No Canucks team has ever lost more at home than this one

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That sets a new franchise record for futility: Most season losses at their home rink, ever.

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The previous record was held by the 1997-98 team, who lost 22 times in 41 home games. The current Canucks still have five more home games this season, so it’s likely they’ll add to their pitiful total.

That 1997-98 team, many remember, was the end of the Pat Quinn era, as the legendary GM was fired early in the year by ownership. Head coach Tom Renney was fired not long after, replaced by Mike Keenan.

The vociferous coach was the pick of Mark Messier, who had taken over as captain from Trevor Linden. Linden himself was traded later that season by Keenan, one of a series of trades by Keenan (and, in theory, his co-managers Steve Tambellini and Mike Penny) that saw players who had won the hearts of Vancouver fans in the 1994 Stanley Cup run departing.

Some of those trades, like Linden being shipped to the New York Islanders, were made with an eye to the future. In exchange for Linden, Keenan picked up Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe, plus the draft pick that became cult figure Jarkko Ruutu.

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Bertuzzi obviously went on to be one of the heroes of Canucks history, though his reputation is sullied by his moment of madness in attacking Steve Moore. Otherwise Bertuzzi would likely be in the Canucks’ ring of honour. In his prime, he was the league’s preeminent power forward, with his skills and brawn putting him in the MVP conversation around 2003.

McCabe was traded in 1999 by Keenan’s successor Brian Burke. He was a key part of the series of trades that landed the extra draft pick that became one of the Sedin twins.

This season might end up leading to a player like a Sedin, though that is still unlikely even if the Canucks do end up picking in the top three in this summer’s draft. Gavin McKenna and Ivor Stenberg, the top two prospects at this year’s draft, are going to be very good players but neither is rated like the Sedins were.

For the record, the third-worst home record in Canucks history belongs to the 1998-99 team, which lost 21 games. (A number of other squads have lost that many.) The ’99 team, which was Brian Burke’s first in charge, was a true tank, with Pavel Bure holding out and Burke finally trading him mid-season. The team was poor from the start, much like this season’s, though this season started with optimism, unlike in 1998-99, where everyone knew things would be a struggle.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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