1973–74 Vancouver Canucks season

The 1973–74 Vancouver Canucks season was the team's 4th in the NHL. Vancouver finished 7th in the East Division for the third consecutive season, failing to reach the playoffs. Before the season started Bud Poile, the Canucks first general manager, left the team to become an executive with the World Hockey Association. Hal Laycoe, the first coach of the Canucks, was named Poile's replacement.

1973–74 Vancouver Canucks
Division	7th East
1973–74 record	24–43–11
Home record	14–18–7
Road record	10–25–4
Goals for	224
Goals against	296
Team information
General manager	Hal Laycoe
Coach	Bill McCreary, Sr. (41 games) Phil Maloney (37 games)
Captain	Orland Kurtenbach
Alternate captains	Andre Boudrias Barry Wilkins Bobby Schmautz Jocelyn Guevremont
Arena	Pacific Coliseum
Average attendance	15,729
Team leaders
Goals	Bobby Schmautz Dennis Ververgaert (26)
Assists	Andre Boudrias (59)
Points	Andre Boudrias (75)
Penalty minutes	Bob Dailey (137)
Wins	Gary Smith (20)
Goals against average	Gary Smith (3.44)
← 1972–73 1974–75 →

Regular season

Final standings

East Division^[1]

• v
• t
• e

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Boston Bruins	78	52	17	9	349	221	+128	113
2	Montreal Canadiens	78	45	24	9	293	240	+53	99
3	New York Rangers	78	40	24	14	300	251	+49	94
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	78	35	27	16	274	230	+44	86
5	Buffalo Sabres	78	32	34	12	242	250	−8	76
6	Detroit Red Wings	78	29	39	10	255	319	−64	68
7	Vancouver Canucks	78	24	43	11	224	296	−72	59
8	New York Islanders	78	19	41	18	182	247	−65	56

Record vs. opponents

Vs. East Division 1973–74 NHL records[2] Team BOS BUF DET MTL NYI NYR TOR VAN Total Boston — 4–1 4–1–1 4–2 4–1 4–1 4–2 4–0–1 28–8–2 Buffalo 1–4 — 5–1 0–3–2 3–0–2 2–2–1 2–3–1 2–4 15–17–6 Detroit 1–4–1 1–5 — 2–3 4–1 2–3–1 2–2–1 2–3 14–21–3 Montreal 2–4 3–0–2 3–2 — 4–1–1 4–2 2–3 4–0–1 22–12–4 N.Y. Islanders 1–4 0–3–2 1–4 1–4–1 — 1–4 0–4–2 2–1–3 6–24–8 N.Y. Rangers 1–4 2–2–1 3–2–1 2–4 4–1 — 1–2–2 4–1–1 17–16–5 Toronto 2–4 3–2–1 2–2–1 3–2 4–0–2 2–1–2 — 0–4–1 16–15–7 Vancouver 0–4–1 4–2 3–2 0–4–1 1–2–3 1–4–1 4–0–1 — 13–18–7

Vs. West Division 1973–74 NHL records Team ATL CAL CHI LAK MIN PHI PIT STL Total Boston 2–3 4–1 0–2–3 3–1–1 3–0–2 3–1–1 5–0 4–1 24–9–7 Buffalo 1–3–1 3–2 2–0–3 4–1 3–1–1 0–5 2–3 2–2–1 17–17–6 Detroit 1–3–1 4–1 0–4–1 3–1–1 2–1–2 0–5 2–2–1 3–1–1 15–18–7 Montreal 2–3 3–1–1 2–2–1 3–1–1 4–1 2–2–1 4–0–1 3–2 23–12–5 N.Y. Islanders 3–1–1 2–1–2 1–2–2 1–3–1 3–1–1 0–5 1–2–2 2–2–1 13–17–10 N.Y. Rangers 2–1–2 5–0 1–3–1 2–1–2 4–0–1 2–1–2 4–1 3–1–1 23–8–9 Toronto 4–0–1 4–0–1 1–3–1 2–1–2 3–1–1 0–4–1 3–1–1 2–2–1 19–12–9 Vancouver 2–3 4–1 0–4–1 2–3 0–4–1 1–3–1 1–4 1–3–1 11–25–4

Schedule and results

1973–74 regular season[3]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 L October 10, 1973 4–6 @ Boston Bruins (1973–74) 0–1–0 2 L October 13, 1973 3–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74) 0–2–0 3 W October 14, 1973 3–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) 1–2–0 4 L October 17, 1973 0–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) 1–3–0 5 W October 19, 1973 2–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) 2–3–0 6 W October 23, 1973 3–0 Atlanta Flames (1973–74) 3–3–0 7 W October 26, 1973 8–3 Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) 4–3–0 8 T October 30, 1973 3–3 New York Rangers (1973–74) 4–3–1
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 9 L November 2, 1973 1–3 St. Louis Blues (1973–74) 4–4–1 10 W November 6, 1973 3–2 Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) 5–4–1 11 L November 9, 1973 0–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) 5–5–1 12 L November 11, 1973 2–4 @ Boston Bruins (1973–74) 5–6–1 13 L November 13, 1973 1–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1973–74) 5–7–1 14 L November 14, 1973 3–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) 5–8–1 15 T November 16, 1973 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) 5–8–2 16 T November 17, 1973 2–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) 5–8–3 17 L November 21, 1973 4–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) 5–9–3 18 L November 23, 1973 1–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1973–74) 5–10–3 19 L November 25, 1973 0–5 @ New York Rangers (1973–74) 5–11–3 20 T November 27, 1973 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1973–74) 5–11–4 21 L November 30, 1973 4–5 Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) 5–12–4
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 22 L December 4, 1973 2–3 Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) 5–13–4 23 L December 7, 1973 0–2 Atlanta Flames (1973–74) 5–14–4 24 W December 8, 1973 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) 6–14–4 25 T December 11, 1973 2–2 Montreal Canadiens (1973–74) 6–14–5 26 L December 15, 1973 2–7 @ Boston Bruins (1973–74) 6–15–5 27 L December 16, 1973 5–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) 6–16–5 28 T December 18, 1973 2–2 @ New York Islanders (1973–74) 6–16–6 29 L December 20, 1973 3–9 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) 6–17–6 30 W December 22, 1973 6–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) 7–17–6 31 L December 23, 1973 2–6 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) 7–18–6 32 W December 26, 1973 6–4 California Golden Seals (1973–74) 8–18–6 33 L December 28, 1973 3–5 Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) 8–19–6 34 L December 29, 1973 3–4 New York Islanders (1973–74) 8–20–6
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 35 T January 1, 1974 2–2 Boston Bruins (1973–74) 8–20–7 36 L January 3, 1974 2–3 @ New York Islanders (1973–74) 8–21–7 37 L January 5, 1974 3–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74) 8–22–7 38 L January 6, 1974 3–6 @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) 8–23–7 39 L January 8, 1974 1–3 St. Louis Blues (1973–74) 8–24–7 40 W January 11, 1974 3–2 @ California Golden Seals (1973–74) 9–24–7 41 L January 12, 1974 1–6 New York Rangers (1973–74) 9–25–7 42 W January 15, 1974 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) 10–25–7 43 L January 18, 1974 2–6 Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) 10–26–7 44 L January 20, 1974 2–7 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) 10–27–7 45 L January 22, 1974 2–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) 10–28–7 46 L January 25, 1974 4–5 Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) 10–29–7 47 W January 27, 1974 3–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) 11–29–7 48 W January 30, 1974 7–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) 12–29–7
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 49 T February 2, 1974 2–2 New York Islanders (1973–74) 12–29–8 50 L February 6, 1974 2–4 @ California Golden Seals (1973–74) 12–30–8 51 W February 9, 1974 5–4 Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) 13–30–8 52 W February 10, 1974 5–2 Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) 14–30–8 53 W February 12, 1974 3–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1973–74) 15–30–8 54 T February 13, 1974 3–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) 15–30–9 55 L February 15, 1974 2–4 Boston Bruins (1973–74) 15–31–9 56 L February 16, 1974 4–9 New York Rangers (1973–74) 15–32–9 57 W February 19, 1974 4–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) 16–32–9 58 L February 21, 1974 2–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74) 16–33–9 59 W February 23, 1974 4–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) 17–33–9 60 T February 26, 1974 1–1 @ New York Islanders (1973–74) 17–33–10 61 L February 27, 1974 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1973–74) 17–34–10
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 62 L March 2, 1974 1–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) 17–35–10 63 L March 3, 1974 3–5 @ Atlanta Flames (1973–74) 17–36–10 64 L March 8, 1974 2–4 Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) 17–37–10 65 T March 9, 1974 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) 17–37–11 66 L March 12, 1974 1–2 Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) 17–38–11 67 W March 15, 1974 3–0 Atlanta Flames (1973–74) 18–38–11 68 L March 16, 1974 6–8 Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) 18–39–11 69 W March 20, 1974 7–5 @ New York Rangers (1973–74) 19–39–11 70 L March 21, 1974 1–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) 19–40–11 71 L March 23, 1974 0–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) 19–41–11 72 W March 24, 1974 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) 20–41–11 73 L March 26, 1974 3–4 Montreal Canadiens (1973–74) 20–42–11 74 W March 30, 1974 4–2 New York Islanders (1973–74) 21–42–11 75 W March 31, 1974 7–0 California Golden Seals (1973–74) 22–42–11
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 76 W April 3, 1974 4–1 @ California Golden Seals (1973–74) 23–42–11 77 W April 5, 1974 5–2 Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) 24–42–11 78 L April 6, 1974 1–11 @ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) 24–43–11
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Awards and records

Trophies and awards

• Cyclone Taylor Award (Canucks MVP): Gary Smith
• Cyrus H. McLean Trophy (Canucks Leading Scorer): Andre Boudrias
• Babe Pratt Trophy (Canucks Outstanding Defenceman): Jocelyn Guevremont
• Fred J. Hume Award (Canucks Unsung Hero): Don Lever
• Most Exciting Player Award: Don Lever

Draft picks

Vancouver's picks at the 1973 NHL amateur draft. The draft was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	3	Dennis Ververgaert (RW)	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
1	9	Bob Dailey (D)	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2	19	Paulin Bordeleau (C)	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
3	35	Paul Sheard (LW)	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
4	51	Keith Mackie	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
5	67	Paul O'Neil (C)	United States	Boston University (NCAA)
6	83	Jim Cowell (F)	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
7	99	Clay Hebenton (G)	Canada	Portland (WCHL)
8	115	John Senkpiel	Canada	Vancouver Nats (WCHL)
9	131	Peter Folco (D)	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
10	146	Terry McDougall	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)

See also

• 1973–74 NHL season