
OCT 24  A  NY RANGERS   5-4 W     9  3  6  0  24  41   6 0.333 Sedlbauer gets winner in third 
OCT 26  A  ST. LOUIS    2-5 L    10  3  7  0  26  46   6 0.300 Oddleifson gets both goals     
OCT 28  H  CLEVELAND    3-1 W    11  4  7  0  29  47   8 0.364 Ververgaert gets the winner    
OCT 30  H  ATLANTA      3-3 T    12  4  7  1  32  50   9 0.375 Canucks up 3-1 in second       
NOV  1  H  NY ISLANDERS 2-3 L    13  4  8  1  34  53   9 0.346 Canucks up 2-1 after first     
NOV  3  H  NY RANGERS   1-6 L    14  4  9  1  35  59   9 0.321 Walton scores lone goal        
NOV  5  H  LOS ANGELES  4-1 W    15  5  9  1  39  60  11 0.367 Blight gets the winner         
NOV  7  A  BOSTON       1-3 L    16  5 10  1  40  63  11 0.344 Lever opens the scoring        
NOV  9  A  WASHINGTON   2-4 L    17  5 11  1  42  67  11 0.324 Canucks trail 3-0 after first  
NOV 11  A  PHILADELPHIA 4-6 L    18  5 12  1  46  73  11 0.306 Ververgaert, Kearns two points 
NOV 13  H  TORONTO      0-3 L    19  5 13  1  46  76  11 0.289 Leaf Palmateer gets shutout    
NOV 17  H  BUFFALO      2-3 L    20  5 14  1  48  79  11 0.275 Ververgaert, Lever score       
NOV 19  H  NY ISLANDERS 4-6 L    21  5 15  1  52  85  11 0.262 Islander Gillies gets hat trick
NOV 22  H  NY RANGERS   2-3 L    22  5 16  1  54  88  11 0.250 Down 3-0 after two periods     
NOV 24  A  BUFFALO      4-4 T    23  5 16  2  58  92  12 0.261 Blight two goals, one assist   
NOV 25  A  BOSTON       2-4 L    24  5 17  2  60  96  12 0.250 Lalonde, Lever score           
NOV 27  H  CHICAGO      4-3 W    25  6 17  2  64  99  14 0.280 Canucks up 3-0 in first        
DEC  1  H  DETROIT      2-5 L    26  6 18  2  66 104  14 0.269 Blight, Kearns score           
DEC  3  A  COLORADO     2-3 L    27  6 19  2  68 107  14 0.259 First game against Rockies     
DEC  5  A  CHICAGO      4-2 W    28  7 19  2  72 109  16 0.286 Walton scores winner in third  
DEC  7  A  WASHINGTON   3-4 L    29  7 20  2  75 113  16 0.276 Monahan scores twice           
DEC  8  A  TORONTO      4-3 W    30  8 20  2  79 116  18 0.300 Blight scores winner in third  
DEC 11  H  COLORADO     4-4 T    31  8 20  3  83 120  19 0.306 Monahan scores a pair          
DEC 14  H  BUFFALO      3-6 L    32  8 21  3  86 126  19 0.297 Snepsts gets a rare goal       
DEC 16  A  DETROIT      3-7 L    33  8 22  3  89 133  19 0.288 Bullock in for last four goals 
DEC 18  A  MINNESOTA    3-1 W    34  9 22  3  92 134  21 0.309 Sedlbauer gets winning goal    
DEC 20  H  MONTREAL     4-5 L    35  9 23  3  96 139  21 0.300 Canucks down 5-2 after two     
DEC 22  A  LOS ANGELES  3-2 W    36 10 23  3  99 141  23 0.319 Kurtenbach now the head coach  
DEC 23  H  ST. LOUIS    2-4 L    37 10 24  3 101 145  23 0.311 Spruce, Wiley score            
DEC 27  H  PHILADELPHIA 1-5 L    38 10 25  3 102 150  23 0.303 Spruce breaks shutout in third 
DEC 29  H  BOSTON       1-8 L    39 10 26  3 103 158  23 0.295 Bruin McNab gets the hat trick 
JAN  1  A  NY ISLANDERS 5-1 W    40 11 26  3 108 159  25 0.313 Spruce records three assists   
JAN  2  A  NY RANGERS   3-5 L    41 11 27  3 111 164  25 0.305 Kearns records two assists     
JAN  4  A  PITTSBURGH   2-2 T    42 11 27  4 113 166  26 0.310 Canucks down 2-0 early in first
JAN  5  A  ATLANTA      1-4 L    43 11 28  4 114 170  26 0.302 O'Flaherty nets only goal      
JAN  7  A  CLEVELAND    4-8 L    44 11 29  4 118 178  26 0.295 Lalonde ripples the mesh twice 
JAN  8  A  ST. LOUIS    5-2 W    45 12 29  4 123 180  28 0.311 Oddleifson records four points 
JAN 12  H  MINNESOTA    5-3 W    46 13 29  4 128 183  30 0.326 Wiley leads with two goals     
JAN 15  H  CLEVELAND    2-4 L    47 13 30  4 130 187  30 0.319 Monahan, Lalonde score         
JAN 19  H  PITTSBURGH   0-3 L    48 13 31  4 130 190  30 0.313 All scoring in the first       
JAN 21  H  TORONTO      1-3 L    49 13 32  4 131 193  30 0.306 Lever only Canuck to score     
JAN 23  H  NY RANGERS   6-2 W    50 14 32  4 137 195  32 0.320 Six different Canucks score    
JAN 27  H  CHICAGO      1-1 T    51 14 32  5 138 196  33 0.324 Graves gets the important goal 
JAN 29  H  MINNESOTA    4-3 W    52 15 32  5 142 199  35 0.337 McIlhargey records three points
FEB  3  H  MONTREAL     4-6 L    53 15 33  5 146 205  35 0.330 Canucks up 2-0 after first     
FEB  5  A  MINNESOTA    5-5 T    54 15 33  6 151 210  36 0.333 Canucks down 4-0 in second     
FEB  6  A  DETROIT      2-3 L    55 15 34  6 153 213  36 0.327 McIlhargey gets match, 10 games
FEB  9  A  MONTREAL     0-6 L    56 15 35  6 153 219  36 0.321 Another shutout for Dryden     
FEB 11  H  PITTSBURGH   3-2 W    57 16 35  6 156 221  38 0.333 Sedlbauer in on all three goals
FEB 14  H  NY ISLANDERS 1-2 L    58 16 36  6 157 223  38 0.328 Goodenough scores lone goal    
FEB 16  H  BOSTON       3-7 L    59 16 37  6 160 230  38 0.322 Bruin Schmautz gets four points
FEB 19  H  ATLANTA      5-1 W    60 17 37  6 165 231  40 0.333 Maniago makes 24 saves         
FEB 21  H  ST. LOUIS    0-4 L    61 17 38  6 165 235  40 0.328 Blue Johnston gets the shutout 
FEB 24  A  LOS ANGELES  2-2 T    62 17 38  7 167 237  41 0.331 Blight in on both goals        
FEB 26  A  MINNESOTA    0-3 L    63 17 39  7 167 240  41 0.325 All scoring in third period    
FEB 27  A  CHICAGO      4-3 W    64 18 39  7 171 243  43 0.336 Canucks up 4-0 after second    
MAR  2  A  ATLANTA      2-1 W    65 19 39  7 173 244  45 0.346 Monahan gets winner in third   
MAR  3  A  PHILADELPHIA 2-5 L    66 19 40  7 175 249  45 0.341 Sedlbauer, Blight score        
MAR  5  A  TORONTO      4-4 T    67 19 40  8 179 253  46 0.343 Canucks trail 3-1 in second    
MAR  9  H  WASHINGTON   5-2 W    68 20 40  8 184 255  48 0.353 Kearns records four points     
MAR 10  H  CHICAGO      5-0 W    69 21 40  8 189 255  50 0.362 Maniago's first SO as a Canuck 
MAR 12  H  COLORADO     2-2 T    70 21 40  9 191 257  51 0.364 Monahan, Sedlbauer score       
MAR 13  A  COLORADO     6-2 W    71 22 40  9 197 259  53 0.373 Sedlbauer scores two in second 
MAR 15  H  DETROIT      7-1 W    72 23 40  9 204 260  55 0.382 Lever records four points      
MAR 19  A  ST. LOUIS    4-4 T    73 23 40 10 208 264  56 0.384 Derek Sanderson scores twice   
MAR 20  A  COLORADO     4-1 W    74 24 40 10 212 265  58 0.392 Maniago outshot 45-23          
MAR 22  H  PHILADELPHIA 4-4 T    75 24 40 11 216 269  59 0.393 Canucks never trail            
MAR 25  A  CLEVELAND    4-4 T    76 24 40 12 220 273  60 0.395 Four different Canucks score   
MAR 26  A  PHILADELPHIA 3-9 L    77 24 41 12 223 282  60 0.390 Four goalies used in game      
MAR 29  H  LOS ANGELES  3-3 T    78 24 41 13 226 285  61 0.391 Canucks down 3-1 after first   
APR  1  H  COLORADO     3-6 L    79 24 42 13 229 291  61 0.386 Canucks up 3-1 after second    
APR  3  H  MINNESOTA    6-3 W    80 25 42 13 235 294  63 0.394 Stewart, Blight score in 0:08  

              Canucks finish fourth in Smythe Division (out of the playoffs)