With lots of players to choose from, the Vancouver Canucks best players at each number is going five at a time now. Some of the numbers coming up are shoo-ins, and you can guess who they are already. But other numbers have serious competition for title of “The Best”. A couple sentences just isn’t enough for most of these decisions!
(Here’s our list of the previous six numbers.)
Vancouver Canucks Best by Number: 25-29
The challengers start right away with two players who have wildly different stories. Neither goes down without a fight – but if it came to an actual fight, well.
29 – Gino Odjick
Jiri Bubla wasn’t the Canucks first player from the Czech Republic, but he was one of the first in the NHL. Bubla and Ivan Hlinka joined Czech defector Rick Lanz in Vancouver in 1981-82. Lanz and his family defected the previous year, and his presence likely helped Bubla and Hlinka decide to sign on.
While Hlinka only played two seasons in North America, he was still an important international figure in hockey. Bubla stayed with Vancouver for five seasons, battling injuries the entire way. He brought skill to the Canucks right defence, scoring 17 goals and 118 total points. Unfortunately, he may be more famous for his post-NHL career.
Enforcers always have an advantage when it comes to fan favourites. Fighting is a tough way to make a living in hockey – if you can’t keep up with the game, you’re out. Gino Odjick played over 600 games in the league, 444 with the Canucks. In his best year, he gave superstar Pavel Bure room to collect 60 goals and potted 16 goals himself.
His eight seasons in Vancouver included 46 goals, 98 points, 2127 penalty minutes, and countless memories for his fans. How many other former NHL players get called in to forearm a zombie?
28 – Marc Crawford
Stopping to note that no player has touched 28 since Luc Bourdon‘s tragic accident in 2008, first off. We refuse to say how good he could have been because that part of his life never had the chance to happen.
Twenty-five players have worn it at one time or another, so you would think that the Canucks best in number 28 would be more memorable. However, no. When Marc Crawford was announced as the new head coach in 1998-99, it was because he was a Stanley Cup winner. Few remembered he had played for the team twenty years earlier.
For good reason, really. He was a fourth-line guy who never quite got a full season in. He did stick well enough to get 176 games in over six seasons, though, which is more than you or I. Crawford scored 19 goals and 50 points while patrolling the wing, which is good enough to get him here.
27 – Harold Snepsts
Or, more accurately, “HAAARRROOOOLLD… SNEPSTS!” Yeah, somehow fans made the name “Harold Snepsts” an effective chant. That in itself should put him in the Ring of Honour. However, he also earned his position as the Canucks best number 27 to ever play.
Vancouver isn’t awash in skilled defencemen – though a few are coming up – but they have plenty of Do Anything guys. Snepsts is an excellent example of that guy. Drafted by the team in 1974, he played for a decade before getting traded away to the North Stars.
He came back later as a free agent, before agreeing to a trade to St. Louis. It’s a city he shares history with the other 27 in consideration. All told, Snepts played 781 games with Vancouver, scoring 35 goals, 125 points, and 1446 penalty minutes. Like the other fan favourite, Gino Odjick, he also scored in the only penalty shot of his career.
The Man with the Fu Manchu moustache isn’t alone here, though. Another big man, Sergio Momesso, came to Vancouver in a huge deal reshaping both teams. Momesso was a power-forward by the 1990s definition, racking up far more penalty minutes than points.
Still, his 68 goals in 141 points in 269 games with Vancouver is none too bad. Add his 22 points in 66 playoff games – including the 1994 run – and he’s a worthy competitor to Snepsts.
26 – Petri Skriko
Right, back to the easy picks! Petri Skriko was a four-time 30-goal scorer in his six full seasons in Vancouver. He led the team in scoring twice through some cold, dark seasons. He wasn’t just the Canucks best player in number 26 – he was also a reason to buy tickets.
Maybe next Summer we’ll go through the team’s best and worst draft picks by round. Skriko is certainly getting mentioned, as it’s tough to find an eighth-round pick who played 30 games, never mind one who repeatedly scored 30 goals.
It’s worth noting his 44 penalty minutes in 1986-87 earned him a couple Lady Byng Award votes. Different times!
25 – Jacob Markström
Since apparently we’re alternating here, two choices stand out for the Canucks best to wear 25. It’s a bit tricky because one of these players is the first inductee to the Ring of Honour. The team’s first-ever captain was claimed off the New York Rangers in the 1970 expansion draft.
It worked out pretty well for Orland Kurtenbach. He was a decent enough bottom-six centre for New York, but he was also exposed for a reason. In 1969-70 he played in 53 games, scoring four goals and 14 points. At 33 years old, there wasn’t much more the Rangers wanted.
Coming to Vancouver, Kurtenbach was not only named captain, he obliterated his personal highs by scoring 21 goals and 53 points in 52 games. His only career hat trick was the first in Canucks history, scored on December 12* against the California Golden Seals.
He was a solid centre on the ice, too, finishing his Canucks career with 229 games played, 62 goals, and 163 points.
Oh, Stop It!
Jacob Markström also played 229 games for the Canucks, weirdly enough. Only managed nine points, though, and all of them were assists. He still managed to play an awfully important role with the team for five years.
Markström was a bit behind the eight ball when he came to Vancouver. He was, after all, the goaltender who came back in the Roberto Luongo trade. So you know, no pressure. The 24-year-old played in four games post-trade, then three more in all of the next season.
The guy you trust to replace the Hall of Famer you moved out isn’t supposed to spend the year in the AHL. But his NHL numbers weren’t great, and this was when their minor team was in Utica. Being across the continent from plenty of anxious fans isn’t the worst move.
The Canucks brought in Ryan Miller for three seasons while Markström found his bearings. The good news is that after the shaky start, Markström showed all his potential in the AHL. His brilliance there translated to five excellent seasons in Vancouver, first as Miller’s backup, then as the starter.
His final season with the Canucks was his best, averaging a .918 during the season in 43 games of that truncated season. He followed that up with his first playoff appearance, starting 14 games and finishing with a .919 save percentage.
Canucks Best by Number Coming Up!
Next time, we have defenders on Opposite Day and a whole lot of family relations. It’s not as weird as that sounds, we promise!
*Weird moment: that’s also the birthday of Jim Sandlak, the Canucks’ fourth overall pick in 1985. He played over 500 games with the team and wore – wait for it – number 25.
Main photo by: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
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