1990–91 Vancouver Canucks season

Offseason

Entering his last season as a player, Stan Smyl resigns the team captaincy. The position is rotated between defenceman Doug Lidster, forwards Trevor Linden and Dan Quinn.

Regular season

Coaching change and USAir Flight 1493

The Canucks who were slumping in the first half of the regular season fired head coach Bob McCammon on January 31, 1991. He was fired immediately after a home game against the New York Rangers that ended in a 3–3 tie. The game was noted for a spectacular goal tending performance by Rangers goal tender Mike Richter who made 59 saves.

The next day McCammon was replaced by Pat Quinn who would fly down with the team to Los Angeles on board the Canadian Airlines charter to coach his first game for the club against the Los Angeles Kings. Upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport the team charter witnessed the fatal collision of USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 as the aircraft landed on a parallel runway approximately 100 m from the collision. The pilot of the plane carrying the team even turned on the engines to move away from the accident, fearing that the plane would be involved in the accident.

Quinn and the team were badly shaken by the incident, the team was unable to cope with the disaster when they faced the Kings on February 2. The team suffered its worst defeat of the season 9–1. The crash was still bothering the team when they flew out of Los Angeles to another road game in Washington, D.C. to face the Washington Capitals. The Canucks would be held winless for their seventh straight game as hall of famer Dino Ciccarelli netted his 400th career regular season NHL goal.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- |1||L||October 4, 1990||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1990–91) ||0–1–0 |- |2||W||October 6, 1990||6–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91) ||1–1–0 |- |3||L||October 9, 1990||2–6 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1990–91) ||1–2–0 |- |4||W||October 12, 1990||4–0 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1990–91) ||2–2–0 |- |5||W||October 14, 1990||5–4 OT|| align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1990–91) ||3–2–0 |- |6||W||October 17, 1990||3–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1990–91) ||4–2–0 |- |7||L||October 19, 1990||5–7 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91) ||4–3–0 |- |8||W||October 21, 1990||3–2 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91) ||5–3–0 |- |9||L||October 23, 1990||0–6 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) ||5–4–0 |- |10||L||October 25, 1990||2–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1990–91) ||5–5–0 |- |11||W||October 27, 1990||4–2 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1990–91) ||6–5–0 |- |12||L||October 30, 1990||1–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1990–91) ||6–6–0

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 4 || Vancouver || 6 - 5 || Los Angeles || || 1 - 0 |- | 2 || April 6 || Vancouver || 2 – 3 || Los Angeles || OT || 1 – 1 |- | 3 || April 8 || Los Angeles || 1 – 2 || Vancouver || OT || 2 – 1 |- | 4 || April 10 || Los Angeles || 6 – 1 || Vancouver || || 2 – 2 |- | 5 || April 12 || Vancouver || 4 – 7 || Los Angeles || || 2 – 3 |- | 6 || April 14 || Los Angeles || 4 – 1 || Vancouver || || 2 – 4

| Legend:

Player statistics

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Transactions

Trades

Draft picks

Vancouver's picks at the 1990 NHL entry draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Farm teams

Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)

References

References

1. Lapoint. (February 2, 1991). "Despite Making 59 Saves, Richter Shares the Spotlight". The New York Times.
2. Springer. (February 4, 1991). "Canucks Had Close-Up View of Fatal Airline Crash at LAX". Los Angeles Times.
3. (February 6, 1991). "NHL Roundup". Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
4. "1990-91 Vancouver Canucks Schedule".