Canucks Return Home Amid Tough Stretch - But There's Still Fight Left in This Team
Saturday night hockey is back in Vancouver, and for the first time since Jan. 3, the Canucks will hit the ice at Rogers Arena. The opponent? None other than the Edmonton Oilers - a rivalry that always brings extra juice, even in a season like this.
For Canucks fans, it’s been a while since they’ve seen a win - anywhere. The last one came in a shootout against Seattle on Dec.
- At home?
You’ve got to go back even further, to Dec. 6, when Vancouver beat the Minnesota Wild. That was before Quinn Hughes was traded.
Yeah, it’s been that kind of stretch.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: the Canucks are in a tailspin. They’ve gone 1-7-2 over their last 10 games, and it’s not just the losses - it’s how they’re losing.
Nine goals scored over that span, while giving up 27. That’s a scoring differential that tells the story loud and clear.
The effort is still there, but the execution? Missing in action.
The Oilers, meanwhile, have clawed their way back into the playoff picture after a sluggish start, though they’re not exactly firing on all cylinders either, going 4-4-2 in their last 10. Still, compared to Vancouver’s current slide, Edmonton looks steady.
This stretch for the Canucks has all the hallmarks of a classic tank. Painful?
Absolutely. But with the draft lottery looming and a potential franchise-altering pick at stake, there’s a long game being played here - whether intentional or not.
That doesn’t make the nightly grind any easier for fans or players, but it does provide some perspective.
There are still 35 games left on the schedule. That’s 35 more nights of effort, 35 more chances for players to show they belong in this league - or on this roster long-term.
And while the team may be struggling, the players haven’t quit. They’re still skating, still battling, even if the results aren’t showing it.
There was at least one bright spot to come out of the latest loss: Brock Boeser finally found the back of the net. It snapped a 22-game goal drought - a brutal stretch for a player who’s been through more than his share of ups and downs in Vancouver. Boeser’s always been a fan favorite, and seeing him score again offered a flicker of hope in an otherwise dim road trip.
But the bigger picture remains murky. Several of the Canucks’ recently re-signed players - Boeser included, along with Thatcher Demko and Marcus Pettersson - haven’t looked like the pieces you build around.
And with no-movement clauses and long-term deals on the books, the front office faces some tough decisions in the years ahead. The cap situation is tight, the core is underperforming, and the path forward isn’t exactly clear.
To truly understand how rough this stretch has been, you’ve got to go back - way back - to another infamous road trip, one that Canucks fans still talk about with a mix of disbelief and grim nostalgia. That was the 2014 debacle under head coach John Tortorella, who was suspended at the time for trying to confront Flames coach Bob Hartley in the hallway after a first-period brawl. It was chaos on the ice that night, and it set the tone for a trip that spiraled out of control.
That trip, like this one, was a turning point. And if you dig into the archives - specifically the late Jason Botchford’s "Provies" from that era - the parallels are striking.
The frustration, the lack of direction, the sense of a team spinning its wheels. A decade later, and some of the same questions still linger.
But there’s also opportunity in moments like this. Young players can emerge.
Veterans can rediscover their form. And while the losses pile up, the foundation for the future - or at least the next phase - starts to take shape.
So yes, it’s going to get messy. The games might be ugly.
But there’s still value in watching this team fight through the storm. Because when the Canucks finally turn the corner, nights like these will be part of the story.