page_title: Stan Smyl
section_title: Captaincy and retirement (1982–91)
hierarchical_section_title: Stan Smyl / Playing career / Vancouver Canucks / Captaincy and retirement (1982–91)
caption_attribution_description: English: Banner in GM Place in Vancouver honouring Stan Smyl, who played for the Vancouver Canucks from 1978 until 1991.
context_page_description: Stanley Philip Smyl is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. As a junior, he appeared in three consecutive Memorial Cups with the New Westminster Bruins, winning the championship in 1977 and 1978. He was selected 40th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft and went on to play his entire National Hockey League career with the team until his retirement in 1991. Smyl was born in Glendon, Alberta, but grew up in St. Paul, Alberta.
  Nicknamed "Steamer" by the Bellingham Blazer fans for his relentless and hard-nosed style of play, he served as captain for a team record eight seasons, later tied by Henrik Sedin. He retired as the Canucks' all-time leader in games played, goals, assists and points – all of which have been since surpassed by Trevor Linden and Markus Näslund. His assist record was also passed by Henrik Sedin. Smyl's number 12 was the first retired number in Canucks' history, as it was raised to the Pacific Coliseum rafters in 1991. It now hangs with Pavel Bure's number 10, Trevor Linden's number 16, and Markus Näslund's number 19, Daniel Sedin’s number 22, and Henrik Sedin’s number 33 at Rogers Arena.
context_section_description: During the subsequent off-season, Canucks general manager Harry Neale appointed Smyl as McCarthy's permanent successor as team captain. The decision was influenced by the Canucks' run to the Finals under Smyl's captaincy. Neale commented, "We reached a tremendous high last spring under Stan as captain and we feel we want to continue that atmosphere." Consequently, McCarthy asked to be traded, but remained with the team for one-and-a-half seasons thereafter until he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in January 1984.
  In his first full season as captain, Smyl recorded career highs with 38 goals and 50 assists. In addition to leading the club in scoring for the second time in his career, his 88 points established a club record (it was broken by Patrik Sundström's 91 points the following season). Late in the campaign, he recorded the most prolific month by a Canucks player in team history with 31 points (10 goals and 21 assists) over 16 games in March 1983. During that span, he reeled off a 13-game point streak from February 27 to March 23 that included eight goals and 27 points. At 13 games, the streak surpassed the previous team record he set in 1980, but was quickly broken by teammate Darcy Rota six days later with a 14-game scoring streak of his own. Smyl, Rota and Gradin formed a high-scoring top line for Vancouver; all three teammates finished among the league's top 30 players in points. Entering the 1983 playoffs, the Canucks attempted to defend their Campbell Trophy of the previous season, but were defeated in four games of a best-of-five series against the Calgary Flames. Smyl helped the Canucks stave off elimination in game three, scoring the game winning goal with 57 seconds to go in regulation, but they were defeated the following game.
  The following season in 1983–84, Smyl's production dipped to 67 points. Vancouver met the Flames in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year, losing in four games once more. Smyl and the Canucks would not qualify for the playoffs again for five years. He remained in the 60-point range in the 1984–85 and 1985–86 seasons. On February 27, 1985, Smyl scored his 187th career goal to pass Don Lever as the Canucks' all-time leading goal-scorer.
  Late in the 1985–86 season, Smyl suffered torn knee ligaments due to a blindsiding check from opposing forward Alain Côté during the final minute of a 7–6 win against the Quebec Nordiques on March 26, 1987. He was sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. In the off-season, Smyl was re-signed by the Canucks to a multi-year contract in July 1986.
  The following season, the Canucks met the Nordiques in a game on October 13, 1986. Smyl fought Côté during the game, but he was consequently sidelined by re-injuring his knee. Upon returning to the lineup, Smyl was involved in an altercation with Montreal Canadiens forward Stéphane Richer that led to a bench-clearing brawl during a game on November 2. After spearing Richer late in the third period, Canadiens forward Claude Lemieux then sucker-punched Smyl in the head on his way to the bench. A total of 139 penalty minutes were assessed to both teams and the Canadiens went on to win the game 5–3.
  Later in the season, Smyl became the Canucks' all-time leader in regular season games played with 648, passing Harold Snepsts in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on November 5, 1985. The following month, Smyl became the Canucks all-time points leader on December 14, 1986. Notching his sixth career hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks, he recorded his 551st career point to pass Thomas Gradin's all-time leading mark of 550. A little over a month later, Smyl was awarded the first and only penalty shot of his NHL career during a game against the Calgary Flames on January 16, 1987. Facing goaltender Mike Vernon, he scored to help the Canucks win 9–5. There was speculation at the trade deadline in March 1987 that Smyl would be traded to a playoff contender, as the Canucks were in the midst of another losing season. Smyl responded by asserting that Vancouver was his home and he had no
caption: Smyl's retired #12 banner at Rogers Arena
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