Mel Bridgman (NHL 1975-1989, Canucks 1988-89) | 28 | C

[Kevin Biestra]

One of the great NHL players to ever be a Canuck in the first 20 years of the team's history was Mel Bridgman, who joined the team for his final season.  His contributions are notable for a few reasons.  One, it was Trevor Linden's rookie year and Trevor got to benefit from a roster that had an embarrassment of riches in super veteran leadership...Stan Smyl, Harold Snepsts, Mel Bridgman, etc.  The 1989 team seemed to have 10 or so guys who would have been suited to at least an "A" on their jersey.  The other notable thing about the 1988-89 season is that it featured one of the Canucks' most legendary playoff series and was almost an incredible run, as they took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames to overtime of the 7th game in the first round, and only lost in that overtime when Joel Otto kicked the puck past Kirk McLean (a Vezina finalist that year).  Mel Bridgman was a notable contributor in the series.

 

Bridgman was a 1st overall NHL draft pick and while he didn't have an unbelievable career in putting up numbers like Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, etc., he did justify his place in the draft with a long career of decent scoring and hard nosed play that might have had him called a power forward had the term existed in hockey in the 1970s.

 

Bridgman topped out with 87 points in 1981-82, right around where Stan Smyl and Thomas Gradin peaked, and when it was all said and done, over 977 games he had scored 252 goals and 701 points.  He was 5th for the Calder Trophy one season, 8th for the Selke another.  He was also part of the Philadelphia Flyers' run to the 1980 Stanley Cup Final.

 

And he had a great mustache.

 

Edited November 23 by Kevin Biestra