2006–07 Vancouver Canucks season

2006–07 Vancouver Canucks
Northwest Division champions
Division 1st Northwest
Conference 3rd Western
2006–07 record 49–26–7
Home record 26–11–4
Road record 23–15–3
Goals for 222
Goals against 201
Team information
General Manager Dave Nonis
Coach Alain Vigneault
Captain Markus Naslund
Alternate captains Trevor Linden
Brendan Morrison
Arena General Motors Place
Average attendance 18,630
Team leaders
Goals Daniel Sedin (36)
Assists Henrik Sedin (71)
Points Daniel Sedin (84)
Penalties in minutes Kevin Bieksa (134)
Plus/minus Sami Salo (+21)
Wins Roberto Luongo (47)
Goals against average Roberto Luongo (2.29)

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

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
13 Vancouver Canucks 82 49 26 7 222 201 105
27 Minnesota Wild 82 48 26 8 235 191 104
38 Calgary Flames 82 43 29 10 258 226 96
49 Colorado Avalanche 82 44 31 7 272 251 95
512 Edmonton Oilers 82 32 43 7 195 248 71

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)

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
1 October 5 Vancouver 3 – 1 Detroit Luongo 20,066 1–0–0 2
2 October 6 Vancouver 3 – 2 Columbus OT Luongo 18,136 2–0–0 4
3 October 8 Vancouver 2 – 3 Colorado Luongo 18,007 2–1–0 4
4 October 10 Vancouver 1 – 2 Minnesota SO Luongo 18,064 2–1–1 5
5 October 13 San Jose 6 – 4 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 2–2–1 5
6 October 16 Edmonton 1 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 3–2–1 7
7 October 17 Vancouver 1 – 2 Edmonton Sabourin 16,839 3–3–1 7
8 October 20 Vancouver 3 – 2 St. Louis OT Luongo 9,049 4–3–1 9
9 October 21 Vancouver 4 – 3 Nashville OT Luongo 16,073 5–3–1 11
10 October 23 Vancouver 1 – 2 Dallas Luongo 16,639 5–4–1 11
11 October 25 Vancouver 5 – 0 Chicago Luongo 11,641 6–4–1 13
12 October 27 Washington 2 – 3 Vancouver SO Luongo 18,630 7–4–1 15
13 October 31 Nashville 3 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 7–5–1 15

November

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
14 November 2 Vancouver 2 – 5 Minnesota Luongo 18,568 7–6–1 15
15 November 4 Vancouver 2 – 3 Colorado Luongo 18,007 7–7–1 15
16 November 6 Dallas 1 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 8–7–1 17
17 November 9 Anaheim 6 – 0 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 8–8–1 17
18 November 11 Calgary 3 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 8–9–1 17
19 November 14 Detroit 3 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 8–10–1 17
20 November 17 St. Louis 2 – 4 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 9–10–1 19
21 November 19 Chicago 1 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 10–10–1 21
22 November 22 Vancouver 4 – 3 Detroit OT Luongo 20,066 11–10–1 23
23 November 23 Vancouver 0 – 6 Nashville Sabourin 15,396 11–11–1 23
24 November 25 Vancouver 1 – 4 Colorado Luongo 17,825 11–12–1 23
25 November 28 Columbus 0 – 1 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 12–12–1 25
26 November 30 Anaheim 2 – 1 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 12–13–1 25

December

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
27 December 2 Colorado 1 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 13–13–1 27
28 December 4 Edmonton 4 – 0 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 13–14–1 27
29 December 8 Carolina 3 – 4 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,630 14–14–1 29
30 December 9 Vancouver 3 – 5 Calgary Luongo 19,289 14–15–1 29
31 December 12 Phoenix 2 – 5 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 15–15–1 31
32 December 14 Calgary 1 – 3 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 16–15–1 33
33 December 16 Minnesota 1 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 17–15–1 35
34 December 19 Vancouver 2 – 5 Minnesota Luongo 18,568 17–16–1 35
35 December 21 Vancouver 0 – 2 Boston Sabourin 12,348 17–17–1 35
36 December 22 Vancouver 2 – 3 Columbus Luongo 15,861 17–18–1 35
37 December 26 Vancouver 3 – 1 Calgary Luongo 19,289 18–18–1 37
38 December 27 Calgary 5 – 6 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,630 19–18–1 39
39 December 30 Vancouver 6 – 2 Edmonton Luongo 16,839 20–18–1 41

January

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
40 January 2 Vancouver 3 – 2 Calgary Luongo 19,289 21–18–1 43
41 January 3 Dallas 1 – 2 Vancouver SO Luongo 18,630 22–18–1 45
42 January 5 Edmonton 2 – 3 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,630 23–18–1 47
43 January 7 Florida 3 – 4 Vancouver SO Luongo 18,630 24–18–1 49
44 January 11 Minnesota 5 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 24–19–1 49
45 January 13 Vancouver 6 – 1 Toronto Luongo 19,608 25–19–1 51
46 January 16 Vancouver 4 – 0 Montreal Luongo 21,273 26–19–1 53
47 January 18 Vancouver 2 – 1 Ottawa Luongo 19,161 27–19–1 55
48 January 19 Vancouver 3 – 4 Buffalo SO Sabourin 18,690 27–19–2 56
49 January 26 Los Angeles 3 – 2 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,630 27–19–3 57
50 January 28 San Jose 1 – 3 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 28–19–3 59
51 January 30 Columbus 3 – 2 Vancouver SO Luongo 18,630 28–19–4 60

February

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
52 February 1 Edmonton 3 – 5 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 29–19–4 62
53 February 3 Vancouver 3 – 4 Calgary Luongo 19,289 29–20–4 62
54 February 6 Vancouver 5 – 2 Edmonton Luongo 16,839 30–20–4 64
55 February 7 Chicago 3 – 0 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 30–21–4 64
56 February 10 Atlanta 2 – 3 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 31–21–4 66
57 February 14 Vancouver 3 – 2 Minnesota OT Luongo 18,568 32–21–4 68
58 February 16 Vancouver 2 – 1 Chicago SO Luongo 14,552 33–21–4 70
59 February 18 Colorado 4 – 5 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 34–21–4 72
60 February 20 Vancouver 3 – 2 Anaheim OT Sabourin 17,467 35–21–4 74
61 February 22 Vancouver 3 – 2 Los Angeles Luongo 17,737 36–21–4 76
62 February 25 Vancouver 1 – 2 Dallas OT Luongo 17,712 36–21–5 77
63 February 27 Vancouver 1 – 3 St. Louis Luongo 10,411 36–22–5 77

March

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
64 March 1 Phoenix 3 – 4 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 37–22–5 79
65 March 4 Minnesota 3 – 4 Vancouver SO Luongo 18,630 38–22–5 81
66 March 6 Tampa Bay 1 – 5 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 39–22–5 83
67 March 8 Vancouver 4 – 2 Phoenix Sabourin 13,841 40–22–5 85
68 March 9 Vancouver 2 – 1 San Jose OT Luongo 17,496 41–22–5 87
69 March 11 Vancouver 2 – 4 Anaheim Luongo 17,174 41–23–5 87
70 March 13 Minnesota 3 – 2 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,630 41–23–6 88
71 March 15 St. Louis 2 – 3 Vancouver OT Luongo 18,630 42–23–6 90
72 March 17 Detroit 1 – 4 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 43–23–6 92
73 March 19 Vancouver 2 – 1 Edmonton Luongo 16,839 44–23–6 94
74 March 21 Nashville 0 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 45–23–6 96
75 March 25 Colorado 5 – 4 Vancouver SO Luongo 18,630 45–23–7 97
76 March 27 Vancouver 3 – 0 Colorado Luongo 17,437 46–23–7 99
77 March 29 Vancouver 4 – 2 Los Angeles Luongo 17,916 47–23–7 101
78 March 31 Calgary 3 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 47–24–7 101

April

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
79 April 3 Los Angeles 2 – 4 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 48–24–7 103
80 April 5 Colorado 3 – 1 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 48–25–7 103
81 April 7 Vancouver 4 – 3 San Jose OT Luongo 17,496 49–25–7 105
82 April 8 Vancouver 1 – 3 Phoenix Sabourin 17,406 49–26–7 105

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 April 11 Dallas 4 – 5 Vancouver 4OT Luongo 18,630 1 – 0
2 April 13 Dallas 2 – 0 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 1 – 1
3 April 15 Vancouver 2 – 1 Dallas 1OT Luongo 18,532 2 – 1
4 April 17 Vancouver 2 – 1 Dallas Luongo 18,532 3 – 1
5 April 19 Dallas 1 – 0 Vancouver 1OT Luongo 18,630 3 – 2
6 April 21 Vancouver 0 – 2 Dallas Luongo 18,600 3 – 3
7 April 23 Dallas 1 – 4 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 4 – 3

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

Anaheim win series 4–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 April 25 Vancouver 1 – 5 Anaheim Luongo 17,250 0 – 1
2 April 27 Vancouver 2 – 1 Anaheim 2OT Luongo 17,392 1 – 1
3 April 29 Anaheim 3 – 2 Vancouver Luongo 18,630 1 – 2
4 May 1 Anaheim 3 – 2 Vancouver 1OT Luongo 18,630 1 – 3
5 May 3 Vancouver 1 – 2 Anaheim 2OT Luongo 17,407 1 – 4

Note:

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 Sedin 22 81 36 48 84 36 12 2 3 5 4
Henrik Sedin 33 82 10 71 81 66 12 2 2 4 14
Markus Naslund 19 82 24 36 60 54 12 4 1 5 16
Brendan Morrison 7 82 20 31 51 60 12 1 3 4 6
Kevin Bieksa 3 81 12 30 42 134 9 0 0 0 20
Taylor Pyatt 9 76 23 14 37 42 12 2 4 6 6
Sami Salo 6 67 14 23 37 26 10 0 1 1 4
Mattias Ohlund 2 77 11 20 31 80 12 2 5 7 12
Matt Cooke 24 81 10 20 30 64 1 0 0 0 2
Trevor Linden 16 80 12 13 25 34 12 2 5 7 6
Jan Bulis 38 79 12 11 23 70 12 1 1 2 2
Ryan Kesler 17 48 6 10 16 40 1 0 0 0 0
Lukas Krajicek 5 78 3 13 16 64 12 0 2 2 12
Willie Mitchell 8 62 1 10 11 45 12 0 1 1 12
Jeff Cowan 20 42 7 3 10 93 10 2 0 2 22
Alexandre Burrows 14 81 3 6 9 93 11 1 0 1 14
Bryan Smolinski 21 20 4 3 7 8 12 2 2 4 8
Josh Green 25 57 2 5 7 25 9 0 1 1 12
Rory Fitzpatrick 18 58 1 6 7 46 3 0 0 0 6
Tommi Santala 26 30 1 5 6 24 1 0 0 0 0
Brent Sopel 4 20 1 4 5 10 11 0 0 0 2
Marc Chouinard 32 42 2 2 4 10 -- -- -- -- --
Yannick Tremblay 28 12 1 2 3 12 -- -- -- -- --
Alexander Edler 23 22 1 2 3 6 3 0 0 0 2
Roberto Luongo 1 76 0 2 2 10 12 0 0 0 0
Brad Moran 39 3 0 1 1 2 -- -- -- -- --
Patrick Coulombe 29 7 0 1 1 4 -- -- -- -- --
Jannik Hansen 36 -- -- -- -- -- 10 0 1 1 4
Nathan Smith 29 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Nathan McIver 45 1 0 0 0 7 -- -- -- -- --
Lee Goren 27 2 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
Jesse Schultz 20 2 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
Rick Rypien 15 2 0 0 0 5 -- -- -- -- --
Brandon Reid 37 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
Tyler Bouck 21 6 0 0 0 16 -- -- -- -- --
Dany Sabourin 35 9 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Luc Bourdon 4 9 0 0 0 4 -- -- -- -- --

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 Luongo 1 76 4490 47 22 6 171 5 .921 2.28 12 847 5 7 25 0 .941 1.77
Dany Sabourin 30 9 480 2 4 1 21 0 .906 2.63 2 14 0 0 1 0 .909 4.29

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

Henrik Sedin

Trevor Linden

Markus Naslund

Brendan Morrison

Alain Vigneault

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

Player From
G Dany Sabourin Pittsburgh Penguins
F Jeff Cowan Los Angeles Kings

Placed on waivers

Player Picked up/Cleared waivers
F Marc Chouinard Cleared 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
  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. http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2007.html
  4. 2006 NHL Entry Draft Results
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