The Canucks All-Time 3 on 3 Tournament
8 years ago
The Canucks have a long, storied history; some bright days, some not-so-bright. Fellow members of the Blogosphere over at Buffalo Sabres blog “Die By The Blade” broke down the Sabres by era and created 3-on-3 teams from them. With the All-Star game quickly closing in, that inspired me to do the same.
The Stick In Rink Era – 1970 to 1982
Coach: Roger Neilson
Uniform:
Though an unexpected Stanley Cup run in 1982 lends itself to an 82 heavy roster, there’s a nice infusion of the 70’s as well. Some members of the inaugural team made their way onto the roster, while it’s led by Canuck legend Stan Smyl. Towel power for all!
| Forwards | |
| Stan Smyl | Thomas Gradin |
| Dave “Tiger” Williams | Orland Kurtenbach |
| Don Lever | Andre Boudrias |
| Defenceman |
| Barry Wilkins |
| Dennis Kearns |
| Don Lever |
| Goalies |
| Richard Brodeur |
| Gary Smith |
The Spaghetti-Logo Era – 1983 to 1995
Coached by: Pat Quinn
Uniform:
The Canucks were blessed with some great talent through the 80’s and 90’s and many of these players are well represented in the rafters to this day. Led by Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure, they are bolstered on the backend by Jyrki Lumme who is widely considered as one of the best Canucks defensemen ever. In net, this team is backed by Kirk McLean. I mean, who else?
| Forwards | |
| Trevor Linden | Pavel Bure |
| Tony Tanti | Patrik Sundstrom |
| Cliff Ronning | Gino Odjick |
| Defenceman |
| Jyrki Lumme |
| Garth Butcher |
| Dave Babych |
Goalies |
| Kirk McLean |
| John Garrett |
The West Coast Express Era – 1996 to 2007
Coached by: Marc Crawford
Uniform:
One of the greatest lines in the last 25 years of NHL hockey housed themselves in Vancouver in the early 2000’s. Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi carry the team, with help from Mattias Ohlund and Ed Jovanovski – a pair of mainstays on the blue line during this era. Brendan Morrison and Alexander Mogilny play together which is hilarious because they were traded for each other, and they need to hope for a solid outing from Dan Cloutier. Mark Messier is there too because though he sucks he did get some points as a Canuck and if Andrew Cassels made the team you know that it wasn’t the best era of Canucks hockey.
| Forwards | |
| Markus Naslund | Todd Bertuzzi |
| Brendan Morrison | Alexander Mogilny |
| Andrew Cassels | Mark Messier |
| Defenceman |
| Mattias Ohlund |
| Ed Jovanovski |
| Sami Salo |
Goalies |
| Dan Cloutier |
| Garth Snow |
The Current Era – 2008 to Present
Coached by: Alain Vigneault
Uniform:
The current era of Canucks hockey has been the best and most prosperous of the lot. We have seen two future hall of famers blossom in front of our eyes. Speaking of, Henrik and Daniel Sedin in their prime are leading the team through this tournament. Backed by the 2011 versions of Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler, the top 4 forwards will be scoring goals like none other. Not to mention they have two of the best goalies in Canucks history backstopping them, and a defense that will shut you down. This team has to be the favourites.
| Forwards | |
| Henrik Sedin | Daniel Sedin |
| Alex Burrows | Ryan Kesler |
| Jannik Hansen | Bo Horvat |
| Defenceman |
| Dan Hamhuis |
| Alexander Edler |
| Kevin Bieksa |
Goalies |
| Roberto Luongo |
| Cory Schneider |
I would see it going:
Skate in the Rink Era vs. Spaghetti Era: Spaghetti Era wins
West Coast Express Era vs. Current Era: Current Era wins
Spaghetti Era vs. Current Era: Current Era wins
Give me your thoughts on each team in the comments section! Who wins the tournament and how? Your thoughts on the roster construction? Whatever floats your boat!
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