25 days of Canuckmas

[Coconuts]

I was bored and wondering how I could muck about in Canucks talk so I came up with this, the 25 days of Canuckmas. 

 

Each day, ideally, assuming we don't all forget, we'll post about the Canucks who wore x number relating to x day. Look at it as a bit of a trip down memory lane, but Christmas and Canucks style. 

 

Fortunately numbers 1 through 25 have been worn by several players over the years, with a few exceptions. 6, 11, 12, 13, and 16 haven't been worn by as many Canucks but I'm sure we'll make it work. 

 

If I don't get to it, someone please post the list of players who played on whatever day, you can find that information here.  https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/VAN/numbers.html

 

For example, today is December 1st so we'll begin with those who wore #1.

 

On the first day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me.. 

 

Charlie Hodge 1971
George Gardner 1972
Dunc Wilson 1972-1973
Ed Dyck 1973
Gary Smith 1974-1976
Bruce Bullock 1977
Murray Bannerman 1978
Glen Hanlon 1978-1982
Ken Ellacott 1983
Wendell Young 1986-1987
Kirk McLean 1988-1998
Sean Burke 1998
Pēteris Skudra 2002-2003
Johan Hedberg 2004
Maxime Ouellet 2006
Roberto Luongo 2007-2014

[Coconuts]

When Bobby Lou's in the net ma, stopping all the shots, stopping all the shots, stopping all the shots.. 

 

 

[Coconuts]

I remember names like Skudra, Hedberg and Ouellet from my days as a younger fan, back when we were viewed as more of a goalie graveyard. Luongo was a gamechanger for me as a fan, he was the first tender I actually felt confident having back there. We had a legit star, a legit #1. If only he'd been here longer. 

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

On the 1st day of Canuckmas Canuckslore gave to me.... 

 

The Save

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Even though there are gaps, do you intend for this thread to reach the 96 days of Canuckmas @Coconuts? 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

The man, the myth, the legend, Kirk McLean. 
 

 

The 1994 finals is a treasured childhood memory for me, and McLean was unbelievable that season. 
 

Cool story. When I turned 30 (going back a decade) my wife surprised me with a suite at a Canucks game with all my family and friends and Kirk McLean surprised us and showed up at the suite and was talking to all of us. I was starry eyed asking him questions about when he played and of course that 94 cup run. He was so nice.

 

There was a pause in the conversation and he looks at me and says, “So can I get a beer or…” in a joking way. I laughed and felt embarrassed for not offering him one sooner and I said, “Kirk you can have any beer you want.” How many people can say they drank a beer with Kirk McLean?

 

 

 

Sorry about the photo quality. Cell phone cameras weren’t great back then. 

[Coconuts]

20 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

Even though there are gaps, do you intend for this thread to reach the 96 days of Canuckmas @Coconuts? 

 

You mean the 69 days of Canuckmas?

 

[Coconuts]

20 minutes ago, Roger Neilsons Towel said:

The man, the myth, the legend, Kirk McLean. 
 

 

The 1994 finals is a treasured childhood memory for me, and McLean was unbelievable that season. 
 

Cool story. When I turned 30 (going back a decade) my wife surprised me with a suite at a Canucks game with all my family and friends and Kirk McLean surprised us and showed up at the suite and was talking to all of us. I was starry eyed asking him questions about when he played and of course that 94 cup run. He was so nice.

 

There was a pause in the conversation and he looks at me and says, “So can I get a beer or…” in a joking way. I laughed and felt embarrassed for not offering him one sooner and I said, “Kirk you can have any beer you want.” How many people can say they drank a beer with Kirk McLean?

 

 

 

Sorry about the photo quality. Cell phone cameras weren’t great back then. 

 

That's really cool, what a random but memorable experience! 

 

He's one of the few Canucks I've met, Nanaimo had a hometown hockey event back in 2017 and both him and Willie Mitchell were there to sign autographs and take pictures, I managed to get a picture with both! I'm not going to go digging for them but he was really nice about it, what really stood out to me was how massive Willie Mitchell was though. He hadn't been retired long at that point, but the dude clearly kept up with his workouts. 

 

Now that I think about it I think BMO and Ron MacLean were there too, but I don't recall seeing BMO. Might have missed him. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Coconuts

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

2 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

 

That's really cool, what a random but memorable experience! 

 

He's one of the few Canucks I've met, Nanaimo had a hometown hockey event back in 2017 and both him and Willie Mitchell were there to sign autographs and take pictures, I managed to get a picture with both! I'm not going to go digging for them but he was really nice about it, what really stood out to me was how massive Willie Mitchell was though. He hadn't been retired long at that point, but the dude clearly kept up with his workouts. 

I met Babych that night as well and I thought the same. The guy was massive. His hand enveloped my entire hand when he shook it. 

[Coconuts]

2 minutes ago, Roger Neilsons Towel said:

I met Babych that night as well and I thought the same. The guy was massive. His hand enveloped my entire hand when he shook it. 

 

You're not the first person I've seen or heard mention that about Babych, dude must really have that old man strength going for him 

[Gurn]

11 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

 

You're not the first person I've seen or heard mention that about Babych, dude must really have that old man strength going for him 

One of the strongest players, pound for pound.

Jiri Bubla was like that as well.

 

Here is a story of Babych- decades after he retired;

 

[Coconuts]

5 minutes ago, Gurn said:

One of the strongest players, pound for pound.

Jiri Bubla was like that as well.

 

Here is a story of Babych- decades after he retired;

 

 

I remember hearing about that, what a humble dude 

[Sophomore Jinx]

Strangely enough, Ivan Boldirev was like that too...he almost crushed my hand once haha...mind you I was a teenager, but still.

 

Although I'm sure they were all like that, with their grip and tendon strengths.

[Bob Long]

3 hours ago, Coconuts said:

I remember names like Skudra, Hedberg and Ouellet from my days as a younger fan, back when we were viewed as more of a goalie graveyard. Luongo was a gamechanger for me as a fan, he was the first tender I actually felt confident having back there. We had a legit star, a legit #1. If only he'd been here longer. 

 

Skudra was fun to watch, you could feel his fear through the tv.

[4petesake]

1 hour ago, Sophomore Jinx said:

Strangely enough, Ivan Boldirev was like that too...he almost crushed my hand once haha...mind you I was a teenager, but still.

 

Although I'm sure they were all like that, with their grip and tendon strengths.

 

My wife had connections through her job with Dave Semenko’s girlfriend in the Oilers glory years. When she introduced us to Dave and I shook his gigantic mitt it made me feel like a toddler. A very quiet & polite guy though and thankfully made no attempt to crush me when I said that I was a diehard Canuck fan.

[IBatch]

12 hours ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

On the 1st day of Canuckmas Canuckslore gave to me.... 

 

The Save

 

Miss having goalies that have the rebound control stand-up guys had.    What a save.   

[Ghostsof1915]

On the second day of Canuckmas Pat Quinn gave to me....

 

Mattias Ohlund!

 

https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/VAN/numbers.html

 

 

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

On the 2nd day of Canuckmas Canucklore gave to me.....

A Dan Hamhuis hipcheck 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

#1 Gary Smith...

 

A random game from the 1975 playoff series against Montreal...the series where Gary won the first playoff game in Canucks history...after playing >70 games that year and damn near winning the Hart Trophy.

 

Not a particularly notable game in particular here but some good old time hockey...with no ads on the boards.

[Captkirk888]

On the 2nd day of Canuckmas my memory gave to me.....

Dougie had a 52 pt season in 82. 
 

[Coconuts]

On the second day of Canuckmas, Canucks lore gave to me

 

Gary Doak 1971-1972

Jocelyn Guevremont 1972-1975

Mike Robitaille 1975-1977

Bob Manno 1977-1981

Lars Zetterström 1979

Dave Logan 1980-1981

Doug Halward 1982-1987

Jim Agnew 1987

Craig Levie 1987

Willie Huber 1988

Ian Kidd 1988

Kevan Guy 1989-1991

Ken Hammond 1992

Evgeny Namestnikov 1994-1997

František Kučera 1996-1997

Mattias Öhlund 1998-2009

Dan Hamhuis 2011-2016

Luke Schenn 2019-2023

[smithers joe]

on the 2nd day of canuckmas, the canucks gave to me, a self adopted father. as a kid, i had no father. when i met new kids, i told them my father was walter " babe " pratt. it didn't take them long to know that i wasn't telling the truth. years later, i wrote to babe, who was, the canuck's ambassador, i told him my story. he was quite touched that he helped me in my youth. for several years, i sent him a father's day gift. then babe came to smithers to speak at a sportsman's dinner. babe sat at the head table with our mayor. after dinner, i got up to use the bathroom.our mayor called me over. he said to babe, we have our own babe pratt in smithers. this is joe pratte. babe jumped up and said, i know joe. the mayor's jaw dropped. later my son and i had a long conversation with babe. we ended up having many things in common.

on the 3rd day i met andy bathgate and larry popein of the whl's vancouver canucks.

[Coconuts]

Dan Hamhuis was a great example of a home province guy wanting to come back and play for the Canucks and it actually working out. Can't help but wonder how the Boston series may have gone if we hadn't lost him in game 2, we started bleeding goals after that.. 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

3 hours ago, smithers joe said:

on the 2nd day of canuckmas, the canucks gave to me, a self adopted father. as a kid, i had no father. when i met new kids, i told them my father was walter " babe " pratt. it didn't take them long to know that i wasn't telling the truth. years later, i wrote to babe, who was, the canuck's ambassador, i told him my story. he was quite touched that he helped me in my youth. for several years, i sent him a father's day gift. then babe came to smithers to speak at a sportsman's dinner. babe sat at the head table with our mayor. after dinner, i got up to use the bathroom.our mayor called me over. he said to babe, we have our own babe pratt in smithers. this is joe pratte. babe jumped up and said, i know joe. the mayor's jaw dropped. later my son and i had a long conversation with babe. we ended up having many things in common.

on the 3rd day i met andy bathgate and larry popein of the whl's vancouver canucks.

Love your stories, Joe!

Great to hear from you as always!

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

3 hours ago, Coconuts said:

Dan Hamhuis was a great example of a home province guy wanting to come back and play for the Canucks and it actually working out. Can't help but wonder how the Boston series may have gone if we hadn't lost him in game 2, we started bleeding goals after that.. 

 

Great defenseman and man those hip checks were lethal!