ROBERTO LUONGO:
Midway through the campaign he made his first All-Star Game appearance as a starter — his second appearance overall — and was named the Skills Competition's top goalie. A week prior to the All-Star Game, Luongo was hospitalized after taking a puck to the throat in practice. He spent the night in the intensive care unit for fears his windpipe would swell shut. Discharged from the hospital on game day, Luongo recorded a shutout that night against the Montreal Canadiens on January 16, 2007.He went on to lead the Canucks to a Northwest Division title, seeding third in the Western Conference, after they failed to make the playoffs the previous season. Luongo would also shatter Kirk McLean's franchise record of 38 wins in a season with 47. That same mark would also tie Bernie Parents thirty-three-year NHL record of wins in a season, although Martin Brodeur would also reach and succeed that mark that same year (Luongo and Brodeur's achievements are, however, considered to be somewhat skewed, given that it was the first season the NHL made ties obsolete with shootouts, generating more wins than in the past). It was assumed that Luongo would achieve better statistics than in the past, backstopping a more successful team compared to the Panthers, who had never made the playoffs in Luongo's tenure with them. He would, in fact, set career highs in wins and goals-against-average, as well as the second highest save percentage of his career.
Click om images to make larger
Jerseys
8x10 Photo's
16x20 Photo's
RYAN KESLER:
With the departures of Markus Näslund, Brendan Morrison, and Trevor Linden following the 2007–08 season, the Canucks were left without any captains for the 2008–09 NHL season. On September 30, 2008, Kesler was announced as a Canucks alternate captain with Willie Mitchell and Mattias Öhlund, while Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was named captain. While he, at first, continued to play on the third line in a largely defensive role with Burrows, head coach Alain Vigneault eventually split the duo in the midst of a poor January for the team. As a result, Kesler was placed on the second line with free agent acquisitions Pavol Demitra and Mats Sundin. Playing in a more offensive role, he set personal statistical bests for the 2008–09 season, with 26 goals, 33 assists and 59 points. As a result, he was awarded the Cyclone Taylor Award as team MVP. Kesler gained more league-wide recognition as a Selke Trophy finalist along with Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings and Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers, finishing as the second runner-up with one first-place vote.
Jersey's
8x10 Photo's
