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1997-98 Results

In the summer of 1997, the Canucks signed free agent Mark Messier. The Canucks hoped Messier's leadership qualities would bring the team together and take them to the next level. Instead, the team fell apart. Early in the season, the Canucks were in the midst of a ten game losing streak when club ownership fired Pat Quinn. A few days later, they offered to hire him back as coach -- he declined. In the chaos that followed, Mike Keenan was brought in as coach and, later, given power to make trades. He began to systematically gut the team. The first to go were Kirk McLean and Martin Gelinas. These were followed closely by Mike Sillinger, Trevor Linden, Grant Ledyard, Lonny Bohonos, Gino Odjick, and Dave Babych. Despite (or perhaps because of) the changes, the Canucks did not improve. They finished last in the Western Conference.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT  4 N-H ANAHEIM      3-2 W     1  1  0  0   3   2   2 1.000 at Tokyo  Oct.3 in Vancouver   
OCT  5 N-A ANAHEIM      2-3 L     2  1  1  0   5   5   2 0.500 at Tokyo  Oct.4 in Vancouver   
OCT  9  H  TORONTO      2-2 T OT  3  1  1  1   7   7   3 0.500 McLean makes 30 saves          
OCT 11  H  NY RANGERS   3-6 L     4  1  2  1  10  13   3 0.375 Gretzky's 50th NHL hat trick   
OCT 13  H  EDMONTON     3-0 W     5  2  2  1  13  13   5 0.500 McLean makes 33 saves          
OCT 17  H  BOSTON       0-2 L     6  2  3  1  13  15   5 0.417 Tight checking all night       
OCT 19  H  COLORADO AV. 4-4 T OT  7  2  3  2  17  19   6 0.429 Linden in on all four goals    
OCT 21  A  DALLAS       5-1 W     8  3  3  2  22  20   8 0.500 Bure hat trick, Irbe win       
OCT 23  A  ST. LOUIS    1-4 L     9  3  4  2  23  24   8 0.444 Walker scores lone goal        
OCT 25  H  PITTSBURGH   2-3 L OT 10  3  5  2  25  27   8 0.400 McLean first star despite loss 
OCT 26  H  DETROIT      1-5 L    11  3  6  2  26  32   8 0.364 Odjick scores lone goal        
OCT 29  A  CHICAGO      0-3 L    12  3  7  2  26  35   8 0.333 1-0 after two periods          
OCT 30  A  NEW JERSEY   1-8 L    13  3  8  2  27  43   8 0.308 Vaic makes NHL debut           
NOV  1  A  PITTSBURGH   6-7 L OT 14  3  9  2  33  50   8 0.286 Rob Brown scores in overtime   
NOV  3  A  CAROLINA     3-5 L    15  3 10  2  36  55   8 0.267 First Canuck game in Carolina  
NOV  4  A  WASHINGTON   1-2 L    16  3 11  2  37  57   8 0.250 First game after Quinn firing  
NOV  8  H  ANAHEIM      2-3 L    17  3 12  2  39  60   8 0.235 Mogilny ends holdout           
NOV 11  A  LOS ANGELES  2-8 L    18  3 13  2  41  68   8 0.222 Record: ten losses in a row    
NOV 12  A  SAN JOSE     5-2 W    19  4 13  2  46  70  10 0.263 Bure scores on penalty shot    
NOV 14  A  ANAHEIM      3-3 T OT 20  4 13  3  49  73  11 0.275 Keenan's first game as coach   
NOV 16  H  CAROLINA     4-1 W    21  5 13  3  53  74  13 0.310 Mogilny scores 300th NHL goal  
NOV 20  H  PHOENIX      4-2 W    22  6 13  3  57  76  15 0.341 Murzyn gets winner in second   
NOV 22  H  CHICAGO      4-5 L OT 23  6 14  3  61  81  15 0.326 Canucks up 4-2 in third        
NOV 25  A  NY RANGERS   4-2 W    24  7 14  3  65  83  17 0.354 Messier returns to MSG         
NOV 28  A  BOSTON       5-2 W    25  8 14  3  70  85  19 0.380 Bure records three points      
NOV 29  A  TORONTO      4-2 W    26  9 14  3  74  87  21 0.404 Canucks trail 2-0 after first  
DEC  1  H  DETROIT      3-3 T OT 27  9 14  4  77  90  22 0.407 Mogilny scores on penalty shot 
DEC  4  H  SAN JOSE     2-3 L    28  9 15  4  79  93  22 0.393 Murzyn, Scatchard score        
DEC  6  A  COLORADO AV. 4-6 L    29  9 16  4  83  99  22 0.379 Bure records hat trick         
DEC  8  A  ST. LOUIS    1-5 L    30  9 17  4  84 104  22 0.367 Keenan booed in first game back
DEC  9  A  DETROIT      5-7 L    31  9 18  4  89 111  22 0.355 Naslund scores twice           
DEC 13  H  COLORADO AV. 2-5 L    32  9 19  4  91 116  22 0.344 Murzyn gets goal in third      
DEC 15  H  LOS ANGELES  7-0 W    33 10 19  4  98 116  24 0.364 Bure hat trick, Irbe shutout   
DEC 17  A  PHOENIX      5-1 W    34 11 19  4 103 117  26 0.382 Odjick gets eventual winner    
DEC 18  A  SAN JOSE     0-0 T OT 35 11 19  5 103 117  27 0.386 Irbe, Vernon both get shutouts 
DEC 20  H  CHICAGO      0-5 L    36 11 20  5 103 122  27 0.375 Referee leaves in second period
DEC 23  H  DALLAS       1-3 L    37 11 21  5 104 125  27 0.365 Bure scores lone goal          
DEC 27  A  DALLAS       3-3 T OT 38 11 21  6 107 128  28 0.368 Canucks trail 3-0 in second    
DEC 29  A  LOS ANGELES  2-5 L    39 11 22  6 109 133  28 0.359 Bure scores both goals         
DEC 31  H  PHILADELPHIA 0-8 L    40 11 23  6 109 141  28 0.350 Record: worst shutout at home  
JAN  3  H  MONTREAL     2-4 L    41 11 24  6 111 145  28 0.341 Burke, Sanderson, Ciccone debut
JAN  5  H  LOS ANGELES  3-2 W    42 12 24  6 114 147  30 0.357 Sillinger gets two goals       
JAN  7  H  ST. LOUIS    2-3 L    43 12 25  6 116 150  30 0.349 Naslund, Sillinger score       
JAN  8  A  COLORADO AV. 4-4 T OT 44 12 25  7 120 154  31 0.352 Canucks trail 3-2 after first  
JAN 10  H  FLORIDA      2-2 T OT 45 12 25  8 122 156  32 0.356 Sillinger, Mogilny score       
JAN 12  A  CHICAGO      2-3 L    46 12 26  8 124 159  32 0.348 Ohlund, Bure score             
JAN 14  A  DETROIT      0-4 L    47 12 27  8 124 163  32 0.340 Wing Osgood gets shutout       
JAN 15  A  BUFFALO      2-6 L    48 12 28  8 126 169  32 0.333 Goalies fight in third         
JAN 21  H  PHOENIX      1-6 L    49 12 29  8 127 175  32 0.327 Mogilny scores lone goal       
JAN 24  A  CALGARY      2-5 L    50 12 30  8 129 180  32 0.320 Flame McInnis gets hat trick   
JAN 26  A  PHOENIX      2-4 L    51 12 31  8 131 184  32 0.314 Bure scores on penalty shot    
JAN 28  A  COLORADO AV. 1-6 L    52 12 32  8 132 190  32 0.308 Bure scores lone goal          
JAN 30  H  NEW JERSEY   3-1 W    53 13 32  8 135 191  34 0.321 Noonan gets winner in first    
JAN 31  A  EDMONTON     6-3 W    54 14 32  8 141 194  36 0.333 Walker puts Canucks up 4-2     
FEB  2  H  COLORADO AV. 1-2 L    55 14 33  8 142 196  36 0.327 Robertsson scores lone goal    
FEB  6  H  EDMONTON     5-4 W    56 15 33  8 147 200  38 0.339 Mogilny assists on three goals 
FEB  7  H  SAN JOSE     6-3 W    57 16 33  8 153 203  40 0.351 McCabe, Bertuzzi debut         
FEB 25  H  ANAHEIM      5-2 W    58 17 33  8 158 205  42 0.362 Zezel, Naslund 3 points each   
FEB 27  A  CALGARY      4-4 T OT 59 17 33  9 162 209  43 0.364 Lumme ties late in third       
FEB 28  H  OTTAWA       6-4 W    60 18 33  9 168 213  45 0.375 Bure scores on penalty shot    
MAR  2  A  LOS ANGELES  2-2 T OT 61 18 33 10 170 215  46 0.377 Scatchard gets tying goal      
MAR  5  H  CALGARY      2-6 L    62 18 34 10 172 221  46 0.371 Snow makes his Canuck debut    
MAR  7  H  TAMPA BAY    5-2 W    63 19 34 10 177 223  48 0.381 Bure scores twice              
MAR  9  H  ST. LOUIS    0-4 L    64 19 35 10 177 227  48 0.375 Blue McLennan gets shutout     
MAR 11  A  MONTREAL     2-2 T OT 65 19 35 11 179 229  49 0.377 Ohlund, Bure score             
MAR 12  A  PHILADELPHIA 2-3 L    66 19 36 11 181 232  49 0.371 Canucks lead 2-1 after second  
MAR 14  A  NY ISLANDERS 6-2 W    67 20 36 11 187 234  51 0.381 Aucoin gets winner in second   
MAR 17  A  FLORIDA      4-2 W    68 21 36 11 191 236  53 0.390 Zezel scores a pair            
MAR 18  A  TAMPA BAY    2-4 L    69 21 37 11 193 240  53 0.384 Mogilny, Bure score            
MAR 20  A  OTTAWA       1-1 T OT 70 21 37 12 194 241  54 0.386 Irbe outshot 29 to 19          
MAR 21  A  TORONTO      1-1 T OT 71 21 37 13 195 242  55 0.387 Mogilny scores 100th as Canuck 
MAR 24  H  NY ISLANDERS 4-3 W    72 22 37 13 199 245  57 0.396 Linden returns to standing "O" 
MAR 26  H  BUFFALO      2-5 L    73 22 38 13 201 250  57 0.390 Video costs Canucks 2 goals    
MAR 28  H  WASHINGTON   2-3 L    74 22 39 13 203 253  57 0.385 Huscroft makes Canuck debut    
APR  1  H  EDMONTON     4-2 W    75 23 39 13 207 255  59 0.393 Canucks up 4-0 after two       
APR  4  H  DALLAS       5-3 W    76 24 39 13 212 258  61 0.401 May, Bure two goals each       
APR  6  A  EDMONTON     2-3 L    77 24 40 13 214 261  61 0.396 Eliminated from the playoffs   
APR  9  A  CALGARY      6-3 W    78 25 40 13 220 264  63 0.404 Bure records three points      
APR 11  A  SAN JOSE     1-1 T OT 79 25 40 14 221 265  64 0.405 Irbe outshot 32 to 17          
APR 15  H  LOS ANGELES  0-2 L    80 25 41 14 221 267  64 0.400 2-1 goal disallowed on replay  
APR 17  H  CALGARY      2-4 L    81 25 42 14 223 271  64 0.395 Bure scores 50th of season     
APR 19  H  TORONTO      1-2 L    82 25 43 14 224 273  64 0.390 Bure scores lone goal          

        Canucks finish 13th out of 13 teams in Western Conference (out of the playoffs)