2011–12 Vancouver Canucks season

Off-season

NHL Entry Draft

Main article: 2011 NHL Entry Draft

The 2011 NHL entry draft was held June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Canucks selected eight players including Nicklas Jensen with their first-round draft choice, 29th overall. On day two of the entry draft the Vancouver Canucks traded their second-round draft choice to the Minnesota Wild for two picks in later rounds. In total, Vancouver selected eight players including David Honzík, Alexandre Grenier, Joseph LaBate, Ludwig Blomstrand, Frank Corrado, Pathrik Westerholm and Henrik Tommernes. In total, none would become regular NHL players, with Corrado playing the most games with 76 appearances across three teams.

Minor League affiliations

On June 21, 2011, True North Sports & Entertainment, the owners of the Manitoba Moose received Board of Governors approval to purchase and re-locate the Atlanta Thrashers. The Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to replace the Manitoba Moose. The Moose announced that they were moving to St. John's and would become the AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. As a result, the Canucks were left without an affiliate temporarily. On June 27, 2011, the Vancouver Canucks signed a two-year affiliation agreement with the Chicago Wolves. The Vancouver Canucks announced that Craig MacTavish would be the new coach for the Wolves on August 1 after Claude Noel, who coached the Manitoba Moose during the 2010–11 season, was hired by the Jets.

In addition, on April 8, 2011, it was announced that the Chilliwack Bruins of the Western Hockey League would be moving their franchise to Victoria, British Columbia. The sale of the Chilliwack Bruins to RG Properties was completed and made official on April 20 by the WHL. The Victoria Royals replaced the Victoria Salmon Kings and began play in the 2011–12 WHL season. RG Properties, who also owned the Victoria Salmon Kings, opted to fold the Salmon Kings franchise at the conclusion of the 2010–11 ECHL season. As a result, the Canucks were left without an ECHL minor league affiliate. The Salmon Kings spent five years as the ECHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks.

On September 22, the Vancouver Canucks announced that it had signed an ECHL affiliation agreement with the Kalamazoo Wings.

Preseason

Training camp began for the rookies on September 9 and included two days of on-ice training sessions followed by a four-game Young Stars tournament featuring prospects from other teams including the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets. Among the players were four that were selected from the 2011 Entry Draft. Nicklas Jensen, David Honzik, Alexandre Grenier and Frank Corrado all took part in the Canucks rookie training camp and Young Stars tournament. LaBate did not participate in the camp because his college semester had begun while Blomstrand, Westerholm and Tommernes were in the midst of training camp for their own Swedish hockey clubs.

The Vancouver Canucks main training camp started on September 16. Several veteran NHL players were invited to the camp on a try-out basis. These players included Owen Nolan, Anders Eriksson, Niko Dimitrakos and Todd Fedoruk. However, none of the invites were able to secure a contract with the club.

The Canucks played a total of eight preseason games where they finished with a record of 3–5. Much of the Vancouver Canucks roster were returning members from the 2010–11 season with the exception of Christian Ehrhoff and Raffi Torres, who both changed teams, through trade and free agency respectively, during the off-season.

Citing the shortened off-season due to their appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Vancouver Canucks management and coaching staff decided to give a majority of the veterans rest. As a result, players guaranteed roster spots in the regular season, such as Daniel and Henrik Sedin only played in two preseason games.

Regular season

Like 2010–11, the Canucks were met with extremely high expectations for the upcoming season. They entered 2011–12 as the defending Presidents' Trophy and Western Conference champions. It was a record setting season that saw them rank first in the league in goals per game, goals against per game and power play percentage. Both Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider were awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy for lowest goals against.

General consensus through various sports media outlets such as The Hockey News, Sports Illustrated, TSN and Sportsnet predicted that the Canucks would return to the Western Conference Finals or at least finish first in the Western Conference regular season.

October–November

The Vancouver Canucks began their season on October 6 when they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins before embarking on a four-game road trip. Prior to the start of the home opener the Canucks organization held a ceremony to celebrate their 2010–11 season and to thank the police officers, firemen and volunteers who helped the city recover after the Stanley Cup riot. The game was supposed to be Sidney Crosby's third NHL game at Rogers Arena, and first hockey game since scoring the golden goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics but was unable to play as he was still recovering from a concussion. In the game, the Vancouver Canucks battled back from a 3–1 deficit but fell short in a shootout.

The club held a ceremony on October 18 prior to their game against the New York Rangers to honour the late Rick Rypien. Rypien played within the Vancouver Canucks organization for seven seasons, splitting time between the Canucks and the Manitoba Moose, before signing with the Winnipeg Jets during the summer. Rypien was found dead at his home in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, on August 15. The Canucks wore a helmet decal in honour of Rypien during the season. The Canucks also ran a video tribute for former Ranger Derek Boogaard who also died during the off-season.

The Canucks struggled throughout the month of October which was punctuated by a significant trade. Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm were traded to the Florida Panthers on October 22, just hours after the Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild. In return, the Canucks acquired a third-round draft pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft and forwards David Booth and Steven Reinprecht. The month ended with a match up against the Washington Capitals that saw the Canucks prevail by a final score of 7–4. Alex Edler, Maxim Lapierre and Chris Higgins all registered two goals for Vancouver while Alexander Ovechkin also scored a pair of goals for Washington.

The month of November opened with a six-game road trip beginning in Calgary, where the Canucks won the game by a score of 5–1. The game saw Daniel Sedin score his 254th goal of his career to tie Pavel Bure for fourth all-time in Canucks goal scoring. However, the Canucks continued to battle inconsistency and were unable to sustain any momentum through the first two-thirds of the month where they compiled a record of 4–4 capped by a blowout loss to rival Chicago. The Canucks, led by Cory Schneider who originally replaced an injured Roberto Luongo, finished the month with five consecutive victories that included back-to-back shutouts for Schneider. During the winning streak head coach Alain Vigneault became the team's winningest coach when the team defeated Colorado on November 23.

Standings

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

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Detailed records

Playoffs

The Vancouver Canucks clinched the Presidents' Trophy for the second consecutive year and second time in franchise history, thus guaranteeing themselves home ice advantage for the duration of the playoffs regardless of how far they were to go. However, they were knocked out in the first round by the eighth-seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.

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Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

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Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; GS = Game Starts; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts

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†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Canucks. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.

‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.

Updated after game on April 7, 2012

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Awards

Draft picks

Vancouver's picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

• An additional second-round draft pick was awarded to the Montreal Canadiens as compensation for failing to sign a first-round draft choice. Therefore, all picks after have been moved down by one. The New Jersey Devils forfeit a third-round draft pick, but league protocol retains the draft pick number so that subsequent draft numbers are unaffected.

1. These picks were acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild that sent the Canucks 60th overall pick for the 71st and 101st overall picks.

Transactions

Trades

Players signed

Waivers

Acquired

Free agents signed

Free agents lost

Farm teams

• The Chicago Wolves are the new Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate beginning in the 2011–12 season.
• The Kalamazoo Wings are the new Canucks' ECHL affiliate beginning in the 2011–12 season.

References

References

1. "NHL Attendance Report - 2011-12". [[ESPN]].
2. (June 27, 2011). "Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Wolves announce new AHL affiliate agreement". Vancouver Canucks.
3. (August 1, 2011). "Craig Mactavish named as Chicago Wolves Head Coach". Vancouver Canucks.
4. Olsen, Tyler. (April 8, 2011). "WHL has approved Chilliwack Bruins move to Victoria". Vancouver Sun.
5. Olsen, Tyler. (April 20, 2011). "The Chilliwack Bruins are no more". Chilliwack Times.
6. Dheensaw, Cleve. (May 7, 2011}}{{Dead link). "RG opts to fold Salmon Kings franchis". Times Colonist.
7. (September 22, 2011). "Vancouver Canucks and Kalamazoo Wings agree to new ECHL affiliate deal". [[Vancouver Canucks]].
8. (September 4, 2011). "The Hockey News 2011–12 NHL predictions". [[The Hockey News]].
9. Dater, Adrian. (October 5, 2011). "2011–12 Northwest Div. Preview". Sports Illustrated.
10. Kuzma, Ben. (October 3, 2011). "Canucks will honour memory of Rypien with decal tribute, Oct. 18 ceremony". The White Towel.
11. (May 13, 2011). "Derek Boogaard passes away at age 28". [[New York Rangers]].
12. (November 23, 2011). "Canucks 3, Avalanche 0".
13. Pap, Elliott. (October 7, 2011). "Canucks highlights". Vancouver Sun.
14. Kuzma, Ben. (October 21, 2011). "Twins get Canucks back on track". The Province.
15. Kuzma, Ben. (November 23, 2011). "Vigneault passes Crawford for franchise wins as Canucks topple the Avalanche 3–0". [[The Province]].
16. Macintyre, Iain. (December 7, 2011). "What goalie controversy? Canucks down Avs 6–0". Vancouver Sun.
17. (November 28, 2011). "Crosby, Schneider and Elliott named 'Three Stars'". NHL.com.
18. (January 1, 2012). "Malkin, Stamkos, Sedin grab monthly honors". NHL.com.
19. (February 2, 2012). "Vancouver's Hodgson named Rookie of the Month". NHL.com.
20. (June 25, 2011). "Vancouver selects eight players in 2011 NHL Entry Draft". Vancouver Canucks.
21. (February 27, 2012). "Canucks acquire Andrew Gordon from Anaheim Ducks". Vancouver Canucks.
22. (February 27, 2012). "Canucks acquire Samuel Pahlsson from Columbus Blue Jackets". Vancouver Canucks.
23. (October 22, 2011). "Canucks acquire Booth, Reinprecht & third round draft pick from Florida". Vancouver Canucks.
24. (July 9, 2011). "Canucks acquire the rights on Mike Duco from the Florida Panthers". Vancouver Canucks.
25. (June 28, 2011). "Canucks trade Ehrhoff's negotiating rights to Islanders". TSN.
26. (September 23, 2011). "Canucks sign Frank Corrado". Vancouver Canucks.
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28. (September 8, 2011). "Canucks sign right wing Victor Oreskovich". Vancouver Canucks.
29. (July 28, 2011). "Vancouver Canucks Sign Right Wing Jannik Hansen to a 3-Year Contract". Vancouver Canucks.
30. (July 2, 2011). "Baumgartner staying with Canucks". Toronto Sun.
31. (July 1, 2011). "Canucks sign Salo to one-year deal, also lock up Higgins". TSN.
32. (July 1, 2011). "Vancouver Canucks sign defenceman Sami Salo". Vancouver Canucks.
33. (June 29, 2011). "Canucks sign Maxim Lapierre and Andrew Alberts to two-year contracts". Vancouver Canucks.
34. (June 27, 2011). "Canucks sign Lapierre to two-year, $2-million contract". TSN.
35. (June 27, 2011). "Bieksa signs five-year, $23M deal with Canucks". TSN.
36. (October 4, 2011). "Canucks claim Dale Weise off waivers". Vancouver Canucks.
37. (July 25, 2011). "Canucks Sign Right Wing Byron Bitz". Vancouver Canucks.
38. (July 7, 2011). "Canucks sign defenceman Alexander Sulzer". Vancouver Canucks.
39. (July 7, 2011). "Canucks sign goaltender Matt Climie". Vancouver Canucks.
40. (July 3, 2011). "Canucks sign right wing Steven Pinizzotto". Vancouver Canucks.
41. (July 3, 2011). "Ebbett lands in Van City". BCLocalNews.
42. (July 1, 2011). "Vancouver Canucks sign left wing Marco Sturm". Vancouver Canucks.
43. Jim Jamieson. (July 1, 2011). "Big winger Mancari signed by Canucks". The Province.
44. (July 11, 2011). "Senators sign Sweatt, Conboy to two-way contracts". TSN.
45. (July 7, 2011). "Tambellini leaves Canucks to join Swiss League". TSN.
46. (July 4, 2011). "Flames sign Guillaume Desbiens". Calgary Flames.
47. (July 2, 2011). "Jets sign NHL veteran Randy Jones". Winnipeg Free Press.
48. (July 1, 2011). "Jets ink Tanner Glass: reports". CBC Sports.
49. (July 2, 2011). "Coyotes sign center Bolduc to one-year deal". FS Arizona.
50. (July 1, 2011). "Coyotes sign free agents Torres, Gordon, Smith to two-year deals". TSN.
51. cska-hockey.ru. "Широков снова с нами! | Новости клуба | Новости | Профессиональный Хоккейный Клуб ЦСКА". Cska-hockey.ru.