Rob The Hockey Guy

Mike Peca called it a career today. Hardly a surprise given he hasn’t played a game this year, but still notable nonetheless. From a Canucks perspective, I will remember “Captain Crunch” for a couple of different reasons.

At the 1995 draft, then Canucks general manager Pat Quinn pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades in Canucks history. The city was in a frenzy as Quinn had just acquired former 76 goal scorer Alexander Mogilny, reuniting him with countryman Pavel Bure. Well, Mike Peca was one of the key prospects that went the other way and remarkably (considering Mogilny was still a pretty good player) it would turn out to be a trade that Canucks fans would like to do over. Mogilny had one big year with the Canucks and then began a downward spiral in his production, matching the Canucks downward spiral in the standings. Meanwhile, Peca quickly developed into a leader and a Selke trophy winner with a scoring touch, just what the Canucks of the late 90s and early 2000s needed.

But most of all, Canucks fans will remember this: