14 Overtime Losses and a Whole Lot of Pain

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The Vancouver Canucks are officially eliminated from playoff contention. I know it sucks not having playoff hockey, especially after how fun and electric it was last year. If you didn’t have a chance to see a game, I hope you at least got to go to a watch party, because those had a similar atmosphere. That’s a huge reason why this season feels even more disappointing. After the incredible season they had last year, this team seemed destined to get back to the postseason and make a run for the Stanley Cup.

Even though they lost players like Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, the Canucks still had a pretty solid roster. They added Jake DeBrusk, Kiefer Sherwood, and Kevin Lankinen, and in their home opener, they jumped out to a 4–1 lead against the Calgary Flames. Unfortunately, that was the peak. The Canucks blew that lead and lost 6–5 in overtime on home ice, might I add. Vancouver had one of the best home records in the NHL last season, and it was a key part of their success. This season was the complete opposite, they were near the bottom. The Canucks could never find their groove or consistency in their game. They got extremely unlucky with injuries and couldn’t string wins together when they needed to.

Even though they aren’t going to the playoffs, this season wasn’t as bad as you may think.

However, you and everyone else in this city are tired of excuses, and that’s totally fair. The Canucks have missed the playoffs eight of the last ten seasons. This team hasn’t been a consistent playoff contender since the late 2000s and early 2010s. Those years were some of the best in Canucks history, and they only made it to the third round once when they reached the Final in 2011.

I truly believe this core with Pettersson and Hughes is good enough to make a deep playoff run and, with the right additions, even win the Cup. They can’t afford any more losing seasons. And if this continues, I can see serious changes being made. The thing with this year was that a bunch of things went wrong, but the weirder part is that not all of them had to do with hockey. Let me break down some of the things that went haywire for Vancouver in this chaotic season.

Let’s start with Elias Pettersson. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Petey had 102 points in 2023 and 89 in 2024. But we all saw the dip in his production last March, right after he signed his 8-year, $92.5 million contract. He was dealing with a knee issue during the second half of last year, and it severely affected his playoff performance. The big question going into this season was his health. Which Petey were we going to see, the one from the beginning of last season, or the one from the playoffs?

Well, our questions were answered, and it was neither, and not in a good way. Pettersson struggled more than he did in the playoffs. Outside of a short stretch in mid-November, he never got going, battled injuries, and had the worst season of his NHL career.

But Pettersson wasn’t just dealing with issues on the ice—he was dealing with drama off the ice, with his own teammate. When rumors started surfacing about issues between him and J.T. Miller, most people didn’t know what to believe. But then former players and even former coach Bruce Boudreau chimed in, and it started picking up serious traction. It got to the point where it felt like every day, players were being asked about the Pettersson-Miller relationship.

All of this drama festered in the locker room and clearly affected the team’s play on the ice. Miller took a personal leave from the team on November 17th, and based on everything that followed, it seemed like he wasn’t happy in Vancouver. The Canucks traded Miller to the New York Rangers on January 31st, ending the saga, but confirming there was a rift between him and Pettersson.

It wasn’t just Pettersson dealing with injuries either. Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko all missed significant time. Demko was injured in Game 1 of last year’s playoffs and didn’t suit up for his first game this season until December 10th. But the biggest injury was easily Quinn Hughes. Hughes was playing at an MVP level before he went down. The problem was Vancouver’s struggling defense forced him to play close to 30 minutes a night, so inevitably, he got hurt, which hindered the Canucks even more.

Until Demko’s injury in the playoffs last year, the Canucks were a healthy team. This season was the complete opposite.

Now for the biggest thing: the overtime and shootout losses. 14 of them. That’s right—14. Cut those in half and we’re talking about which team the Canucks could be playing in the playoffs. But unfortunately, that’s not the case. Vancouver couldn’t get it done when the game went to the extra frame. It started in Game 1 of the season and became the story of the year. The Canucks had a ton of games where they tied it late, only to lose in OT. At the time, you could say, “At least we got a point.” But eventually, they added up, and you need the full two points. Overtime losses to Utah, the Blues, and the Flames stick out like a sore thumb when you look at the standings now.

As they say, that’s how the cookie crumbles. There’s nothing we can do about it now. The Canucks have three games left before they close out the season.

What are your thoughts on the Canucks’ season? Let me know in the comments below.

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