Top 5 Canucks of the 1980's

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Tanner Bartsch
November 17, 2022 (4:24 PM)

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We've been ranking the top 5 Canucks of each decade. Yesterday we came up with the best Canucks of the 1970's. Today we have the best Canucks of the 1980's. The Flying V era was an iconic era for Vancouver, as they carved out their name in the National Hockey League. Here are the top 5 players of the 1980's:

#1 STAN SMYL
GOALS-264 ASSISTS-411 POINTS-675

Stan Smyl was a famous captain for the Vancouver Canucks. Known for his power forward style and hard-nose grit, he kept the puck moving forward all game long. Also known as the Steamer, Stan Smyl played his entire career with the Vancouver Canucks retiring in 1991.

#2 THOMAS GRADIN
GOALS-197 ASSISTS-353 POINTS-550

Thomas Gradin was an excellent center for the Vancouver Canucks in the 1980's. During the 1983-84 NHL season, he became the Canuck's all time leading scorer. He passed Don Lever's 407 points when he scored his 408th point and the next season he was invited to play in the NHL All-Star game.

#3 TONY TANTI
GOALS-250 ASSISTS-220 POINTS-470

Tony Tanti was a fireball as a right wing forward every time he was on the ice for the Vancouver Canucks. Before the times of Pavel Bure, there was the pure-goal scorer and wrecking ball that was Tony Tanti. He collected 661 penalty minutes throughout his NHL career. Tony was known for dropping the gloves and fighting with the best of them almost as much as he was known for lighting the lamp and scoring goals.

#4 DOUG LIDSTER
GOALS-65 ASSISTS-242 POINTS-307

Doug Lidster was never known for the hardest shot in the NHL but he was one of the smoothest skaters and passers of the puck. Lidster collected 307 points as his time as a Canuck and is 5th all time in Canucks scoring for defenders. Probably not long with the likes of Quinn Hughes rapidly scoring at the elite rate he does every night.

#5 RICHARD BRODEUR
SAVE %-.892 GAA-.388

"King" Richard Brodeur may not look like he has the best goaltender stats but keep in mind: this was the 1980's and playing defense as a forward hadn't been invented yet. Richard Brodeur was one of the first iconic goalies to don the Canucks uniform. Only Roberto Luongo and Kirk McLean have played more games as a Vancouver Canuck than Richard Brodeur. The craziest fact? Richard Brodeur was only 5'7 in height!