2006–07 Vancouver Canucks
Northwest Division champions
Division1st Northwest
Conference3rd Western
2006–07 record49–26–7
Home record26–11–4
Road record23–15–3
Goals for222
Goals against201
Team information
General managerDave Nonis
CoachAlain Vigneault
CaptainMarkus Naslund
Alternate captainsTrevor Linden
Brendan Morrison
ArenaGeneral Motors Place
Average attendance18,630
Team leaders
GoalsDaniel Sedin (36)
AssistsHenrik Sedin (71)
PointsDaniel Sedin (84)
Penalty minutesKevin Bieksa (134)
Plus/minusSami Salo (+21)
WinsRoberto Luongo (47)
Goals against averageRoberto Luongo (2.29)

The 2006–07 Vancouver Canucks season was the Canucks' 37th NHL season.

Season overview

The season began on the heels of a blockbuster trade involving goaltender Roberto Luongo and Lukas Krajicek coming to Vancouver in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. The acquisition of Luongo combined with the salary increases of the Sedin twins meant that the Canucks were too close to salary cap and as a result, saw names such as Ed Jovanovski, Anson Carter, Nolan Baumgartner, Jarkko Ruutu and Wade Brookbank lost to free agency.

In addition to the departures of high-profile players such as Bertuzzi, Jovanovski and Carter, general manager Dave Nonis had fired Marc Crawford as head coach after the 2005–06 season, and replaced him with Alain Vigneault. The team also added players such as Jan Bulis, Taylor Pyatt, Marc Chouinard and Willie Mitchell, players who many thought are not as highly skilled as the ones who had recently departed. Despite the arrival of Luongo, many hockey analysts and fans predicted before the season began that the team would either miss the playoffs, or at best battle for the last playoff spots as 7th or 8th seed in the Western Conference. However, a few did foresee that the addition of a high-calibre goaltender in Luongo would propel the Canucks into the top three of the conference.[1]

Under such skepticism, the team played mediocre hockey from October to the Christmas break, and received criticism due to the team's lack of scoring during this period. However, after the Christmas break, the team had settled down on Vigneault's coaching system, and played stellar hockey from that point on, exceeding the expectations of fans, analysts and critics alike. On April 7, 2007, the Canucks defeated the San Jose Sharks by a score of 4–3 in overtime to clinch the Northwest Division title; their second in the past three seasons. Not only did the team win a division title, this season was known for many milestones, such as Taylor Pyatt setting career high in points, and Alain Vigneault setting a new franchise record for wins as a head coach. Also, second-year player Kevin Bieksa had emerged as a top-four defenceman on the team throughout the season.

On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Roberto Luongo had been voted by the fans to start in goal in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas. Aside from Luongo's selection into the All-Star Game, the first half of the season was also noted for the "Vote for Rory" internet campaign. The campaign was aimed at getting defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick voted into the 2007 All-Star Game, while mocking the NHL system of internet voting which encouraged people to vote as many times as they liked.

For the first time in franchise history, the Canucks ended the regular season with the league's best penalty killing record, with an 86.9% efficiency.

With the division title and third seed in the conference, the Canucks faced off against the Dallas Stars in the Western Quarter-finals. The Canucks first game back in the playoffs was a long one. On April 11, 2007, the Canucks set a franchise record with a quadruple OT win in Game 1. The game was the longest in Canucks history and the sixth longest in league history. Also in this game the Canucks set a record for shots against, allowing 76. The Canucks won this seven-game series despite the fact that every Dallas victory was a shutout for goalie Marty Turco.

The goal scoring woes continued in the second round against Brian Burke's Anaheim Ducks and the Canucks could not score more than two goals in a game. Although Trevor Linden experienced a resurgence and tied for the team lead for scoring in the playoffs, the Sedin twins could not escape the Ducks' tight checking. The third period of Game 4 was a pivotal point as the Canucks could not protect a 2–0 third-period at home and lost in overtime. In the deciding Game 5 in Anaheim, call-up rookie Jannik Hansen attempted to move the puck from the Canucks' zone, but was caught by a thunderous hit by Rob Niedermayer. The puck then went to his brother Scott, right at the blue line, who fired a wrist shot on net. Roberto Luongo, engaged with a referee over whether the puck had cleared the zone, failed to track the puck, which ended up the back of the net and ended the Canucks' season.[2]

Regular season

The Canucks finished the regular season with the League's best penalty-kill percentage, at 86.93%.[3]

Northwest Division
No. CR GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
13Vancouver Canucks8249267222201105
27Minnesota Wild8248268235191104
38Calgary Flames8243291025822696
49Colorado Avalanche824431727225195
512Edmonton Oilers823243719524871

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime/shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Schedule and results

October

Monthly Record: 7–5–1 (Home 2–2–0; Road 5–3–1)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
1October 5Vancouver3 – 1DetroitLuongo20,0661–0–02
2October 6Vancouver3 – 2ColumbusOTLuongo18,1362–0–04
3October 8Vancouver2 – 3ColoradoLuongo18,0072–1–04
4October 10Vancouver1 – 2MinnesotaSOLuongo18,0642–1–15
5October 13San Jose6 – 4VancouverLuongo18,6302–2–15
6October 16Edmonton1 – 2VancouverLuongo18,6303–2–17
7October 17Vancouver1 – 2EdmontonSabourin16,8393–3–17
8October 20Vancouver3 – 2St. LouisOTLuongo9,0494–3–19
9October 21Vancouver4 – 3NashvilleOTLuongo16,0735–3–111
10October 23Vancouver1 – 2DallasLuongo16,6395–4–111
11October 25Vancouver5 – 0ChicagoLuongo11,6416–4–113
12October 27Washington2 – 3VancouverSOLuongo18,6307–4–115
13October 31Nashville3 – 2VancouverLuongo18,6307–5–115

November

Monthly record: 5–8–0 (home 4–4–0; road 1–4–0)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
14November 2Vancouver2 – 5MinnesotaLuongo18,5687–6–115
15November 4Vancouver2 – 3ColoradoLuongo18,0077–7–115
16November 6Dallas1 – 2VancouverLuongo18,6308–7–117
17November 9Anaheim6 – 0VancouverLuongo18,6308–8–117
18November 11Calgary3 – 2VancouverLuongo18,6308–9–117
19November 14Detroit3 – 2VancouverLuongo18,6308–10–117
20November 17St. Louis2 – 4VancouverLuongo18,6309–10–119
21November 19Chicago1 – 2VancouverLuongo18,63010–10–121
22November 22Vancouver4 – 3DetroitOTLuongo20,06611–10–123
23November 23Vancouver0 – 6NashvilleSabourin15,39611–11–123
24November 25Vancouver1 – 4ColoradoLuongo17,82511–12–123
25November 28Columbus0 – 1VancouverLuongo18,63012–12–125
26November 30Anaheim2 – 1VancouverLuongo18,63012–13–125

December

Monthly record: 8–5–0 (home 6–1–0; road 2–4–0)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
27December 2Colorado1 – 2VancouverLuongo18,63013–13–127
28December 4Edmonton4 – 0VancouverLuongo18,63013–14–127
29December 8Carolina3 – 4VancouverOTLuongo18,63014–14–129
30December 9Vancouver3 – 5CalgaryLuongo19,28914–15–129
31December 12Phoenix2 – 5VancouverLuongo18,63015–15–131
32December 14Calgary1 – 3VancouverLuongo18,63016–15–133
33December 16Minnesota1 – 2VancouverLuongo18,63017–15–135
34December 19Vancouver2 – 5MinnesotaLuongo18,56817–16–135
35December 21Vancouver0 – 2BostonSabourin12,34817–17–135
36December 22Vancouver2 – 3ColumbusLuongo15,86117–18–135
37December 26Vancouver3 – 1CalgaryLuongo19,28918–18–137
38December 27Calgary5 – 6VancouverOTLuongo18,63019–18–139
39December 30Vancouver6 – 2EdmontonLuongo16,83920–18–141

January

Monthly record: 8–1–3 (home 4–1–2; road 4–0–1)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
40January 2Vancouver3 – 2CalgaryLuongo19,28921–18–143
41January 3Dallas1 – 2VancouverSOLuongo18,63022–18–145
42January 5Edmonton2 – 3VancouverOTLuongo18,63023–18–147
43January 7Florida3 – 4VancouverSOLuongo18,63024–18–149
44January 11Minnesota5 – 2VancouverLuongo18,63024–19–149
45January 13Vancouver6 – 1TorontoLuongo19,60825–19–151
46January 16Vancouver4 – 0MontrealLuongo21,27326–19–153
47January 18Vancouver2 – 1OttawaLuongo19,16127–19–155
48January 19Vancouver3 – 4BuffaloSOSabourin18,69027–19–256
49January 26Los Angeles3 – 2VancouverOTLuongo18,63027–19–357
50January 28San Jose1 – 3VancouverLuongo18,63028–19–359
51January 30Columbus3 – 2VancouverSOLuongo18,63028–19–460

February

Monthly record: 8–3–1 (home 3–1–0; road 5–2–1)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
52February 1Edmonton3 – 5VancouverLuongo18,63029–19–462
53February 3Vancouver3 – 4CalgaryLuongo19,28929–20–462
54February 6Vancouver5 – 2EdmontonLuongo16,83930–20–464
55February 7Chicago3 – 0VancouverLuongo18,63030–21–464
56February 10Atlanta2 – 3VancouverLuongo18,63031–21–466
57February 14Vancouver3 – 2MinnesotaOTLuongo18,56832–21–468
58February 16Vancouver2 – 1ChicagoSOLuongo14,55233–21–470
59February 18Colorado4 – 5VancouverLuongo18,63034–21–472
60February 20Vancouver3 – 2AnaheimOTSabourin17,46735–21–474
61February 22Vancouver3 – 2Los AngelesLuongo17,73736–21–476
62February 25Vancouver1 – 2DallasOTLuongo17,71236–21–577
63February 27Vancouver1 – 3St. LouisLuongo10,41136–22–577

March

Monthly record: 11–2–2 (home 6–1–2; road 5–1–0)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
64March 1Phoenix3 – 4VancouverLuongo18,63037–22–579
65March 4Minnesota3 – 4VancouverSOLuongo18,63038–22–581
66March 6Tampa Bay1 – 5VancouverLuongo18,63039–22–583
67March 8Vancouver4 – 2PhoenixSabourin13,84140–22–585
68March 9Vancouver2 – 1San JoseOTLuongo17,49641–22–587
69March 11Vancouver2 – 4AnaheimLuongo17,17441–23–587
70March 13Minnesota3 – 2VancouverOTLuongo18,63041–23–688
71March 15St. Louis2 – 3VancouverOTLuongo18,63042–23–690
72March 17Detroit1 – 4VancouverLuongo18,63043–23–692
73March 19Vancouver2 – 1EdmontonLuongo16,83944–23–694
74March 21Nashville0 – 2VancouverLuongo18,63045–23–696
75March 25Colorado5 – 4VancouverSOLuongo18,63045–23–797
76March 27Vancouver3 – 0ColoradoLuongo17,43746–23–799
77March 29Vancouver4 – 2Los AngelesLuongo17,91647–23–7101
78March 31Calgary3 – 2VancouverLuongo18,63047–24–7101

April

Monthly record: 2–2–0 (home 1–1–0; road 1–1–0)

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
79April 3Los Angeles2 – 4VancouverLuongo18,63048–24–7103
80April 5Colorado3 – 1VancouverLuongo18,63048–25–7103
81April 7Vancouver4 – 3San JoseOTLuongo17,49649–25–7105
82April 8Vancouver1 – 3PhoenixSabourin17,40649–26–7105
  • Green background indicates win.
  • Red background indicates regulation loss.
  • White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

The Vancouver Canucks ended the 2006–07 regular season as the Western Conference's third seed.

Western Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (6) Dallas Stars

Vancouver wins series 4–3

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceSeries
1April 11Dallas4 – 5Vancouver4OTLuongo18,6301 – 0
2April 13Dallas2 – 0VancouverLuongo18,6301 – 1
3April 15Vancouver2 – 1Dallas1OTLuongo18,5322 – 1
4April 17Vancouver2 – 1DallasLuongo18,5323 – 1
5April 19Dallas1 – 0Vancouver1OTLuongo18,6303 – 2
6April 21Vancouver0 – 2DallasLuongo18,6003 – 3
7April 23Dallas1 – 4VancouverLuongo18,6304 – 3

Western Conference Semi-finals: vs. (2) Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim win series 4–1

#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceSeries
1April 25Vancouver1 – 5AnaheimLuongo17,2500 – 1
2April 27Vancouver2 – 1Anaheim2OTLuongo17,3921 – 1
3April 29Anaheim3 – 2VancouverLuongo18,6301 – 2
4May 1Anaheim3 – 2Vancouver1OTLuongo18,6301 – 3
5May 3Vancouver1 – 2Anaheim2OTLuongo17,4071 – 4

Note:

  • Green background indicates win
  • Red background indicates loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Daniel Sedin228136488436122354
Henrik Sedin3382107181661222414
Markus Naslund1982243660541241516
Brendan Morrison78220315160121346
Kevin Bieksa381123042134900020
Taylor Pyatt97623143742122466
Sami Salo66714233726100114
Mattias Ohlund277112031801225712
Matt Cooke24811020306410002
Trevor Linden168012132534122576
Jan Bulis387912112370121122
Ryan Kesler1748610164010000
Lukas Krajicek57831316641202212
Willie Mitchell86211011451201112
Jeff Cowan†20427310931020222
Alexandre Burrows1481369931110114
Bryan Smolinski†21204378122248
Josh Green255725725901112
Rory Fitzpatrick18581674630006
Tommi Santala26301562410000
Brent Sopel†42014510110002
Marc Chouinard324222410----------
Yannick Tremblay281212312----------
Alexander Edler2322123630002
Roberto Luongo17602210120000
Brad Moran3930112----------
Patrick Coulombe2970114----------
Jannik Hansen36----------100114
Nathan Smith291000040000
Nathan McIver4510007----------
Lee Goren2720000----------
Jesse Schultz2020000----------
Rick Rypien1520005----------
Brandon Reid373000010110
Tyler Bouck21600016----------
Dany Sabourin359000020000
Luc Bourdon490004----------

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Vancouver. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

*Denotes player traded by Vancouver midway through the season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP Min W L OT GA SO Sv% GAA GP Min W L GA SO Sv% GAA
Roberto Luongo1764490472261715.9212.281284757250.9411.77
Dany Sabourin309480241210.9062.632140010.9094.29

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Vancouver. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

Awards and records

2007 Canuck Awards winners

Roberto Luongo

Daniel Sedin

  • Played in his 400th career NHL and Canuck game on October 8, 2006, at Colorado.
  • Registered his 100th career NHL and Canuck goal on January 13, 2007, at Toronto. With the goal, Sedin became the sixth most prolific scoring left winger in Canucks history with 237 points.
  • Scored the OT game-winner on March 15, 2007, vs. St. Louis, tying an NHL record with his fourth this season.
  • Got a goal and an assist on March 27, 2007, at Colorado, to register his 300th career NHL and Canuck point.

Henrik Sedin

  • Recorded one assist on February 1, 2007, vs. Edmonton. With the assist, Sedin recorded his 200th career NHL and Canuck assist.
  • Recorded three assists on March 25, 2007, vs. Colorado, to break the franchise single-season assists record with 63. The previous record was 62, set by Andre Boudrias in the 1974–75 NHL season.
  • Recorded two assists on April 3, 2007, vs. Los Angeles, to earn his 300th and 301st career NHL and Canuck points.
  • Scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 vs. Dallas ending the longest overtime game in team history and the 6th longest in NHL history on April 11, 2007. He was set up by his brother Daniel and Mattias Ohlund.

Trevor Linden

  • Scored his 300th career goal as a Canuck on October 6, 2006, at Detroit.
  • Got an assist, to earn his 400th career assist and his 700th career point as a Canuck on November 14, 2006, vs. Detroit.
  • Played his 1,300th career NHL game on February 18, 2007, at Colorado.
  • Scored his 12th goal on March 19, 2007, at Edmonton to record his 367th career NHL goal to surpass Jacques Lemaire (366) as the 97th all-time goal scorer in league history.

Markus Naslund

  • Became the all-time franchise goal scoring leader with 301 goals on October 17, 2006, at Edmonton.
  • Played his 900th career NHL game on December 8, 2006, vs. Carolina.
  • Registered his 103rd power play goal as a Canuck to become the all-time franchise leader in power play goals on February 14, 2007, at Minnesota.

Brendan Morrison

  • Earned his 400th career NHL point with an assist on October 13, 2006, vs. San Jose.
  • On November 22, 2006, at Detroit, Morrison scored the overtime winner to become the franchise leader in overtime goals.
  • Played his 600th career NHL game on January 18, 2007, at Ottawa.
  • Sets a new franchise "Ironman" record playing his 483rd consecutive game on February 22, 2007, at Los Angeles, breaking the record that was previously held by Trevor Linden. On February 25, he became the NHL's active leader with 492 games. Finished the season with 512 consecutive games.

Alain Vigneault

  • Recorded 36 wins as head coach of the Canucks on February 22, 2007, at Los Angeles. With the win, Vigneault recorded the most wins by a Vancouver Canucks head coach during his first year behind the bench.
  • On March 29, 2007, set a new franchise record for wins in a season with his 47th victory at Los Angeles. The record was previously held by coach Pat Quinn and was set in the 1992–93 NHL season.
  • Won the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year on June 14, 2007.

Others

Transactions

Trades

June 24, 2006 To Vancouver Canucks
Roberto Luongo
Lukas Krajicek
6th round pick in 2006 (Sergei Shirokov)		 To Florida Panthers
Todd Bertuzzi
Alex Auld
Bryan Allen
July 5, 2006 To Vancouver Canucks
2nd round pick in 2007
Conditional pick in 2009		 To Los Angeles Kings
Dan Cloutier
July 14, 2006 To Vancouver Canucks
Taylor Pyatt		 To Buffalo Sabres
4th round pick in 2007
February 26, 2007 To Vancouver Canucks
Bryan Smolinski		 To Chicago Blackhawks
Conditional 2nd round pick in 2007
February 26, 2007 To Vancouver Canucks
Brent Sopel		 To Los Angeles Kings
2nd round pick in 2007
4th round pick in 2008

Received from waivers

PlayerFrom
G Dany SabourinPittsburgh Penguins
F Jeff CowanLos Angeles Kings

Placed on waivers

PlayerPicked up/Cleared waivers
F Marc ChouinardCleared waivers and was sent down to the Manitoba Moose

Draft picks

Vancouver's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.[4]

Round # Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team (league)
1 14 Michael Grabner (RW)  Austria Vancouver Canucks Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
3 82 Daniel Rahimi (D)  Sweden Vancouver Canucks (from Anaheim) Björklöven (Swe Jr.)
6 163 Sergei Shirokov (W)  Russia Vancouver Canucks (from Florida) HC CSKA Moscow (Russian Superleague)
6 167 Juraj Simek (LW)  Slovakia Vancouver Canucks Kloten Flyers (Nationalliga A)
7 197 Evan Fuller (RW)  Canada Vancouver Canucks Prince George Cougars (WHL)

Farm teams

Manitoba Moose

AHL affiliate that is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and their home arena is the MTS Centre. The team has been affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks since the 2000–01 AHL season. In the 2006–07 AHL season, Manitoba finished in 1st place in the North Division, it was the franchises first regular season divisional championship in history. In addition, Mike Keane won the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for Sportsmanship, Perseverance and overall dedication to hockey. In the playoffs, the Manitoba Moose defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins, 4 games to 3, in the first round. However, Manitoba would eventually be eliminated by the Hamilton Bulldogs, 4 games to 2, in the second round of the playoffs.

Victoria Salmon Kings

ECHL affiliate that is based in Victoria, British Columbia and their home arena is the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. This is the first year that the franchise has been affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks in its three-year existence. In the 2006–07 ECHL season, the Salmon Kings established their first winning record by going on a nine-game winning streak to end the regular season. The Salmon Kings finished 7th overall in the National Conference and made their first playoff appearance against the Alaska Aces in the National Quarter-final. The Salmon Kings would win Game 1 by a score of 3–2, however, the Aces would win 4 of the next 5 games to win the series 4–2, eliminating Salmon Kings from the playoffs.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sportsnet 2006–07 Expert NHL Predictions Archived 2007-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ David Leon Moore (May 4, 2007). "Ducks' overtime win sends Canucks, Luongo home". USA Today. Retrieved March 3, 2012. Luongo returned and continued to stop everything until Niedermayer blasted one in from the left point 4:30 into the second overtime after his brother, Rob Niedermayer, leveled Canucks wing Jannik Hansen with a thunderous check.
  3. ↑ "2006-07 NHL Summary".
  4. ↑ 2006 NHL Entry Draft Results
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.