Canucks take another step forward
Canadian Press
4/23/2003
VANCOUVER (CP) - Trevor Linden, who has been part of the Vancouver Canucks pride and the humiliation, called it a defining moment.
For general manager Brian Burke it was another cobblestone laid in the Canucks often rocky road from being the NHL's court jester to becoming a legitimate challenger to the throne.
For the long-suffering Vancouver fans the Canucks beating the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in Tuesday's Game 7 of their first-round playoff series - after falling behind 3-1 - was a moment to savour like a fine wine. After all, you never know how many drinks are left in the bottle.
``You talk about defining moments and this certainly was one,'' said Linden, the former Canucks captain who was chased out of town during Mike Keenan's reign of unpredictability then reincarnated when Burke traded to bring him back. ``I said all along this team would be judged by its playoff performance. We've had some tough lessons the last couple of years. We had a tough loss when we were up 2-0 against Detroit last year and not able to finish them. But we learned our lessons. We proved we were ready to make a move.''
It was the first time the Canucks had won a playoff series since 1995. The team didn't even make the playoffs in the four years between 1997 and 2000. Last year Vancouver teased its fan by taking a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings, then folded like a wet cardboard box to lose four straight.
``Coming back from 3-1 is hard to do,'' Burke said Wednesday. ``It showed character, persistence, chemistry and determination. ``What we did as a team was a big step toward the future of this team regardless of what happens for the rest of the playoffs. It's only the first step but a big step.''
For Canuck players like Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison, and Dan Cloutier, they are now heading into uncharted waters. They open the Western Conference semi-final series against the Minnesota Wild Friday at G.M Place (10:30 p.m. EST, CBC).
``I've never been past the first round,'' said Naslund, who has scored goals in the last four games. ``I'm enjoying it as much as everyone else. It's a team thing. We're a close-knit group and it's fun to enjoy it with a bunch of friends.''
When Burke was named general manager in 1998 he took over a team that was bloated with the fourth-highest salary in the NHL and heavy with eccentric personalities in Mark Messier, Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny.
The Canucks were losing money and fan support was draining away like water through a sieve.
Burke slashed the payroll from around $38 million US in 1998 to around $35 million this year. Even with the drop in budget he's still managed to resign core players like Naslund, Bertuzzi, Morrison, Mattias Ohlund and Ed Jovanovski.
The year Burke was hired the Canucks lost $36 million Cdn.
This year the club soldout 37 consecutive games and has expanded its season ticket base. Each playoff game is worth about $1 million Cdn.
``We will see a profit,'' Burke said. ``How big it is depends on how far the team goes.''
Burke first made his mark on the team by trading away Bure, the disgruntled star who wanted out of Vancouver, in a deal that brought Jovanovski to the Canucks. After playing goaltender roulette for several seasons he acquired Cloutier in a February 2001 trade.
Among his other moves was wheeling and dealing to draft Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin and acquired Morrison in a trade. This year Burke dealt for defencemen Sami Salo and Marek Malik.
He rates his best move as hiring coach Marc Crawford in January 1999 to replace the fired Keenan.
``The most important move I have made since I came here is hire Marc Crawford,'' Burke said. ``It's not about any one player trade. We have an excellent coach here.''
The Canucks finished the regular season with a franchise high 104 points and local fans were expecting a repeat of Vancouver's 1982 and 1994 treks to the Stanley Cup finals.
The bandwagon lost some passengers when the Canucks trailed 3-1 in the series, but by Tuesday night scalpers were selling good seats to Game 7 for $1,000 a pair.
After the game callers to radio phone-in programs were again planning the championship parade route.
``We're not done yet,'' Burke said. ``Our goal was not to win a round in the playoffs. Our goal is to win a championship.''
Cheers,
Aquaman