Barry Pederson: A Tale Of Two Cities

Back in the 1980s, the Vancouver Canucks were the saddest team in the mighty Smythe Division. Weak in virtually every area, the Canucks were especially woeful down the middle. Other teams sported world class centers such as Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in Edmonton, Kent Nilsson in Calgary, Marcel Dionne and Bernie Nicholls in L.A. and Dale Hawerchuk in Winnipeg. The Canucks sought their own superstar center, and were willing to pay whatever the asking price.

That asking price proved to be very big.

The Canucks zeroed in on Boston Bruins standout Barry Pederson. The former WHL star who grew up and played his junior hockey on Vancouver Island, Pederson was a stylistic scoring star with Bruins. Teaming masterfully with speedy Rick Middleton, Pederson scored 92, 107 and 116 points in his first three seasons. Named an All Star in two of those seasons, the 5'11", 185lb Pederson rewrote the Bruins rookie record book and established himself as a playoff warrior as well leading the Bruins in most scoring categories.  FULL STORY