Before there was the lifeline, the Canucks' offensive fortunes rested largely on the shoulders of three men: Tony Tanti, Patrik Sundstrom and the team's first-ever Finnish player, Petri Skriko.
These three gifted forwards produced a large portion of the scoring enjoyed by Canucks teams of the 1980s. Skriko led the team in scoring twice (1986 and 1989). He was also named NHL player of the month in November 1986.
Petri Skriko played almost his entire NHL career in a Vancouver uniform, a career that saw him score 183 goals and 405 points (373 as a Canuck) in 541 games. He wore a Canucks jersey from 1984-1990 before bouncing quickly between Boston, Winnipeg and San Jose at the end of his NHL run.
His NHL days were, however, sandwiched by two lengthy stints in professional European hockey, from 1979-84 and 1992-99. He finished his competitive European career with impressive totals of 335 goals and 742 points in a mere 438 games.
Skriko was named the Denmark player of the year in 1995 (34 goals and 83 points in 35 games) and 1997 (49 goals and 109 points in 48 games). He was also given the honor of having his #9 jersey retired by SaiPa of SM-Liiga, where he commenced his European career.
He represented Finland twice as an Olympian, in 1984 and 1992.
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