Are the Canucks the unluckiest team in the league?

[PensPlz]

Still can't believe they gave us Bonino for Brandon Sutter

 

[JoVel]

It's not luck. It's certain people being dumb.

 

[justafan22]

Never had a #1 draft pick, never won a cup, despite being one game away twice, I'd think so.

 

[Tkachuky]

And I hope it continues forever, I have nothing bad to say about any other franchise but I LOVE watching the Canucks fail, it is one of my favourite things about sports. Watching them draft no hockey IQ Jake Virtanen and I laughed and laughed, Joulovi or however you spell it, HA what a choke job with Tkachuk sitting there, Eriksson, Ganger LOL, thinking that pylon Gufbranson is an NHL player, getting nothing for Hamhuis, goalie chaos, riots, Sedins refusing to try to win and rather going home cupless instead of being traded to a contender, Bertuzzi going psycho when they had a shot at the cup, Dave Nonis, it’s been great. Jim Benning is icing on the cake. they ruined a great cup window with Booth, Ballard contracts. Imagine if they spent that 8+ million better.

Rich...

 

[KCC]

Other than not getting high picks, nothing else on that list is unlucky. That’s just brutal management lol

 

[MarkusKetterer]

If the Canucks had won, there would have been a riot anyway

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

The draft is a crap shoot for every team that is a part of the lottery, there's no way it'll change and it shouldn't. If anything, teams that get a 1st OA, should be banned from picking 1st OA for 3yrs to deter the same team from "winning" that lottery for sucking.

And luck has nothing to do with it, there are plenty of things that they've gotten away with too, it's just the way it is. You don't work hard enough, you don't get far enough. There's also far too many hands in the pot with ownership, etc, controlling what happens to the team.

You won't get far when Ownership is too much into the team's on ice operations and then pretends they are not.

I will agree with a comment like this until the end of time.

 

[Field of Dreams]

I don't get the whole Canucks luck thing. We all have our fair share of misfortunes. Much of Canucks current issues stems from inept management, and poor ownership directive.

 

[JuniorNelson]

Canucks have never had a likeable owner. Start there.

 

[rent free]

nope. its the sens

 

[The Alien]

You forgot Bourdon. Kid was tracking really well. So sad.

 

[Dolemite]

Honestly the majority of those issues just smell like bad management

<cough>Brian Burke<Cough>

 

[Thenameless]

Honestly the majority of those issues just smell like bad management

It's both. Bad management and bad luck for the Canucks. Bad management drafts poorly, makes poor trades, signs bad free agents, etc. And in the odd years where they do build a contender, then the bad luck takes over - Lafayette hits the post, Cloutier lets one in from center ice, untimely injuries. They really take the cake.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

If Canucks are unluckiest Tampa are the luckiest. Got a cup gifted to them by the NHL in 04. Still hurts me to this day.

The Penguins have had four franchise forwards since 1984, and twice they've had two of them playing at the same time. I'd say they win.

 

[KahunaBaby]

Still can't believe they gave us Bonino for Brandon Sutter

Not nearly as bad as Naslund for Stojanov............ouch!

 

[Josepho]

You're confusing incompetent with unlucky, but we're both and we've had a history with the latter. And any team that doesn't have a cup has put up with some shit. I'm sure I could come up with a list like this for the Blues, Sabres, Leafs, Coyotes, Sharks or Flyers as well.

- The first thing that ever happened to us in franchise history was a lottery loss.
- Our top 10 pick died when he was 21.
- Another top 10 pick tracking exceedingly well developed a breathing problem that hindered his abilities significantly.
- Despite having the worst collective record in the league the past three years, we've picked 5th, 5th and 7th.
- Consistently one of the most injured teams in the league, highlighted by having no healthy defencemen and centermen in the finals.
- Having someone with a huge bias against our team dictate the absurd Aaron Rome suspension in the finals.
- 5 Times in NHL history has a goalie posted above a .940 save percentage in the postseason. Our two best teams ever encountered two of them in back to back years.
- Being given an average of 6 Penalties/Game in the San Jose playoff series in 2013 despite being pretty even at 5v5 possession.

Will probably update later.

 

[hellstick]

Black Tuesday. A day in 1970 that through sheer randomness, Vancouver lost three games of chance to the Buffalo Sabres, who won the 1st overall draft pick that year, the 1st selection in the Expansion draft, and waiver priority. Buffalo selected Gilbert Perrault. Vancouver took Dale Tallon. Nothing against Dale Tallon, but Gilbert Perrault was like winning the lottery for Sidney Crosby, in a sense. To rub salt on the wound, Clarence Campbell mistakenly announced Vancouver as having the 1st selection in the amateur draft before he realized his mistake.

Luc Bourdon. Taken a pick before Anze Kopitar, Bourdon was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in 2008.

Three finals appearances. Three finals losses. I believe 0-3 has most teams beat.

Never a top pick. Despite being dogshit for most of the 70's and really, most of the 80's, (and maybe most of the late 90's) the Canucks have never had luck on their side. Even fan favorite Trevor Linden was the 2nd pick overall behind Mike Modano. Draft lottery wasn't a thing until '93, I believe.

There's more. I'm not sure if there's other teams unluckier, but the Canucks need to be up there.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Draft lottery wasn't a thing until '93, I believe.

You were close, the first draft lottery was not until 1995.

https://www.tsn.ca/history-of-the-nhl-draft-lottery-1.236014

 

[Oilman4428]

Luck is just an excuse to make losers feel better.

 

[Josepho]

Labelling things as excuses is what meatheads do when they don't understand context.

 

[ATypicalCanadian]

Still can't believe they gave us Bonino for Brandon Sutter

Neither can a majority of Canucks fans.. Don't forget we added a second rounder to him too..

It's not luck. It's certain people being dumb.

Yeah that about sums it up. We have had some seemingly miracle moments at times like the Burrows trade + the Pettersson & Boeser picks, but the large part of Benning and co's tenure as GM would be perfectly summarized as "people being dumb."

 

[GodPucker]

They sure are. Got Naslund and Bert in some trade luck. Rode that wave. Got the Sedins rode a second generation wave.

Most teams would kill for two time lines like that where you replenish your top line and barely skip a beat.

They had a great run for a good..what was it? 10-12 years?

 

[bdub24]

Bieksa karma is tough to overcome. But well deserved.

 

[rfournier103]

The Habs need a word... missed out on Sid, Matthews/Laine, Dahlin/Svech, got the best player out of the worst draft in history or 2nd best wtv, etc...

Unlucky my ass.

Anyone with 24 Stanley Cup championships has nothing to say here.

So many amazing players over so long a time. The Habs aren’t unlucky... it’s just someone else’s turn.

 

[Mrb1p]

Unlucky my ass.

Anyone with 24 Stanley Cup championships has nothing to say here.

So many amazing players over so long a time. The Habs aren’t unlucky... it’s just someone else’s turn.

Well soon enough it needs to be the Habs turn cause its been a while