'DID YOU KNOW' - An Unlikely 40

This tidbit of info comes from a custom card creator that has been going about building his own collection of Vancouver Canucks cards to be sent through the mail to be signed.

He was showing off some of his newest successes and mentioned a stat that made me do a double-take.  I was intrigued and thus started digging for more information.


If I asked you to name some of the top snipers in Vancouver Canucks history, who comes to mind?

Pavel Bure?  Markus Naslund?  Daniel Sedin?  Tony Tanti?

Trevor Linden?

OK......I know Trev isn't a guy that put the puck in the net that often (although he did pot 30+ goals in 6 different seasons) but Vancouver has never been known as a team that has that uber-scorer.

note: I don't count Bure.  He needed to have more than just 2 good seasons.

Where am I going with this?  Stay with me.

If I were to ask you who the first Canuck to score 40 goals was, would you be able to name him?

Thomas Gradin?  Stan Smyl?  Andre Boudrias?

Wrong.  It's somebody who never would have entered my brain.

Ron Sedlbauer.  He had one fantastic season in 1978/79 where he scored 40 goals for a Canucks team that seemed to be going nowhere.

It must have been those fancy new "V" uniforms that did it.

But that's not the most interesting part of the story.  With Ron's 40-goal season, a new NHL record was set.

DID YOU KNOW: Ron Sedlbauer holds the NHL record for recording the lowest number of assists in a 40-goal season.

Definitely a one-dimensional player, Sedlbauer contributed just 16 assists to his impressive 40-goal output.  I call 'puck hog'.

That record stood as his and his alone until the 2003/04 season.  Can you guess who tied the record?
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The New York Rangers newest saviour......Rick Nash.

This might just go down as the oddest of odd couples when it comes to an NHL record.


Back to Sedlbauer.....I thought I'd give him the spotlight for a couple moments (since he may never pop up again).

Ron was Vancouver's first draft pick (23rd overall) in the 1974 Amateur Draft.  Some guy named Bryan Trottier was picked 22nd.  Not bad company at all.

He was drafted ahead of Hall of Famer Mark Howe, All-Stars Danny Gare, Charlie Simmer, Mike Rogers and Ron Greshner.  He was also picked ahead of two other Canucks greats - Harold Snepsts and Tiger Williams (who was drafted by Toronto and later traded to the Canucks).

Sedlbauer played a total of 430 games in the NHL and tallied 143 goals and 86 assists.  His (then) team record 40-goal season included 15 on the powerplay (also a team record).

His linemates that year?  Chris Oddleifson and Hillard Graves.  Two more guys who will probably never get any more face time on this (or most other) blogs.

What made that 1978/79 season so special?  Who knows.  But it's one that  still holds a place in the NHL record books.

Now you know.