1983-1984:
Flames end Canucks' playoffs hopes - again
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Tony Tanti was an important part of
the Canucks' offence in '83-'84.
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The Canucks had the ninth overall pick in the
Entry Draft and chose RW Cam Neely,
who had just lead the Portland Winterhawks to
the Memorial Cup Championship. Neely
tallied 31 points and 57 penalty minutes in 56
games his rookie season. The second game
of the season would feature a wild-shoot out
affair, with the Canucks beating the Minnesota
North Stars 10-9. Patrik Sundstrom scored
the winning goal to go along with five assists
in the game. His right winger, Tony Tanti,
scored twice and added three assists. Two
nights later, in a 7-4 win over Toronto, Tanti
scored three goals, all assisted by Sundstrom.
The two would combine for a large piece of the
Canucks offence this season and, along with LW
Dave Williams, quickly establish themselves as
the Canucks number one line. Tanti
finished with a club-record 45 goals while
Sundstrom tallied six assists and seven points
(both club records) in a 9-5 win in Pittsburgh
on February 29, helping him in establishing a
club-record of 91 points. Williams again
lead the NHL in penalty minutes, racking up 294.
On January 26, after the team had gone 3-22-3 in
its last 28 games, Roger Neilson was fired as
coach, and GM Harry Neale took over for the
remainder of the season. During that
miserable stretch, the Canucks managed a 3-3 tie
in Los Angeles on January 4, the game in which
Thomas Gradin registered his 408th point as a
Canuck to pass Don Lever as the club's all-time
leading scorer. In the next three games,
the Canucks lost in Minnesota, Chicago, and St.
Louis by identical 2-0 scores, marking the only
time that the team has been shut out in three
consecutive games. The club played
respectably in the last 30 games and finished
with 73 points-in a tie for third place with
Winnipeg. The Canucks, with more wins
(32-31), won the tiebreaker and drew Calgary,
again, as a first-round playoff opponent.
This series followed a similar script as last
year's, but not nearly as exciting. The
Flames won the first two games at the Saddledome
by 4-2 and 5-3 scores before the series shifted
to Vancouver. In the third game, Doug
Halward became the third defenseman ever to
register a play-off hat trick as the Canucks
thrashed the Flames 7-0; Brodeur got the
shutout. Game four was a one sided affair
in favor of the Flames. 5-1 was the score.
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