2014–15 Vancouver Canucks season

The 2014–15 Vancouver Canucks season was the franchise's 45th season in the NHL. The Canucks managed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2012–13 season. The team would not appear in the post season again until the 2019-20 NHL Season.

2014–15 Vancouver Canucks
Division2nd Pacific
Conference5th Western
2014–15 record48–29–5
Home record24–15–2
Road record24–14–3
Goals for242
Goals against222
Team information
General managerJim Benning
CoachWillie Desjardins
CaptainHenrik Sedin
Alternate captainsKevin Bieksa
Daniel Sedin
ArenaRogers Arena
Average attendance18,710 (98.9%)[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Utica Comets (AHL)
Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsRadim Vrbata (31)
AssistsDaniel Sedin (56)
PointsDaniel Sedin (76)
Penalty minutesDerek Dorsett (175)
Plus/minusAlexander Edler (+13)
WinsRyan Miller (29)
Goals against averageEddie Lack (2.45)

Off-season

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On April 8, 2014, after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008, the team fired general manager Mike Gillis.[2] One day later, ownership hired former Canucks captain Trevor Linden as team president,[3] to assist in the search for a new general manager. Three weeks after Linden was hired, the Canucks announced that both head coach John Tortorella and assistant coach Mike Sullivan, who had only just been hired prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, were fired.[4] Throughout the search for Vancouver's new general manager, it was speculated that Linden's preferred candidate was Jim Benning, who was serving as an assistant general manager for the Boston Bruins. On May 21, the Canucks confirmed that Benning had been hired as their new general manager.[5] One of Benning's first changes to the roster was buying out David Booth, who had one year remaining on his contract.[6] As a result of the buyout, Booth became an unrestricted free agent, and he will receive $1,583,333 per year (over the next two seasons) from the Canucks; Booth's buyout salary will not be applied to Vancouver's salary cap. The next major task for the Canucks was finding a new head coach. Among the candidates Benning interviewed were New York Rangers assistant coach Scott Arniel, and former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. Additionally, Texas Stars head coach Willie Desjardins was also one the coaches Benning was long rumoured to have interest in. However, Benning was not able to interview Desjardins until late June, as Desjardins had just won the Calder Cup with Texas. On June 23, the Canucks officially introduced Desjardins as the 18th head coach in Canucks history.[7] The next major tasks facing Benning were dealing with the trade request of Ryan Kesler, and preparing for the draft on June 27. On draft day, Benning completed a series of trades before the Canucks even made their first pick. Jason Garrison was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2nd-round draft pick,[8] and then Ryan Kesler was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa, the twenty-fourth overall pick, and a 3rd-round draft pick.[9] Benning then flipped Anaheim's 3rd-round pick to the New York Rangers, in exchange for Derek Dorsett.[10] On June 28 (the second day of the draft), Benning acquired Linden Vey from the Los Angeles Kings, in exchange for Tampa Bay's 2nd-round pick (acquired the day before in the Garrison trade).[11] As a result of trading away Roberto Luongo in March, the Canucks were left with a goalie tandem of Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom, who together had combined for 88 games of NHL experience. Thus, Benning's first move on July 1 was to sign free-agent goalie Ryan Miller to a 3-year, $18 million contract, in order to bring a veteran presence to Vancouver's goaltending position.[12] Benning's next major transaction occurred only one day after acquiring Miller, as he signed former Phoenix Coyotes winger Radim Vrbata to a 2-year, $10 million contract.[13] On July 3, Benning signed restricted free agent Zack Kassian to a 2-year, $3.5 million deal.[14] On July 5, the Canucks re-signed defenceman Christopher Tanev to a 1-year, $2 million contract, only hours before the deadline to file for salary arbitration.[15] On July 7, Benning named Doug Lidster as an assistant coach for the Canucks; Lidster had also recently served as an assistant coach to new Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins on the Texas Stars.[16]

Regular season

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October

November

On November 4, rookie Bo Horvat made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche; it was a winning debut for Horvat as the Canucks rally from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. On November 20, Bo Horvat scored his first NHL goal against the Anaheim Ducks, the Canucks went onto lose the game 4-3 in a shootout. On November 23, Daniel Sedin played his 1000th NHL game against the Chicago Blackhawks; the Canucks went on to defeat the Blackhawks by a final score of 4-1, forward Jannik Hansen also scored his first career hat trick this game.

December

The Vancouver Canucks began struggling after losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5–2. They lost five games in a row and finally ended their struggles against the Calgary Flames with a 3–2 win in overtime.

January

February

On February 22, Ryan Miller was injured in shutout win over New York Islanders forcing Eddie Lack into the game. He would miss the next 22 games. Jacob Markstrom was called in from the Utica Comets.

March

Jacob Markstrom started against San Jose Sharks on March 3, but he was removed after he gave up three goals in four shots as the Canucks lost to the Sharks 6-2. Markstrom finally was able to win against Arizona Coyotes with a 3–1 victory

April

Canucks clinched their playoff spot after a 2–1 victory against Los Angeles Kings.

Playoffs

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The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the Pacific Division's second seed. This was the seventh playoff meeting for these teams with Calgary having won four of the six previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the 2004 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Calgary won in seven games. The Flames qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series, with each team winning once at home and once on the road.

The Flames defeated the Canucks in six games. Calgary rallied from a one-goal deficit in Game 1, as David Jones tied the game 7:59 into the third and Kris Russell scored the winning goal with 29.6 seconds left to give the Flames a 2–1 win. The Canucks tied the series with a 4–1 win, as goalie Eddie Lack made 22 out of 23 saves and Alex Burrows recorded two assists. With 1:17 left to play, a fight broke out that resulted in 132 penalty minutes, with the Flames' Deryk Engelland given a game misconduct for instigating it, but eventually the league rescinded Engelland's penalty and instead fined Calgary head coach Bob Hartley $50,000 for his responsibility for the incident. Jonas Hiller made 23 saves to help give the Flames to a 4–2 win in Game 3. In Game 4, Calgary scored three first-period goals out of seven shots off of Lack. Ryan Miller replaced Lack to start the second period, but Hiller made 28 total saves en route to a 3–1 win.[58] Miller then made 20 saves and Daniel Sedin scored the winning goal 1:47 into the third period to help give the Canucks to a 2–1 win in Game 5. In Game 6, Hartley pulled Hiller after he allowed two goals on his first three shots, and put Karri Ramo in net. The Flames tied the game in the second period, and then Matt Stajan scored what proved to be the game-winning goal late in the third period. Two empty net goals in the final minute of the game sealed the series victory for the Flames.

Standings

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Pacific Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 z – Anaheim Ducks 82 51 24 7 43 236 226 +10 109
2 x – Vancouver Canucks 82 48 29 5 42 242 222 +20 101
3 x – Calgary Flames 82 45 30 7 41 241 216 +25 97
4 Los Angeles Kings 82 40 27 15 38 220 205 +15 95
5 San Jose Sharks 82 40 33 9 36 228 232 −4 89
6 Edmonton Oilers 82 24 44 14 19 198 283 −85 62
7 Arizona Coyotes 82 24 50 8 19 170 272 −102 56
Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Schedule and results

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Pre-season

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Regular season

Game log

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Detailed records

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Playoffs

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2015 Stanley Cup playoffs
Legend:        = Win        = Loss
Bold italics = Player scored game-winning goal

Player statistics

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Skaters

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Goaltenders

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Regular season
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Ryan Miller 45 45 2,541:31 29 15 1 107 2.53 1,198 .911 6 0 0 0
Eddie Lack 41 35 2,323:57 18 13 4 95 2.45 1,201 .921 2 0 0 2
Jacob Markstrom 3 2 77:38 1 1 0 4 3.09 33 .879 0 0 0 0
Totals 82 4,943:06 48 29 5 206 2.50 2,432 .915 8 0 0 2
Playoffs
Player GP GS TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Ryan Miller 3 2 156:10 1 1 6 2.31 67 .910 0 0 0 0
Eddie Lack 4 4 198:16 1 3 10 3.03 88 .886 0 0 0 0
Totals 6 354:26 2 4 16 2.71 155 .897 0 0 0 0

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

Notable achievements

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Awards

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Milestones

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Records

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Player Record Date
Ryan Miller First Canucks goaltender to post back-to-back road game shutouts in back-to-back days January 16, 2015
Daniel Sedin Most career power-play goals in Canucks history February 7, 2015
Eddie Lack Most saves by a Canuck goalie in a relief appearance without allowing a goal February 22, 2015

Transactions

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The Canucks been involved in the following transactions:

Trades

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Date
Details
June 27, 2014[9] To Vancouver Canucks:
Nick Bonino
Luca Sbisa
1st-round pick (24th overall) in 2014
3rd-round pick (85th overall) in 2014
To Anaheim Ducks:
Ryan Kesler
3rd-round pick in 2015
June 27, 2014[8] To Vancouver Canucks:
2nd-round pick (50th overall) in 2014
To Tampa Bay Lightning:
Jason Garrison
Jeff Costello
7th-round pick in 2015
June 27, 2014[10] To Vancouver Canucks:
Derek Dorsett
To New York Rangers:
ANA's 3rd-round pick (85th overall) in 2014
June 28, 2014[11] To Vancouver Canucks:
Linden Vey
To Los Angeles Kings:
TBL's 2nd-round pick (50th overall) in 2014
November 20, 2014[20] To Vancouver Canucks:
Will Acton
To Edmonton Oilers:
Kellan Lain
November 25, 2014[21] To Vancouver Canucks:
Andrey Pedan
To New York Islanders:
Alexandre Mallet
3rd-round pick (64th overall) in 2016
January 29, 2015[22] To Vancouver Canucks:
Adam Clendening
To Chicago Blackhawks:
Gustav Forsling
March 2, 2015[23] To Vancouver Canucks:
Cory Conacher
To New York Islanders:
Dustin Jeffrey
March 2, 2015[24] To Vancouver Canucks:
Sven Baertschi
To Calgary Flames:
2nd-round pick (53rd overall) in 2015

Player signings

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Player Date Contract terms
(in U.S. dollars)
Ref
Alex Biega July 1, 2014 1 year, $600,000 contract extension [40][41]
Zack Kassian July 3, 2014 2-year, $3.5 million contract extension [14]
Yannick Weber July 4, 2014 1 year, $850,000 contract extension [42]
Joe Cannata July 4, 2014 1 year, $600,000 contract extension [43][44]
Peter Andersson July 5, 2014 1 year, $600,000 contract extension [45][46]
Christopher Tanev July 5, 2014 1 year, $2 million contract extension [15]
Linden Vey July 14, 2014 1 year, $735,000 contract extension [47]
Darren Archibald July 22, 2014 1 year, $600,000 contract extension [48][49]
Brandon DeFazio July 22, 2014 1 year, $600,000 contract extension [48][50]
Jared McCann July 24, 2014 3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract [51]
Jake Virtanen July 25, 2014 3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract [52]

Suspensions and fines

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Player Explanation Length Salary Date issued Ref
Alex Burrows Illegal check to the head of Montreal defenceman Alexei Emelin. 3 games $72,580.65 October 31, 2014 [53]
Jannik Hansen Illegal check to the head of San Jose forward Tommy Wingels. $5,000.00 December 31, 2014 [54]

Draft picks

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The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27–28, 2014, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Canucks had following picks:

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/junior/club team (league)
1 6 Jake Virtanen RW   Canada Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
1 24[a] Jared McCann C   Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2 36 Thatcher Demko G   United States Boston College Eagles (NCAA D1)
3 66 Nikita Tryamkin D   Russia Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (KHL)
5 126 Gustav Forsling D   Sweden Linköpings HC (SHL)
6 156 Kyle Pettit C   Canada Erie Otters (OHL)
7 186 Mackenze Stewart D   Canada Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
Draft notes

References

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  1. ^ "NHL Attendance Report - 2014-15". ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  2. ^ Pap, Elliott (April 8, 2014). "Canucks fire president and GM Mike Gillis". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Hutchinson, Brian (April 11, 2014). "New Canucks president Trevor Linden has inherited a fine mess in Vancouver". National Post. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  4. ^ Pap, Elliott (May 1, 2014). "Canucks cite 'needed fresh start' in firing coach John Tortorella". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
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  39. ^ Canucks claim Brandon McMillan from waivers
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