NHL Application
In 1967 Vancouver constructed the Pacific Coliseum which was a new modern arena in hopes of attracting a NHL franchise. The Western Hockey League's Canucks were playing in a small indoor arena when the city of Vancouver was trying to find a NHL team. The Vancouver Group which was headed by the former Vancouver mayor Fred Hume made a bid to be one of the six teams that were suppose to join the National Hockey League in 1967. Unfortunately, the NHL rejected their application. A year after the application was rejected the Oakland Seals were having money problems and could not attract fans to their games. There was a proposal to move the Seals to Vancouver but the NHL did not want to see one of their franchises from the expansion of 1967 move so quickly and rejected the deal. To avoid getting sued the NHL promised Vancouver would get a team in the next expansion. Another group, lead by Tom Scallen made a new presentation, and was awarded the NHL expansion franchise for the price of $6 million dollars.
1970 to 1982: Early years
In order to find players for the Canucks' roster the league had an expansion in the summer before the season started. The Canucks general manager Bud Poile chose defenceman Gary Doak as their first pick. The team also signed defenceman Pat Quinn who went on to become the team's general manager and coach in the 1990. With the Canucks' roster set, the team played its first game against the LA Kings on October 9, 1970. Two days later, the team won against the Toronto Maple leafs which was their first game in franchise history. In 1975 the Canucks made their first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs. They ended up losing in the first round and were knocked out of the contention for the Cup. The Canucks then missed the playoffs in the two seasons after that.
1994 Stanley Cup run
In 1994, the Canucks made their second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. They entered the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Even though the team had a sub-par regular season they had a remarkable playoff run that year. The Canucks started the playoffs playing the Calgary Flames. Vancouver was down three-games-to-one in a best of seven games contest. Fortunately they came back to win the series winning the next three games. Following their victory over the Flames, they defeated the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the Stanley Cup finals the Canucks were up against the New York Rangers. At one point the series was tied up three games each. In game seven Vancouver lost the game by a 3 to 2 score. The loss led to a riot in Downtown Vancouver, which resulted in property damage, injuries, and arrests.