1976 – 77 Vancouver Canucks season The 1976 – 77 Vancouver Canucks season was the team ' s seventh in the NHL . The Canucks failed to reach the playoffs . Phil Maloney , the teams general manager and head coach , was replaced mid - season as head coach by Orland Kurtenbach , the first captain of the Canucks . Off - season . The Canucks made a complete change in the goal department for the 1976 - 77 season . On August 23 , disgruntled Gary Smith was traded to Minnesota for veteran Cesare Maniago . Born and raised in Trail , Maniago became the first home - grown British Columbian to be a Canucks regular . In September , Ken Lockett signed as a free - agent with San Diego of the World Hockey Association . The back - up job was inherited by Curt Ridley . Both goalies would see plenty of rubber . The retirement of Andre Boudrias meant that the captaincy was available and Chris Oddleifson filled the vacancy . Regular season . Sophomore right - winger Rick Blight scored four goals in a 9 - 5 loss in Pittsburgh on opening night and continued to lead the team in scoring throughout the season , finishing with 68 points . The loss was a sign of things to come , as the Canucks won only five of their first 24 games . After a 5 - 4 home loss to Montreal on December 20 , Phil Maloney decided that he needed more time to concentrate on his General Manager duties and called up ex - Canuck captain Orland Kurtenbach from Tulsa of the Central League to coach the remainder of the season . He started off with a 3 - 2 win in Los Angeles before winning only one of his next eight . In the middle of that streak was a game that did not count but garnered considerable attention . The Canucks hosted the Soviet club Spartak Moscow on December 28 at the Pacific Coliseum . Rick Blight scored twice and Curt Ridley picked up a shutout as the Canucks won 2 - 0 before a jubilant full house . On January 25 there was another special event at the Coliseum — the NHL All - Star Game . Harold Snepsts represented the Canucks in the mid - season classic , which was won 4 - 3 by the Wales Conference . But the team stumbled along until March , perhaps partly due to the infrequent play of rugged defenseman Mike Robitaille , who was having back problems . Then in a February 11 game against Pittsburgh , which the Canucks won 3 - 2 , Robitaille came out of the penalty box and was blind - sided by Penguins tough - guy Dennis Owchar . Robitaille suffered a spinal injury and never played again . He later sued the Canucks for forcing him to play hurt , misdiagnosing his injuries , and making slanderous comments about him ( calling him a “ head case ” and a hypochondria c ) and was awarded $ 540 , 000 by the Supreme Court of B . C . in 1978 . With 17 games to play , there seemed to be no hope of salvaging the season , as the Canucks trailed Chicago for the third and final Smythe Division playoff spot by 15 points . But Vancouver went 8 - 3 - 6 , which included a 10 - game unbeaten streak ( 5 - 0 - 5 ) . Chicago , meanwhile , took a nose dive and went 3 - 13 - 1 to finish up . The Canucks won both key meetings with the Black Hawks during that stretch . Unfortunately , they had to come from too far behind and a 6 - 3 home loss to Colorado in game number 79 eliminated them from playoff contention . They then won 6 - 3 over Minnesota in the finale to finish with 63 points , causing them to miss the final playoff spot to the Hawks on a tiebreaker ( 26 - 25 in wins ) . Besides Blight ' s fine season , Dennis Kearns upped his franchise record for defensemen to 55 assists and set a new record with 60 points . But Kearns was also often the victim of the Coliseum boo - birds for his apparent lack of physical play and a tendency to make bad gambles . In any event , it was apparent that the modest success of the previous couple of seasons had gone for naught and that it was once again back to the drawing board . Draft picks . Vancouver ' s picks at the 1976 NHL Entry Draft . The draft was at the NHL office in Montreal , Quebec , Canada .