What tested your resolve the most as a die hard fan of this team?

[The Brock Star]

Hi fellow Canucks fans! I've been doing a ton of reflecting on this past season we had. I don't think there's any debate that this season was one of the greatest seasons in franchise history. We were given 0 chance out of the gate by almost every media pundit in the league, only to take the league by storm all year round, and take the cup finalists in the playoffs to one accidental Zadorov shot block preventing overtime of game 7. I've been a fan of this team all 29 years I've been on this earth, and this was by far the most exciting season I can remember since 2011, and there are so many moments I will never forget, such as 2 goals in 12 seconds, or JT's game 5 heroics, or the unexpected dominance of Silovs. 

I've come to the conclusion that part of what made this season so special for all of us was the decade of incompetence we had to endure previously. We were a laughing stock in the NHL essentially from 2012 when we choked in the first round of the playoffs, to last season when we fell flat out of the gate and got Bruce canned in a brutal way. That is 11 long years of mediocrity. There were some good moments in there absolutely such as the 2020 run, but overall it was a dark era as a Canucks fan watching the team get progressively worse. For us die hards, we have stuck through a lot over the last decade, and it got me wondering: as a die hard Canucks fan, what was the point in your Canucks fandom that tested your resolve the most? 

For myself, 2012 jumps to mind. Fresh off game 7 of the cup finals, the Canucks came back relatively the same, add David Booth and minus Ehrhoff and Samuelsson. Edler took over Ehrhoff's spot on the back end and did well, and Booth had a solid first season as a new addition to the top 6. We beat Boston in their own barn, and the team won the Presidents Trophy a second year in a row. We had every right as fans to believe we could get back to the finals. As the season went along though, after the Boston game the wheels slowly started to fall off the wagon. The Hodgson/Kassian deal was one of the worst timed deals in franchise history that evaporated our secondary scoring. Daniel Sedin got injured (f*** Keith), and the Canucks essentially gasped into the playoffs, and proceeded to lay one of the biggest eggs in franchise history in round 1 against the up and coming Kings. It was the worst choke by a Presidents Trophy team in history at the time, and made me realize that we wouldn't win with that core. The wheels continued to fall off bit by bit in the seasons following, and we slipped into our own decade of darkness, but for me I knew the drop off was coming as soon as LA booted us. That was the hardest loss next to game 7 in 2011 for me as a fan, and I would say where my resolve was most tested as a fan.

How about for others here?

Edited July 3 by The Brock Star

[D.B Cooper]

34 minutes ago, The Brock Star said:

Hi fellow Canucks fans! I've been doing a ton of reflecting on this past season we had. I don't think there's any debate that this season was one of the greatest seasons in franchise history. We were given 0 chance out of the gate by almost every media pundit in the league, only to take the league by storm all year round, and take the cup finalists in the playoffs to one accidental Zadorov shot block preventing overtime of game 7. I've been a fan of this team all 29 years I've been on this earth, and this was by far the most exciting season I can remember since 2011, and there are so many moments I will never forget, such as 2 goals in 12 seconds, or JT's game 5 heroics, or the unexpected dominance of Silovs. 

I've come to the conclusion that part of what made this season so special for all of us was the decade of incompetence we had to endure previously. We were a laughing stock in the NHL essentially from 2012 when we choked in the first round of the playoffs, to last season when we fell flat out of the gate and got Bruce canned in a brutal way. That is 11 long years of mediocrity. There were some good moments in there absolutely such as the 2020 run, but overall it was a dark era as a Canucks fan watching the team get progressively worse. For us die hards, we have stuck through a lot over the last decade, and it got me wondering: as a die hard Canucks fan, what was point in your Canucks fan that tested your resolve the most? 

For myself, 2012 jumps to mind. Fresh off game 7 of the cup finals, the Canucks came back relatively the same, add David Booth and minus Ehrhoff and Samuelsson. Edler took over Ehrhoff's spot on the back end and did well, and Booth had a solid first season as a new addition to the top 6. We beat Boston in their own barn, and the team won the Presidents Trophy a second year in a row. We had every right as fans to believe we could get back to the finals. As the season went along though, after the Boston game the wheels slowly started to fall off the wagon. The Hodgson/Kassian deal was one of the worst timed deals in franchise history that evaporated our secondary scoring. Daniel Sedin got injured (f*** Keith), and the Canucks essentially gasped into the playoffs, and proceeded to lay one of the biggest eggs in franchise history in round 1 against the up and coming Kings. It was the worst choke by a Presidents Trophy team in history at the time, and made me realize that we wouldn't win with that core. The wheels continued to fall off bit by bit in the seasons following, and we slipped into our own decade of darkness, but for me I knew the drop off was coming as soon as LA booted us. That was the hardest loss next to game 7 in 2011 for me as a fan, and I would say where my resolve was most tested as a fan.

How about for others here?

Always going to be watching Sedin take shots in the face and just stand there like a bitch, and have his teammates watch it happen and do nothing about it. 
The whole “we’ll get them on the PP” thing was fucking embarrassing, and proven to be the loser way to go about it.  
 

That moment in Canucks history was my hardest to take in my 37 years.  

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Some people on here probably won't consider me a "die hard" fan but what really curdles my yoghurt is all the fucking gatekeeping on what constitutes a "real fan".

 

I'll fan my way, and I'm fine with you fanning your way, and I won't tell you how to fan if you don't tell me how to fan (or more importantly that I'm fanning the "wrong" way).

 

Anyways, that's all I'll say on that because any more and I'll probably get banned.  In fact, I'm already expecting a "talking to" for having posted this.

 

[Ghostsof1915]

Messier.

 

Pat Quinn being Fired.

 

Trevor Linden traded. (Yeah but it was a great haul I admit it. IT STILL HURT!)

 

 

[Heretic]

Uh...10 years does not make a "die hard" Canucks fan.

20? no.

How about  30?  okay.

 

40 for sure.

This next season will be technically 50 years for me (started in 1975).

The loss in game 7 of the 2011 SCF was the the worst.  That series was the worst - up 2-0 and then the TSN turning point - the hit on Horton.
After that, the Bruins got away with murder - refs hardly called them at all for all their antics.  

 

But not even getting a goal in a game 7?  That was brutal to swallow.

 

 

 

[King Heffy]

26 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Messier.

 

Pat Quinn being Fired.

 

Trevor Linden traded. (Yeah but it was a great haul I admit it. IT STILL HURT!)

 

 

This is the only answer for those old enough to remember.

[The Brock Star]

14 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

This is the only answer for those old enough to remember.

I was only a toddler during this era, so I don't have strong memories of these events, but growing up, my parents made sure I knew that Messier and Keenan were the absolute worst. 

[mj vic]

1 minute ago, The Brock Star said:

I was only a toddler during this era, so I don't have strong memories of these events, but growing up, my parents made sure I knew that Messier and Keenan were the absolute worst. 

Now that's just good parenting!

[Curmudgeon]

1 hour ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Messier.

 

Pat Quinn being Fired.

 

Trevor Linden traded. (Yeah but it was a great haul I admit it. IT STILL HURT!)

 

All of this. I've been a diehard since day one, and I've often said that the three years Messier was here he succeeded in doing something I'd never experienced before: he made me not care about the team. But it wasn't just him, it was that toxic environment that Mike Keenan created. That guy was the biggest egomaniac I've ever seen and a world class a-hole.

[Pears]

The first one recent-ish was of course losing in 2011 and many of your same points. However the one that really, and I don't say this often, almost made me take a step back for a bit was how we let Bruce go. We've figured it out since but man that was a rough little while.

 

Also who remembers losing game 6 to Calgary after we quickly went up 3-0 in the 1st? To this day I think that team could've made a run that year had they won that game. 

Edited July 3 by Pears

[Phil_314]

"We kind of ran out of time." - Jim Benning, Feb 4, 2021.
OEL being brought in and subsequently being a symbiotic tire fire next to Myers (both being awful together). 
Thank the lord for the new regime, much more competent and initiating.

Also gotta say the rebuild, some of those games were dreadful to watch but I'm glad we're likely a playoff team again (depending how the changes affect this team, if they lack depth again it could suck - not that I'd fault management for letting Lindholm and Zadorov walk given their cap hits and term, and they did what they had to, in that they tried to fill out the depth with youngish upside guys e.g. Heinen/ Sherwood/ DeBrusk/ Desharnais).


 

Edited July 3 by Phil_314

[Alflives]

Going from the GM of our most successful teams to the worst GM ever. Gillis went to ownership with a rebuild plan and got fired for suggesting the concept. Then ownership hired Benning (the moran) and he did what morans do. 

[puckstopper]

3 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

 

All of this. I've been a diehard since day one, and I've often said that the three years Messier was here he succeeded in doing something I'd never experienced before: he made me not care about the team. But it wasn't just him, it was that toxic environment that Mike Keenan created. That guy was the biggest egomaniac I've ever seen and a world class a-hole.

All of this but more than anything, it was the riots! I was never ashamed to be a canuck fan watching all that! 

[I.AM.THE.WALRUS]

17 straight losing seasons… 

 

Every season till Pat Quinn and Trevor Linden showed up… you could tell things were going to turn around finally…  especially when Bure showed up 

[DrJockitch]

The saga around He Who Shall Not be Named.  Especially trading Linden because of that fool. 
‘Plus Benning. Just Benning, nothing in particular just everything. 

[tas]

the fans and media. 

[Combover]

1 Jim the complete total idiot Benning. Year after year of stupid mistakes  failures and endless  excuses.  

 

2 keenan / messier 

 

 

 

 

[Flipper]

Some good ones in here; what really tests my resolve though? Coming into this forum and reading some of the comments…
 

What keeps me coming back? Coming into this forum and reading some of the comments… 

 

 cheers! 

[EdgarM]

Was a casual fan until 1994. That year is when I realized what Canuck hockey was. They were plumbers with no quit.

With Linden scoring 2 goals in game 7 with broken ribs and Bure taken on the heavy on the Stars,Churla, these guys just would not quit or back down. Since then?............................

Brashear got 2 handed in the head, Sedin let a weasel punch him while the rest of his team watched, Nazzy elbowed by another weasel, Daniel assaulted by Duncan Keith,Petey getting body slammed etc. etc. etc. 

All while getting pounced from the playoffs or not even making the playoffs. 

Fast forward to this last season ,2024 ,where we looked the most like the team in 1994. 

So I would say the last 30 years, tested my resolve. 

[smithers joe]

i have been a fan since gordie howe's rookie year. i've gone through every canuck year since the beginning, i may not be a good fan, but i've experienced every season as a journey. a trip with the players, fans and city. win or lose, this team has allowed me along as a member of a special journey. from kurtenback and schmautz in the beginning, to now's petey and hughes, i've loved the ride. yes, a lot of losing and frustrations, but through it all. this has been my team and i've loved every minute of it. gcg.

[Ghostsof1915]

45 minutes ago, Combover said:

1 Jim the complete total idiot Benning. Year after year of stupid mistakes  failures and endless  excuses.  

 

2 keenan / messier 

 

 

 

 

I never want Benning back. But he did at least get us Petey, Hughes, Brock, Demko. He just was a far better scout than he was as a GM. And he was out of his league.

At least with Benning as frustrating as it was, there was hope. I can't say that about some GM's in Vancouver. But for every step forward it was 2 steps back.

Especially with contracts and cap management. During the Messier era, we were not crappy enough to be at the bottom and get good picks, and we'd never make the playoffs either. I had hope when Burke took over.

[Locke Lamora]

Bring Messier in, and jettisoning Linden. That entire era.

 

Nothing else really comes close for me.

[Ballisticsports]

1 hour ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

I never want Benning back. But he did at least get us Petey, Hughes, Brock, Demko. He just was a far better scout than he was as a GM. And he was out of his league.

At least with Benning as frustrating as it was, there was hope. I can't say that about some GM's in Vancouver. But for every step forward it was 2 steps back.

Especially with contracts and cap management. During the Messier era, we were not crappy enough to be at the bottom and get good picks, and we'd never make the playoffs either. I had hope when Burke took over.

I disagree here-  After picking Jake, TL put Judd in charger Apparently Judd wanted Sergachev, Thankfully with Judd  and scouts who wanted EP over JB who wanted Glass we got it right, then with TL already gone, in 2020 Judd saw his authority stripped, Benning also cleaned house among the amateur scouts by replacing four with five of his own. His moves indicated that he wanted more control over the Canucks’ draft and was willing to get rid of good employees to get his way, and what exactly did him and his now chummy  buddy (un)Weisbrod accomplish in drafting after that and in charge? Joni Jumo, Jackson Kunz ,Jacob Truscott,Danila Klimovich, Aku Koskenvuo

 

A GM should be a very important voice in the draft, but he also has a boatload of other responsibilities. Benning’s main job should have been dealing with his NHL and AHL team and ensuring that he puts the best team on the ice. Which 17-year old looks the most promising overseas should not be the top priority for him.

The aspects of being a general manager like trades and signings were horrible (except Miller). These should his priorities — especially with the Canucks entering a cap crunch — and delegate scouting to people whose literal job is to scout, like other good GM's do (He almost crippled us from taking advantage of having good young talent and building a winning team for them) He was a horrible builder and blunderer and many long term fans gave up on the Canucks during this time as seeing no future with JB in control (close to 8 yrs) and I almost did myself

He presided over 7 drafts and being a League bottom feeder we should have more top young talent and been acquiring picks from other teams, instead of outbidding for 3rd and 4th liners

 

Looks like I just talked myself into JB days as testing my resolve, although Laforge days and Keenan and others were bad, but no where near as prolonged

[Coconuts]

Probably the 2011 final and subsequent slide into mediocrity, things were mostly lousy from 2013 onward. 

 

This past season has finally made me a bit more optimistic but I keep my expectations tempered. I'm not expecting a cup sooner than later, I'm just hoping we can maintain our ability to be competitive again for a while. 

[kilgore]

1 hour ago, Ballisticsports said:

I disagree here-  After picking Jake, TL put Judd in charger Apparently Judd wanted Sergachev, Thankfully with Judd  and scouts who wanted EP over JB who wanted Glass we got it right, then with TL already gone, in 2020 Judd saw his authority stripped, Benning also cleaned house among the amateur scouts by replacing four with five of his own. His moves indicated that he wanted more control over the Canucks’ draft and was willing to get rid of good employees to get his way, and what exactly did him and his now chummy  buddy (un)Weisbrod accomplish in drafting after that and in charge? Joni Jumo, Jackson Kunz ,Jacob Truscott,Danila Klimovich, Aku Koskenvuo

 

A GM should be a very important voice in the draft, but he also has a boatload of other responsibilities. Benning’s main job should have been dealing with his NHL and AHL team and ensuring that he puts the best team on the ice. Which 17-year old looks the most promising overseas should not be the top priority for him.

The aspects of being a general manager like trades and signings were horrible (except Miller). These should his priorities — especially with the Canucks entering a cap crunch — and delegate scouting to people whose literal job is to scout, like other good GM's do (He almost crippled us from taking advantage of having good young talent and building a winning team for them) He was a horrible builder and blunderer and many long term fans gave up on the Canucks during this time as seeing no future with JB in control (close to 8 yrs) and I almost did myself

He presided over 7 drafts and being a League bottom feeder we should have more top young talent and been acquiring picks from other teams, instead of outbidding for 3rd and 4th liners

 

Looks like I just talked myself into JB days as testing my resolve, although Laforge days and Keenan and others were bad, but no where near as prolonged

this

 

 JR and PA have made a few mistakes. But they’ve more than made up for them in other ways, and quickly ( still a little steamed they didn’t buck up and pay Z)

 

But with Benning it was mistake on top of mistake on top of mistake. Don’t want to go into the plethora. Needless to say we are still paying for it.
 

Some give him a saving grace as a drafter because of Petey and Quinn. But he “earned” through his mismanagement FIVE top ten picks. Three out of the five couldn’t even crack an NHL lineup. That is incredible incompetence. Read a stat showing players picked in the top ten are like 95% certain to at least have a career as a bottom six player

 The re-signing of Benning the Bungler was so dumb when it happened , because then I started to think the whole ownership itself was insane