Top 50 Canucks players of all time: #38 – Geoff Courtnall

Join us this summer as we count down the top 50 Vancouver Canucks players of all time! #38: Geoff Courtnall

Geoff Courtnall was a durable, dependable and productive member of the Vancouver Canucks for parts of five seasons in the mid-1990s. While his 246 points in 292 regular season games made him a valuable contributor, where Courtnall really shined – and what has him ranked 38th on our list – was his knack for stepping up in the playoffs.

The Victoria native produced 61 points in 65 career playoff games for the Canucks, including 19 in 24 games on the team’s run to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. A gritty competitor with a knack for finding loose pucks around the net, Courtnall had back-to-back seasons of 70 and 77 points in 1992-93 and 1993-94. In the first of those years, he shared the National Hockey League lead with 11 game-winning goals. Twice in his time in Vancouver, the winger scored a dozen power play goals in a season. Courtnall sits 30th among all Canucks in franchise goals and 32nd in points. But again, where his legend grows is that to this day, he is third all time in postseason goal scoring and fifth in franchise history in playoff points. When the games got tough, Geoff Courtnall found a way to elevate his performance.

Acquired by the Canucks in a blockbuster deal in March 1991, Courtnall arrived in Vancouver along with Cliff Ronning, Sergio Momesso and Robert Dirk in exchange for Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher. It was a trade that certainly accelerated the team’s ability to compete for a championship. The Canucks got close in 1994, but fell a game short in the Final. Courtnall, however, was already a Stanley Cup champion when he arrived in Vancouver, getting his hands – and his name – on the trophy as a member of the Edmonton Oilers in 1988. Geoff Courtnall’s time in Vancouver ended after the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season when he signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues.

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko