2006–07 Vancouver Canucks | |
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Northwest Division champions
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Division | 1st Northwest |
Conference | 3rd Western |
2006–07 record | 49–26–7 |
Home record | 26–11–4 |
Road record | 23–15–3 |
Goals for | 222 |
Goals against | 201 |
Team information | |
General Manager | Dave Nonis |
Coach | Alain Vigneault |
Captain | Markus Naslund |
Alternate captains |
Trevor Linden Brendan Morrison |
Arena | General Motors Place |
Average attendance | 18,630 |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Daniel Sedin (36) |
Assists | Henrik Sedin (71) |
Points | Daniel Sedin (84) |
Penalties in minutes | Kevin Bieksa (134) |
Plus/minus | Sami Salo (+21) |
Wins | Roberto Luongo (47) |
Goals against average | Roberto Luongo (2.29) |
The 2006–07 Vancouver Canucks season was the Canucks' 37th NHL season.
The season began on the heels of a blockbuster trade involving goaltender Roberto Luongo and Lukas Krajicek coming to Vancouver in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. The acquisition of Luongo combined with the salary increases of the Sedin twins meant that the Canucks were too close to salary cap and as a result, saw names such as Ed Jovanovski, Anson Carter, Nolan Baumgartner, Jarkko Ruutu and Wade Brookbank lost to free agency.
In addition to the departures of high-profile players such as Bertuzzi, Jovanovski and Carter, General Manager Dave Nonis had fired Marc Crawford as head coach after the 2005–06 season, and replaced him with Alain Vigneault. The team also added players such as Jan Bulis, Taylor Pyatt, Marc Chouinard and Willie Mitchell, players who many thought are not as highly skilled as the ones who had recently departed. Despite the arrival of Luongo, many hockey analysts and fans predicted before the season began that the team would either miss the playoffs, or at best battle for the last playoff spots as 7th or 8th seed in the Western Conference. However, a few did foresee that the addition of a high-calibre goaltender in Luongo would propel the Canucks into the top three of the conference.