page_title: 2012–13 Vancouver Canucks season
section_title: April
hierarchical_section_title: 2012–13 Vancouver Canucks season / Regular season / April
caption_attribution_description: English: Buffalo Sabres forward Derek Roy warms up for a February 19, 2012 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY.
context_page_description: The 2012–13 Vancouver Canucks season was the team's 43rd season in the National Hockey League. The Canucks won their fifth-straight Northwest Division title and finished third in the Western Conference. In the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, Vancouver was swept by the San Jose Sharks in the first round. Shortly after the Canucks' playoff elimination, head coach Alain Vigneault was fired.
  Prior to the beginning of the season the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement expired, resulting in a lockout. The season was threatened with cancellation before the lockout ended, ultimately the length of the labor dispute resulted in the reduction of games from the standard 82 to a shortened 48. Cory Schneider entered the season as the team's new starting goaltender, while the Canucks attempted to trade incumbent Roberto Luongo. The two goaltenders battled for playing time early in the season resulting in a goaltender controversy. After a six-game winning streak to start February, the Canucks dealt with multiple injuries and suspensions resulting in the team slumping.
context_section_description: In their first game of April, Vancouver attempted to improve its offensive production by re-calling their 2011 first round draft choice, Nicklas Jensen, and forward Bill Sweatt. The recalls failed to produce, however, as the Canucks lost to the San Jose Sharks 3–2. The following day, the Canucks acquired centre Derek Roy from the Dallas Stars for Kevin Connauton and a second-round draft pick. The trade was believed to be an attempt to fill a hole at centre while Kesler was out with an injury. The expectation was that Roy would become the team's third line center once Kesler returned to the line-up, though the possibility of the two playing together was proposed.  At the NHL trade deadline, Vancouver failed to trade Luongo. They were reportedly close to a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which eventually fell through. In response to finding out that he would not be traded, Luongo stated, "My contract sucks — that's what's the problem," and would "scrap it if I could now." The Canucks felt they needed more size and grit in their line-up and attempted to add some though trades. However, they missed out on acquiring Ryane Clowe and Raffi Torres. Clowe chose to waive his no-trade clause to go to the New York Rangers so he could play in the Eastern Conference. The Coyotes traded Torres to the Sharks, as they considered San Jose's third-round pick more attractive than the Canucks' third-rounder.
  In his first game as a Canuck, Roy tallied an assist helping Vancouver to a 4–0 win. The win moved the Canucks passed Minnesota for the division lead. The shutout marked Schneider's fourth of the season, which doubled his career total. Two games later, Schneider registered his fifth shutout of the season in a 2–0 over the Coyotes, tying him for the League lead. The game also marked the return of Kesler, who scored the game-winning goal. Minnesota slumped towards the end of the season and the Canucks won their fifth-straight Northwest Division title with a 2–1 victory over the Blackhawks. In the game, Schneider suffered a groin injury and was unable to play the last two games of the season; he was listed by the Canucks as day-to-day with a "body" injury. With Schneider out, the Canucks lost their final two regular season games. In their final loss, Vigneault rested many of his regulars, though he received criticism for playing Henrik Sedin for only 22 seconds. Furthermore, Sedin left the bench after his one shift. The Los Angeles Times' Helene Elliott called it a cheap way of keeping Sedin's ironman streak intact. For his part, Henrik Sedin told Vigneault that "he would be okay with sitting out the game" and to him the streak is just "a number in the paper." Vigneault responded by telling Sedin that "he's not going to be the one that breaks the streak," and he gave him the choice to remain on the bench or return to the locker room. Sedin felt remaining on the bench would have been a further distraction and chose to leave. By season's end, the Sedin twins' point production dropped from the previous years. Henrik's point points-per-game average was the lowest it had been since 2007–08, while Daniel's was his worst since 2003–04. The Cauncks' power play also struggled throughout the year dropping from fourth in 2011–12 to 23rd in the League.
caption: Derek Roy was acquired around the trade deadline to help add offense.
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