2011 - 12 Vancouver Canucks season The 2011 – 12 Vancouver season was the 42nd season in the modern Canucks ' history . The Vancouver Canucks are the defending Western conference champions and three time defending Northwest division champions . The Canucks opened the regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on October 6 . Their final regular season game was held at Rogers Arena against the Edmonton Oilers on April 7 , 2012 . The Vancouver Canucks won their second consecutive Presidents ' Trophy on the final day of the regular season when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers . Despite entering the playoffs as the top seed , the Canucks were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five games by the Los Angeles Kings . Offseason . NHL Entry Draft . The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was held June 24 – 25 , 2011 at the Xcel Energy Center in St . 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 Honzik , Alexandre Grenier , Joseph LaBate , Ludwig Blomstrand , Frank Corrado , Pathrik Westerholm and Henrik Tommernes . 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 will replace the Victoria Salmon Kings and begin 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 Ryan Kesler , Mason Raymond , Christian Ehrhoff and Raffi Torres . Both Kesler and Raymond were recovering from injuries sustained in the prior season while Ehrhoff and Torres had changed teams , through trade and free agency respectively , during the offseason . Citing the shortened offseason 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 Vancouver 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 will 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 will also be wearing 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 offseason . 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 . The Canucks won the game by a score of 5 – 1 that 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 . Schedule and results . Playoffs . The Vancouver Canucks clinched the Presidents ' Trophy for the second consecutive year , thus guaranteeing themselves home ice advantage for the duration of the playoffs . Player stats . Skaters . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / - = Plus / Minus ; PIM = Penalty Minutes " 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 " 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 . Draft Picks . Vancouver ' s picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St . Paul , Minnesota .