Former Vancouver Canucks forward Russ Courtnall is celebrating his 55th birthday today.

Courtnall was acquired by the Canucks on April 7th, 1995 in a deal that saw the Canucks give up Greg Adams, Dan Kesa and a ’95 5th round pick.

His time in Vancouver, however, only lasted parts of three seasons before he was shipped off to New York Rangers in 1997. He made the most of it, however, as in 141 games Courtnall scored 39 goals and 111 points and five goals and 16 points in 17 playoff games.

His time in Vancouver came to an end when alongside Esa Tikkanen, he was traded to the Rangers for Sergei Menvhinov and Brian Noonan. He retired two years later.

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