<< 1976-77

1978-79 >>

1977-78 Results

After just three seasons, the Phil Maloney regime came to an end. Jake Milford took over before the season while Orland Kurtenbach was back to try his hand at coaching for another season. Don Lever served as the new team captain while returning players like Rick Blight, Dennis Ververgaert, Hilliard Graves, Dennis Kearns, Harold Snepsts and Cesare Maniago were counted on to carry the team. In one of the few deals the new General Manager made, Pit Martin joined the Canucks from Chicago. Glen Hanlon tended goal four times late in the season and showed flashes of the brilliance that would make him "the franchise" in years to come.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT 12  A  NY RANGERS   3-6 L     1  0  1  0   3   6   0 0.000 Walton finds the net twice     
OCT 14  A  COLORADO     4-4 T     2  0  1  1   7  10   1 0.250 Canucks trail 4-2 after second 
OCT 15  A  MINNESOTA    5-3 W     3  1  1  1  12  13   3 0.500 First NHL goal for Jere Gillis 
OCT 18  H  DETROIT      3-2 W     4  2  1  1  15  15   5 0.625 Gillis gets game winner        
OCT 23  H  BOSTON       3-3 T     5  2  1  2  18  18   6 0.600 Oddleifson records two points  
OCT 25  H  LOS ANGELES  3-1 W     6  3  1  2  21  19   8 0.667 Kearns scores the winning goal 
OCT 27  H  NY ISLANDERS 2-3 L     7  3  2  2  23  22   8 0.571 Rick Blight assists on both    
OCT 29  H  COLORADO     2-6 L     8  3  3  2  25  28   8 0.500 Canucks up 2-1 in second       
NOV  2  H  TORONTO      1-5 L     9  3  4  2  26  33   8 0.444 Sedlbauer scores lone marker   
NOV  4  H  NY RANGERS   1-5 L    10  3  5  2  27  38   8 0.400 Blight scores only Canuck goal 
NOV  6  A  PHILADELPHIA 2-3 L    11  3  6  2  29  41   8 0.364 Sedlbauer, Graves score        
NOV  8  A  COLORADO     2-6 L    12  3  7  2  31  47   8 0.333 Sedlbauer, Gassoff score       
NOV  9  A  ST. LOUIS    6-8 L    13  3  8  2  37  55   8 0.308 Jere Gillis nets the hat trick 
NOV 11  H  MINNESOTA    4-2 W    14  4  8  2  41  57  10 0.357 Four different Canucks score   
NOV 15  H  CLEVELAND    5-4 W    15  5  8  2  46  61  12 0.400 Mike Walton records hat trick  
NOV 17  A  BOSTON       4-4 T    16  5  8  3  50  65  13 0.406 Canucks up 3-1 after second    
NOV 19  A  NY ISLANDERS 2-9 L    17  5  9  3  52  74  13 0.382 Sedlbauer fails on penalty shot
NOV 20  A  NY RANGERS   3-0 W    18  6  9  3  55  74  15 0.417 Gillis 2 goals, Maniago shutout
NOV 22  H  PITTSBURGH   3-3 T    19  6  9  4  58  77  16 0.421 Lever scores a pair            
NOV 26  H  CHICAGO      2-2 T    20  6  9  5  60  79  17 0.425 Walton gets game tying goal    
NOV 29  H  PHILADELPHIA 0-3 L    21  6 10  5  60  82  17 0.405 Flyer Parent shuts Canucks out 
DEC  2  H  ATLANTA      3-2 W    22  7 10  5  63  84  19 0.432 Canucks down 2-0 in second     
DEC  4  A  CHICAGO      6-2 W    23  8 10  5  69  86  21 0.457 Incident costs Walton 3 games  
DEC  6  A  WASHINGTON   5-2 W    24  9 10  5  74  88  23 0.479 Oddleifson scores two in first 
DEC  7  A  ATLANTA      2-2 T    25  9 10  6  76  90  24 0.480 Gillis scores both goals       
DEC 10  A  MONTREAL     2-7 L    26  9 11  6  78  97  24 0.462 Canucks score final two goals  
DEC 11  A  BUFFALO      0-3 L    27  9 12  6  78 100  24 0.444 Sabre Edwards gets the shutout 
DEC 13  H  WASHINGTON   3-1 W    28 10 12  6  81 101  26 0.464 Snepsts assists on all three   
DEC 17  H  BUFFALO      5-5 T    29 10 12  7  86 106  27 0.466 No lead greater than one goal  
DEC 19  A  LOS ANGELES  2-3 L    30 10 13  7  88 109  27 0.450 Snepsts, Kearns score          
DEC 20  H  ATLANTA      2-2 T    31 10 13  8  90 111  28 0.452 Gillis, Ververgaert score      
DEC 23  H  MINNESOTA    5-7 L    32 10 14  8  95 118  28 0.438 Rick Blight records four points
DEC 27  H  NY ISLANDERS 2-4 L    33 10 15  8  97 122  28 0.424 Gillis, Snepsts score          
DEC 30  H  COLORADO     2-2 T    34 10 15  9  99 124  29 0.426 Lever scores both goals        
JAN  1  A  CHICAGO      3-2 W    35 11 15  9 102 126  31 0.443 Graves pots a pair of goals    
JAN  3  A  NY ISLANDERS 1-4 L    36 11 16  9 103 130  31 0.431 Islanders up 3-0 after second  
JAN  4  A  PITTSBURGH   3-8 L    37 11 17  9 106 138  31 0.419 Penguins up 3-0 after first    
JAN  6  A  CLEVELAND    1-6 L    38 11 18  9 107 144  31 0.408 Manno scores lone goal         
JAN  7  A  TORONTO      4-6 L    39 11 19  9 111 150  31 0.397 Canucks up 4-3 after second    
JAN 11  H  ST. LOUIS    6-4 W    40 12 19  9 117 154  33 0.413 Lever has a four point night   
JAN 14  H  COLORADO     3-3 T    41 12 19 10 120 157  34 0.415 Lever injured, ending streak   
JAN 17  H  NY RANGERS   4-5 L    42 12 20 10 124 162  34 0.405 Lever misses after 437 games   
JAN 19  H  TORONTO      3-3 T    43 12 20 11 127 165  35 0.407 Oddleifson scores twice        
JAN 21  A  MONTREAL     1-8 L    44 12 21 11 128 173  35 0.398 O'Flaherty scores short handed 
JAN 22  A  BUFFALO      2-2 T    45 12 21 12 130 175  36 0.400 Monahan in on both goals       
JAN 26  H  PHILADELPHIA 2-6 L    46 12 22 12 132 181  36 0.391 McIlhargey assists both goals  
JAN 28  H  ST. LOUIS    8-3 W    47 13 22 12 140 184  38 0.404 Claire Alexander gets 4 points 
JAN 31  H  WASHINGTON   4-2 W    48 14 22 12 144 186  40 0.417 Blight scores twice in second  
FEB  2  H  MONTREAL     4-4 T    49 14 22 13 148 190  41 0.418 Canucks up 3-1 in second       
FEB  4  H  CHICAGO      1-5 L    50 14 23 13 149 195  41 0.410 Lever scores lone tally        
FEB  7  H  ATLANTA      2-4 L    51 14 24 13 151 199  41 0.402 Kearns assists both goals      
FEB  9  A  PHILADELPHIA 2-5 L    52 14 25 13 153 204  41 0.394 Ververgaert, Gillis score      
FEB 11  A  MINNESOTA    2-3 L    53 14 26 13 155 207  41 0.387 Ververgaert, Gassoff score     
FEB 12  A  DETROIT      3-8 L    54 14 27 13 158 215  41 0.380 Wing Woods scores hat trick    
FEB 14  A  WASHINGTON   4-2 W    55 15 27 13 162 217  43 0.391 Walton records three points    
FEB 15  A  NY RANGERS   3-6 L    56 15 28 13 165 223  43 0.384 Kannegiesser opens scoring     
FEB 17  A  CLEVELAND    2-3 L    57 15 29 13 167 226  43 0.377 Monahan, O'Flaherty score      
FEB 18  A  ST. LOUIS    3-4 L    58 15 30 13 170 230  43 0.371 Alexander scores a pair        
FEB 22  H  BOSTON       4-6 L    59 15 31 13 174 236  43 0.364 Four different Canucks score   
FEB 25  H  MINNESOTA    5-1 W    60 16 31 13 179 237  45 0.375 Curt Ridley makes 25 saves     
FEB 27  H  CLEVELAND    3-3 T    61 16 31 14 182 240  46 0.377 Last game against Barons       
MAR  1  H  CHICAGO      3-2 W    62 17 31 14 185 242  48 0.387 Graves pops game winning goal  
MAR  4  A  TORONTO      3-4 L    63 17 32 14 188 246  48 0.381 Blight records two assists     
MAR  5  A  BOSTON       3-6 L    64 17 33 14 191 252  48 0.375 Canucks up 2-0 early in first  
MAR  7  A  NY ISLANDERS 2-5 L    65 17 34 14 193 257  48 0.369 Another Sedlbauer penalty shot 
MAR  8  A  ATLANTA      3-8 L    66 17 35 14 196 265  48 0.364 Flame Houston gets hat trick   
MAR 11  A  PITTSBURGH   3-1 W    67 18 35 14 199 266  50 0.373 Maniago makes 27 saves         
MAR 12  A  DETROIT      4-4 T    68 18 35 15 203 270  51 0.375 Sedlbauer scores twices        
MAR 15  H  PITTSBURGH   7-4 W    69 19 35 15 210 274  53 0.384 Alexander records four assists 
MAR 17  A  COLORADO     1-3 L    70 19 36 15 211 277  53 0.379 Oddleifson scores lone marker  
MAR 18  H  DETROIT      4-5 L    71 19 37 15 215 282  53 0.373 Graves scores a pair of goals  
MAR 20  H  MONTREAL     1-5 L    72 19 38 15 216 287  53 0.368 Walton breaks shutout bid      
MAR 24  H  BUFFALO      2-2 T    73 19 38 16 218 289  54 0.370 Canucks down 2-0 after second  
MAR 26  A  CHICAGO      3-4 L    74 19 39 16 221 293  54 0.365 Ververgaert 1 goal, 1 assist   
MAR 28  A  MINNESOTA    4-9 L    75 19 40 16 225 302  54 0.360 Star Bennett scores four times 
MAR 29  A  ST. LOUIS    1-3 L    76 19 41 16 226 305  54 0.355 Gassoff gets lone goal         
MAR 31  H  PHILADELPHIA 2-3 L    77 19 42 16 228 308  54 0.351 Graves scores both goals       
APR  4  H  ST. LOUIS    3-2 W    78 20 42 16 231 310  56 0.359 Lever records two points       
APR  7  H  LOS ANGELES  5-5 T    79 20 42 17 236 315  57 0.361 Walton two goals, one assist   
APR  8  A  LOS ANGELES  3-5 L    80 20 43 17 239 320  57 0.356 Game tied at three in third    

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