Welcome to this edition of “From The Archive”. In this recurring series, we open The Hockey News’ vault and display some of the top Vancouver Canucks related articles from the past. Today’s article comes from Volume 35, Issue 32, where The Hockey News wrote about the “The great towel-waving episode of the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs.”
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here and read the full issue here.
Canucks Spurred By Towel-Waving Vancouver Fans, Volume 35, Issue 32, May 14, 1982
The great towel-waving episode of the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs appeared to be catching on with Vancouver hockey fans and if anything it seemed to be providing the Canucks with the incentive they needed to knock off Chicago in their Campbell Conference final series.
The Canucks split the first two games in Chicago and then came back home to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven conference final for the right to oppose the Wales Conference winner—either the New York Islanders or the Quebec Nordiques—in the Stanley Cup final.
The Canucks, fined $11,000 by the NHL for waving towels on the end of hockey sticks in protest over the officiating, were getting some unexpected support from their hometown fans, who were shelling out $4.95 each to purchase the specially marked towels to wave at the Black Hawks.
Following are the capsule reports of the Campbell Conference final series.
Game One: Jim Nill’s goal at 8:58 of the second overtime gave the Canucks a 2-1 victory and first blood in the Campbell Conference championship against the Black Hawks, but the real story once again was the goaltending of Vancouver’s Richard Brodeur.
The Canucks’ 5-7, 160-pound netminder stopped all but one of 47 shots hurled his way in bringing his playoff record this year to a sparkling eight wins against just one loss. Brodeur was particularly frustrating for Doug Wilson and Tom Lysiak, two of the Black Hawks’ leading scorers, who combined for 15 shots on the Vancouver goal and came away empty.
The only goal that got past Brodeur was a backhander rolled in by Terry Ruskowski in the first period which tied the contest at 1-1 at the 10:11 mark. And it remained that way for close to 79 minutes before either team could score again.
Thomas Gradin opened the game’s scoring at 8:02 of the first period when he put in a pass from Curt Fraser for his fourth score of the playoffs.
Ruskowski notched his first playoff goal after a great set-up by Rich Preston, who carried the puck out from the corner.
Brodeur kept the Black Hawks from ever gaining the lead and his mates finally got through against 39-year-old Tony Esposito, who was coming off a shutout in the series-clincher against St. Louis.
After Brodeur made another excellent stop off Wilson five minutes into the second overtime period, the Canucks got control in the Chicago end. Defenseman Harold Snepsts sent a shot which Esposito stopped but the rebound came to Nill, who was heading towards the goal. Nill flipped the puck into the top of the net and the Canucks had a win on the road.
In fact, it was the Canucks’ fourth consecutive playoff win on the road in as many tries.
Tue. April 27 VANCOUVER 2, CHICAGO 1
Game Two: A pair of third-period goals by Chicago’s Denis Savard put the lid on the Canucks’ comeback attempts and allowed the Black Hawks to stretch a 2-1 lead to a 4-1 victory which evened the Campbell Conference final series at one game each.
The game was a long, raucous affair with 188 minutes in penalties dished out by referee Bob Myers, who banished Canucks’ coach Roger Neilson and players Dave Williams and Gerry Minor to the dressing room when the trio placed white towels on the ends of hockey sticks in apparent disgust with Myers’ officiating.
Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site:
Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 Season Series Preview: San Jose Sharks
Canucks Eliminated In Second Round Of 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Five Years Ago Today
Vancouver Canucks Announce 2025 Training Camp Ticket Information
For the second game in succession in the series, the Black Hawks dominated first-period action, finally grabbing their first lead on a goal by Glen Sharpley at 18:28. Sharpley came up with the puck behind the Canuck goal, skated out front, and while two Vancouver defensemen concerned themselves with Ted Bulley, shot one at Richard Brodeur and then flipped in the rebound.
The Canucks exerted some pressure against Hawks’ goalie Murray Bannerman in the second period, outshooting Chicago 15-9, but the only goal of the period was scored by Hawks’ defenseman Doug Feamster who scored on a drive from the point.
In the third period, the Canucks climbed back into the contest when Stan Smyl blistered a 45-footer past Bannerman and into the net at 1:01 of the period.
Then Savard took over.
First, he circled behind the Vancouver net and slipped a shot past Brodeur while swinging around the defense at 4:42. Then with less than four minutes remaining, Savard finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play, shooting into the open side after relays by Bob Murray and Tom Lysiak.
Thu. April 29 VANCOUVER 1, CHICAGO 4
Game Three: Stan Smyl stepped out of the penalty box to score a breakaway goal which proved to be the game-winner as the Canucks held on for a 4-3 victory over Chicago to take a 2-1 lead in their Campbell Conference series.
Smyl scored at 2:05 of the third period to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead on a play which was initiated by the Black Hawks. The Hawks had controlled the play inside the Canucks’ zone for more than a minute, passing the puck although they weren’t able to shake free for any shots. Denis Savard sent the puck in around the boards behind the Vancouver net and the shot bounced off the boards and out to Smyl, who had just stepped out of the penalty box. Smyl broke in alone on Chicago’s Murray Bannerman and beat him with a shot to the far side.
Rick Paterson got the goal back for Chicago a little more than a minute later to cut the deficit to one, but it was the Canucks who enjoyed the better chances for the remainder of the period, outshooting Chicago, 14-8. Bannerman was forced to make key saves off Curt Fraser and Tiger Williams to keep the contest close.
Chicago opened the scoring at 10:18 as Glen Sharpley notched his fifth goal of the playoffs. Vancouver answered with a pair of goals, the first by Thomas Gradin, also his fifth of the playoffs, and the second by rookie defenseman Neil Belland, his first of the playoffs. The Hawks’ Doug Wilson tied the game before the period ended with his third of the playoffs, a blistering drive which Richard Brodeur partially stopped with his stick but couldn’t keep out of the net.
Fraser had the only goal of the middle period, a long slapshot which beat Bannerman at 10:03.
Black Hawks’ center Denis Savard was handed a gross misconduct after the game when he waited for van Hellemond and then swore and spat at the ref in the corridor outside the officials’ room. Savard was complaining about the Canucks’ clutch and grab tactics.
Sat. May 1 CHICAGO 3, VANCOUVER 4
Make sure you bookmark THN’s Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don’t forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
