Geoff Courtnall was born in Victoria, BC and grew up on Vancouver Island in Duncan. His father Archie had played professional hockey and worked in the forestry industry on the Island. In 1978, When Geoff was 16, his father took his life after battling with depression.
Geoff stayed local to the island and played junior hockey with the Cowichan Valley Capitals in 1980-81. After a 76-point season in 44-games, the left-winger got the opportunity to join the Victoria Cougars in the WHL. Courtnall spent three seasons with the Cougars. His final year in 1982-83 was his best. Courtnall had 41-goals and 114-points in 71-games. Nonetheless, Courtnall was not drafted by an NHL team. That summer, the Boston Bruins were able to sign him as a free agent.
Courtnall played five seasons with the Bruins with his best year in 1987-88. Courtnall had set a career-high with 32-goals and 58-points in 62-games with the Bruins. In March, Boston traded Courtnall to the Edmonton Oilers along with Bill Ranford and a 2nd round pick in exchange for goaltender Andy Moog. This was an interesting trade since Moog was sitting out the season due to a contract dispute and refusal to re-sign with Edmonton as a Restricted Free Agent. Edmonton took their time with Moog in an attempt to maximise their return. Not only did they succeed in getting a great return, that year the Stanley Cup Final was between Edmonton and Boston. Courtnall and the Oilers got the last laugh as they swept the Bruins in the final to win the Stanley Cup.
Courtnall was traded in the off-season from Edmonton to Washington in exchange for Greg Adams. Courtnall played two-seasons in Washington and set a new career-high in 1988-89 with 42-goals and 80-points in 79-games. After the following season, Courtnall had requested a trade from the Capitals and was moved to St. Louis in exchange for Mike Lalor & Peter Zezel.
Courtnall played 66-games with the Blues before he was traded mid-season to the Canucks in a blockbuster along with Cliff Ronning, Robert Dirk, Sergio Momesso, and a fifth-round pick in exchange for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn.
For Vancouver, this was a trade that set the team up for their iconic run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. Courtnall continued to produce in Vancouver. After the trade he had 8-points in 11-games and 8-points in 6-games of the playoffs. The following year was a bit of a down year for Courtnall who only had 57-points in 70-games during the regular season. That said, Courtnall was certainly a playoff performer. The winger had 14-points in 12-playoff games.
Things started to click again in the regular season of 1992-93. Courtnall scored 31-goals and had 77-points in 84-games. He had another 14-points in 12-playoff games.
In 1993-94 Courtnall finished second to Pavel Bure’s 107-points with 70-points in the regular season. Courtnall was third on the team in playoff scoring behind Trevor Linden & Pavel Bure. Courtnall had 9-goals and 19-points in the postseason. Courtnall had a primary assist on Trevor Linden’s 3rd-period power play goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Rangers, but Vancouver fell short and lost the game by a score of 3-2.
Courtnall played with Vancouver in 1994-95 which was a shortened season due to the lockout. Courtnall had 34-points in 45-games. In the off-season Courtnall signed with St. Louis where he finished his playing career as a Blue.
Courtnall played five additional seasons with the Blues but missed significant time in his final two-years after suffering multiple concussions. Concussions ultimately ended his career in 1999 as he suffered another concussion early in the season and suffered from post-concussion symptoms.
Post playing career, Courtnall claims to have likely had over twenty concussions from playing hockey. It affected his mental health and led to a drinking problem which was brought to attention by former teammate Cam Neely during the 2010 Olympics. Courtnall has since quit drinking. In Victoria, he and his brother Russ, established the Archie Courtnall centre for emergency psychiatric care at the Royal Jubilee Hospital.
As an undrafted free agent, Courtnall had an impressive 17-year career. He played in 1048-games with 799-points in the regular season. Although he ranks 32nd in regular season scoring for Vancouver, Courtnall was especially clutch in the playoffs. Courtnall had 61-points in 65-playoff games with the Canucks which is 5th all-time behind Bure, the Sedins, and Trevor Linden.
Knight_On_Fire
Behind him is Phil Housely whose “you can’t touch me or this puck” skating ability probably makes him the biggest comparable to Quinn Hughes that I know of, at least in terms of style. Of course Hughes is way better offensively.
sandiercy
He had a restaurant in Vancouver that I went to after a Grizzlies game with my dad where I had my first beer. Very cool place.
5 Comments
32. Geoff Courtnall — 292GP | 102G | 144A | 246P | 1991-1995
Geoff Courtnall was born in Victoria, BC and grew up on Vancouver Island in Duncan. His father Archie had played professional hockey and worked in the forestry industry on the Island. In 1978, When Geoff was 16, his father took his life after battling with depression.
Geoff stayed local to the island and played junior hockey with the Cowichan Valley Capitals in 1980-81. After a 76-point season in 44-games, the left-winger got the opportunity to join the Victoria Cougars in the WHL. Courtnall spent three seasons with the Cougars. His final year in 1982-83 was his best. Courtnall had 41-goals and 114-points in 71-games. Nonetheless, Courtnall was not drafted by an NHL team. That summer, the Boston Bruins were able to sign him as a free agent.
Courtnall played five seasons with the Bruins with his best year in 1987-88. Courtnall had set a career-high with 32-goals and 58-points in 62-games with the Bruins. In March, Boston traded Courtnall to the Edmonton Oilers along with Bill Ranford and a 2nd round pick in exchange for goaltender Andy Moog. This was an interesting trade since Moog was sitting out the season due to a contract dispute and refusal to re-sign with Edmonton as a Restricted Free Agent. Edmonton took their time with Moog in an attempt to maximise their return. Not only did they succeed in getting a great return, that year the Stanley Cup Final was between Edmonton and Boston. Courtnall and the Oilers got the last laugh as they swept the Bruins in the final to win the Stanley Cup.
Courtnall was traded in the off-season from Edmonton to Washington in exchange for Greg Adams. Courtnall played two-seasons in Washington and set a new career-high in 1988-89 with 42-goals and 80-points in 79-games. After the following season, Courtnall had requested a trade from the Capitals and was moved to St. Louis in exchange for Mike Lalor & Peter Zezel.
Courtnall played 66-games with the Blues before he was traded mid-season to the Canucks in a blockbuster along with Cliff Ronning, Robert Dirk, Sergio Momesso, and a fifth-round pick in exchange for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn.
For Vancouver, this was a trade that set the team up for their iconic run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. Courtnall continued to produce in Vancouver. After the trade he had 8-points in 11-games and 8-points in 6-games of the playoffs. The following year was a bit of a down year for Courtnall who only had 57-points in 70-games during the regular season. That said, Courtnall was certainly a playoff performer. The winger had 14-points in 12-playoff games.
Things started to click again in the regular season of 1992-93. Courtnall scored 31-goals and had 77-points in 84-games. He had another 14-points in 12-playoff games.
In 1993-94 Courtnall finished second to Pavel Bure’s 107-points with 70-points in the regular season. Courtnall was third on the team in playoff scoring behind Trevor Linden & Pavel Bure. Courtnall had 9-goals and 19-points in the postseason. Courtnall had a primary assist on Trevor Linden’s 3rd-period power play goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Rangers, but Vancouver fell short and lost the game by a score of 3-2.
Courtnall played with Vancouver in 1994-95 which was a shortened season due to the lockout. Courtnall had 34-points in 45-games. In the off-season Courtnall signed with St. Louis where he finished his playing career as a Blue.
Courtnall played five additional seasons with the Blues but missed significant time in his final two-years after suffering multiple concussions. Concussions ultimately ended his career in 1999 as he suffered another concussion early in the season and suffered from post-concussion symptoms.
Post playing career, Courtnall claims to have likely had over twenty concussions from playing hockey. It affected his mental health and led to a drinking problem which was brought to attention by former teammate Cam Neely during the 2010 Olympics. Courtnall has since quit drinking. In Victoria, he and his brother Russ, established the Archie Courtnall centre for emergency psychiatric care at the Royal Jubilee Hospital.
As an undrafted free agent, Courtnall had an impressive 17-year career. He played in 1048-games with 799-points in the regular season. Although he ranks 32nd in regular season scoring for Vancouver, Courtnall was especially clutch in the playoffs. Courtnall had 61-points in 65-playoff games with the Canucks which is 5th all-time behind Bure, the Sedins, and Trevor Linden.
Behind him is Phil Housely whose “you can’t touch me or this puck” skating ability probably makes him the biggest comparable to Quinn Hughes that I know of, at least in terms of style. Of course Hughes is way better offensively.
He had a restaurant in Vancouver that I went to after a Grizzlies game with my dad where I had my first beer. Very cool place.
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