The last time the Canucks were this bad, Messier was on the team and big changes were made

Another loss for the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the rolling Edmonton Oilers, to worsen the team's record to 8-14-2. It was the Canucks fourth straight loss. Vancouver is now sixth out of seven teams in the North Division this season, just three points ahead of Ottawa, although Canucks have played two more games. So when was the last time the Canucks started this poorly? It's been a while.

"This is the fewest points the Canucks have had after 24 games in a season since 1997-98, the start of the [Mark] Messier era. That team had fired the coach and the GM by this point," said Rob Williams, hockey reporter for Daily Hive Vancouver.

"To put that in perspective... 2/3 of the Messier years, they had more points than this year's team (and that's without benefit of the loser point)," Williams added. "The [John Tortorella] year, the [Willie Desjardins] years, the rebuilding [Travis] Green years... all of them had more points after 24 games."

The years in between weren't even close to this season btw. Canucks have 18 points right now, they had at least 22 points through their first 24 games each year from 1998 to 2020.— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) February 26, 2021

There's no question the Canucks had expected to get off to a better start this season. Yes, the team had lost some notable names to free agency due to the cap crunch but it also has some youth that should be picking up the slack. Should fans begin to wonder if coach Green and GM Jim Benning are in danger of losing their jobs? It sure seems that way.

"I saw Jim Benning standing alone on the corner of Expo and Griffiths as I was leaving the arena," said reporter and poscaster Chris Faber. "I can't imagine what's going on in his head right now. It looked like the owner was in the arena today too... I wonder how their conversations went tonight."

I saw Jim Benning standing alone on the corner of Expo and Griffiths as I was leaving the arena.

I can't imagine what's going on in his head right now.

It looked like the owner was in the arena today too... I wonder how their conversations went tonight.— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) February 26, 2021

It was just two weeks ago that owner Francesco Aquilini took to Twitter and said Green and Benning have his "full confidence" and he has no plans to make any changes. However, this is the NHL and things can change quickly, as now former Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien found out this week when he was abruptly shown the door after four years. Could the Canucks benefit from a coach and management change? It sure couldn't hurt at this point as nothing seems to be going right for the team. This is a situation to watch closely over the coming days. Vancouver has a bit of a break right now, with their next game not taking place until Monday against the Winnipeg Jets.

I have full confidence in Jim, Travis, and this group. I have no plans to make changes. #WeAreAllCanucks— Francesco Aquilini (@fr_aquilini) February 14, 2021

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