The Nationa Hockey League announced the Vancouver Canucks quarter-century first and second team on Tuesday morning. Both teams are scattered with old and current players.
Here are the first and second Canucks quarter-century teams.
Markus Naslund – Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin
Alex Edler – Quinn Hughes
Roberto Luongo
Ryan Kesler – JT Miller – Elias Pettersson
Kevin Bieksa – Mattias Öhlund
Thatcher Demko
Players are in alphabetical order, not in proper positioning.
Meet the @Canucks‘ Quarter-Century Team! #NHLQCTeam
Read more here ➡️ https://t.co/XzTmdTWZ1B pic.twitter.com/iXTkkgXfVM
— NHL (@NHL) January 21, 2025
Of the 12 players, there are four current members of the Canucks and six members of the infamous 2011 President’s Trophy and Stanley Cup run team.
Forwards Elias Pettersson and JT Miller, defenceman Quinn Hughes and goaltender Thatcher Demko are the current players. With forwards Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, defencemen Alex Edler, Kevin Bieksa and goaltender Roberto Luongo round up the 2011 squad. Both Markus Naslund and Mattias Öhlund played prior to that.
There are four Canucks captains on this list, Markus Naslund, Roberto Luongo, Henrik Sedin and Quinn Hughes. The only captain in the quarter-century not on this list is now New York Islander Bo Horvat – technically, there was one more, but Canucks fans don’t want to talk about Mark Messier.
Naslund earned the captaincy in September of 2000 and served for eight years before leaving in free agency in 2008. Luongo replaced Naslund as the captain in 2008, becoming the first goalie to be named captain since the 1947-1948 season when Bill Durnan wore it. Luongo wore the ‘C’ on the chin of his mask for two seasons before stepping down as the club’s captain.
His successor was Henrik Sedin. Henrik was coming off a career year, scoring 29 goals and 112 points, taking home the NHL’s Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy in 2010 before earning the ‘C’ on his jersey. He served as the Canucks captain until he and his brother retired in 2018.
Horvat would take over for four seasons before he was dealt. Quinn Hughes was given the honour in 2023 and is currently in his second season of captaincy. His first season was one to remember, as Hughes led the league in defensive scoring, registering 17 goals and 92 points. These efforts earned him the franchise’s first Norris trophy win.
The entire quarter-century team is riddled with franchise records:
Games: 1st – Henrik Sedin (1,330), 2nd – Daniel Sedin (1,306), 5th – Markus Naslund (884), 7th – Ryan Kesler (655), 22nd – Elias Pettersson (446), 27th – JT Miller (399)
Points: 1st – Henrik Sedin (1,070), 2nd – Daniel Sedin (1,041), 3rd – Markus Naslund (756), 10th – Elias Pettersson (441), 11th – JT Miller (433), 15th – Ryan Kesler (393)
Goals: 1st – Daniel Sedin (393), 2nd – Markus Naslund (346), 7th – Henrik Sedin (240), 14th – Ryan Kesler (182), 15th – Elias Pettersson (180), 18th – JT Miller (151)
Assists: 1st – Henrik Sedin (830), 2nd – Daniel Sedin (648), 5th – Markus Naslund (410), 7th – JT Miller (282), 9th – Elias Pettersson (261), 18th – Ryan Kesler (211)
Plus/Minus: 1st – Henrik Sedin (+165), 2nd – Daniel Sedin (+147), 5th – Elias Pettersson (+51), 9th – JT Miller (+38), 12th – Ryan Kesler (+25), 72nd – Markus Naslund (+2)
Games: 1st – Alex Edler (925), 3rd – Mattias Öhlund (770), 7th – Kevin Bieksa (597), 15th – Quinn Hughes (406)
Points: 1st – Alex Edler (409), 2nd – Quinn Hughes (383), 3rd – Mattias Öhlund (325), 7th – Kevin Bieksa (241)
Goal: 1st – Alex Edler (99), 2nd – Mattias Öhlund (93), 8th – Kevin Bieksa (56), 9th – Quinn Hughes (55)
Assists: 1st – Quinn Hughes (328), 2nd – Alex Edler (310), 6th – Mattias Öhlund (232), 7th – Kevin Bieksa (185)
Plus/Minus: 9th – Quinn Hughes (+42), 13th – Kevin Bieksa (+22), 30th – Mattias Öhlund (+9), 200th – Alex Edler (-36)
Games: 2nd – Roberto Luongo (448), 4th – Thatcher Demko (229)
Wins: 1st – Roberto Luongo (252), 4th – Thatcher Demko (119)
Shutouts: 1st – Roberto Luongo (38), 7th – Thatcher Demko (8)
Goals Against Average: 2nd – Roberto Luongo (2.36), 15th – Thatcher Demko (2.81)
Save Percentage: 2nd – Roberto Luongo (.919%), 7th – Thathcer Demko (.911%)
Among the list of the best Canucks, there are two Art Ross Trophy winners (Henrik and Daniel Sedin), two Ted Lindsay Award winners (Daniel Sedin and Markus Naslund), two King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Henrik x2 and Daniel Sedin), one Hart Trophy winner (Henrik Sedin), one James Norris Memorial Trophy (Quinn Hughes), one Frank J. Selke Trophy (Ryan Kesler), one Calder memorial trophy (Elias Pettersson) and one William M. Jennings Trophy (Roberto Luongo).
The Sedins and Luongo have all since retired and are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Sedins and Naslund have their numbers retired by the franchise, with Luongo and Öhlund inducted in the team’s Ring of Honour in Rogers Arena. If Hughes continues on his trajectory, he will likely have his number up in the rafters by his career’s end.
What do you think, Canucks fans? Are you happy with this list? Who should have made it? And for who?
This article first appeared on Canucksarmy and was syndicated with permission.
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