I believe it. As far as I can remember, the Canucks were known as the goalie graveyard until we landed Luongo in 2006. Ever since McLean retired, goaltending was always an issue. Adding Ian Clark later really put Vancouver on the map as a goalie factory.
blueschooler
This is fascinating, I think there is a good chance the Canucks win the Cup in 04 or 06 with Kiprusoff in net
bwoah07_gp2
> He would make more than 70 starts in seven of his nine seasons in Calgary.
Truly wild by today’s standards. Kipper was a workhorse!
barelyincollege
The fact that they stuck with Dan Cloutier during the WCE’s best years in 02-04 is a travesty.
At their best, the skaters weren’t far behind the 2011 team in terms of talent and depth.
bringbackdavebabych
“Cloutier was a beloved teammate and fan favourite, but his performance in the playoffs will forever be a what-if, as in “what if the West Coast Express-era Canucks had had a better goaltender than Dan Cloutier?”
Fan-favourite? Hmmm, press X to doubt…
I remember the beach ball memes. The “jumping onto the Skytrain tracks but it went right through his legs” jokes. Obviously I definitely agree with the what-if sentiment shared here though, I’m not so sure he was ever a fan-favourite
This one is a really interesting read!
MasterpieceMain8252
I always knew we won’t win the cup with Cloutier. He was a liability
imprezivone
Kipper was the one who made me become a hockey fan!
Matr1x96
Man, Cloutier really was something else. 16 goals in the last 3 games against the Wild in the dead puck era. That team deserved better.
Horvat53
WCE needed more than a better goalie. That team was pretty good, but not well constructed and as deep as people may want to think. It could’ve been something else with the right pieces, but dismantling that roster lead to the best roster the Canucks ever has had.
stickinrink
When the Sharks rejected the trade, the second round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Johan Hedberg.
tokeyo
Lot of Cloutier hate here, but it’s important to remember the team didn’t really play with a solid defensive structure for a long time under Marc Crawford. The Canucks also never really had a true #1 defenseman, and even worse, their Top 4 (generally Jovanovski, Ohlund, Salo, Sopel) really struggled to stay healthy.
The Canucks did have one of the most dangerous lines in hockey for a while, but still lacked a #1 centre. Morrison was always punching above his weight class, so the team was far from perfect.
I think Cloutier did as well as could be expected of him, because he’s not a Hall of Famer that can cover up for glaring breakdowns all the time. He was guilty of some bad goals, but he was also well liked as a teammate and he was known to be fiercely competitive.
People need to go back and watch some of the tapes, the WCE era teams were pretty soft in their own zone.
HenrikFromDaniel
Flames traded their 2005 2nd (35) to the Sharks for Kiprusoff. Sharks took Vlasic with that pick.
Canucks took Mason Raymond with their 2nd (51)
funkiemarky
One of 2 of the only flames players I’ve ever liked. Kipper and Iggy.
Elastoid
Burke called Vancouver a goalie graveyard but the reality is Burke is terrible at evaluating goaltender talent. When he was GM of Toronto they did not love their goalies.
14 Comments
I believe it. As far as I can remember, the Canucks were known as the goalie graveyard until we landed Luongo in 2006. Ever since McLean retired, goaltending was always an issue. Adding Ian Clark later really put Vancouver on the map as a goalie factory.
This is fascinating, I think there is a good chance the Canucks win the Cup in 04 or 06 with Kiprusoff in net
> He would make more than 70 starts in seven of his nine seasons in Calgary.
Truly wild by today’s standards. Kipper was a workhorse!
The fact that they stuck with Dan Cloutier during the WCE’s best years in 02-04 is a travesty.
At their best, the skaters weren’t far behind the 2011 team in terms of talent and depth.
“Cloutier was a beloved teammate and fan favourite, but his performance in the playoffs will forever be a what-if, as in “what if the West Coast Express-era Canucks had had a better goaltender than Dan Cloutier?”
Fan-favourite? Hmmm, press X to doubt…
I remember the beach ball memes. The “jumping onto the Skytrain tracks but it went right through his legs” jokes. Obviously I definitely agree with the what-if sentiment shared here though, I’m not so sure he was ever a fan-favourite
This one is a really interesting read!
I always knew we won’t win the cup with Cloutier. He was a liability
Kipper was the one who made me become a hockey fan!
Man, Cloutier really was something else. 16 goals in the last 3 games against the Wild in the dead puck era. That team deserved better.
WCE needed more than a better goalie. That team was pretty good, but not well constructed and as deep as people may want to think. It could’ve been something else with the right pieces, but dismantling that roster lead to the best roster the Canucks ever has had.
When the Sharks rejected the trade, the second round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Johan Hedberg.
Lot of Cloutier hate here, but it’s important to remember the team didn’t really play with a solid defensive structure for a long time under Marc Crawford. The Canucks also never really had a true #1 defenseman, and even worse, their Top 4 (generally Jovanovski, Ohlund, Salo, Sopel) really struggled to stay healthy.
The Canucks did have one of the most dangerous lines in hockey for a while, but still lacked a #1 centre. Morrison was always punching above his weight class, so the team was far from perfect.
I think Cloutier did as well as could be expected of him, because he’s not a Hall of Famer that can cover up for glaring breakdowns all the time. He was guilty of some bad goals, but he was also well liked as a teammate and he was known to be fiercely competitive.
People need to go back and watch some of the tapes, the WCE era teams were pretty soft in their own zone.
Flames traded their 2005 2nd (35) to the Sharks for Kiprusoff. Sharks took Vlasic with that pick.
Canucks took Mason Raymond with their 2nd (51)
One of 2 of the only flames players I’ve ever liked. Kipper and Iggy.
Burke called Vancouver a goalie graveyard but the reality is Burke is terrible at evaluating goaltender talent. When he was GM of Toronto they did not love their goalies.