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Apathy seems to be setting in for Canucks fans: Canucks Conversation
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Photo credit: © Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Clarke Corsan
Nov 25, 2025, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 25, 2025, 11:19 EST
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On Monday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal examined the mood surrounding the Vancouver Canucks – a mood that, for the first time in years, feels less angry and more apathetic.
Harm set the stage by outlining just how stark the on-ice results have been. “You’re at a point where you have two regulation wins in your last 17 games,” he said. “You’re 9-12-2, on a 71-point pace, 30th in the NHL. At this time last year, they were 13-7-3 and on a 103-point pace.”
Despite the bleak picture, Harm noted that there may be an unintended silver lining. “If you’re going to miss the playoffs and potentially lose Quinn Hughes, be bad all the way,” he said. “The worst thing that can happen is what happened last year; you hang around close enough that you don’t sell at the deadline.”
He laid out what a disastrous repeat scenario could look like: “Just imagine if they don’t sell at this year’s deadline, enter the offseason owning the 15th overall pick again, and because you missed the playoffs, when you go to Quinn Hughes in June, and he doesn’t sign. If you’re at a point where you’re certainly not a playoff-calibre team, Quinn’s future is clearly in jeopardy.”
That’s why, in his view, the team needs to lean into the direction the standings are pulling them. “At least if they’re this bad, you can’t justify making a desperate trade for a centre,” Harm said. “Now you have to sell on Kiefer Sherwood, ideally land a pick that’s in the top five or six to help kickstart the next team-building phase. As depressing as it is right now, I’d way rather see this organization go down a path where the process for digging back up is easier.”
The conversation shifted to head coach Adam Foote’s recent comments, pointing to injuries and a young defensive core as reasons for their stagnation – a message that sounded more suited to a rebuilding club than to one expected to compete.
Quads didn’t think fans were fooled. “It sounds like we’re being fed talking points that would be told to a rebuilding fanbase,” he said. “And I think that’s why we’re seeing some apathy. People are seeing it and saying if the bar is that low, who really cares?”
Harm agreed, suggesting fans aren’t reacting negatively because they’ve simply run out of energy to be upset. “This market is so desperate for hope that even if you were halfway decent, people would cling onto that positivity,” he said. “We’re not going to do the whole ‘oh, the media and fanbase is so negative.’ This is a franchise that has been dysfunctional for a really long time.”
He continued with a metaphor that summed up the frustration: “We can talk about injuries, but it’s like if you have a car that keeps breaking down – at some point it’s not the car’s fault it keeps breaking down, it’s your fault for continually hopping in it thinking it’s going to get you from point A to point B. You should have found another car to rely on.”
As Harm explained, the team’s construction hasn’t helped. “The way this team is built in terms of strengths and weaknesses. We’ve heard management touting goaltending as a strong point, but a team that’s built from the net out is an outdated recipe. This is an offence-first league, and goaltending is the most volatile position – plus your number one guy is injury-prone? That was always a flawed plan.”
Quads argued that the disconnect between expectations and messaging is making things worse. “Negativity doesn’t sell,” he said. “A year where you had high expectations, to be 30th in the league, and now you start talking about ‘rush offence’ or ‘our defencemen are young’. Those talking points work if you’re a rebuilding team and are aware you’re going to be bad.”
But in a season where so much rides on showing enough progress to convince Quinn Hughes to stay, he said the spin simply isn’t landing. “In a year when there’s so many stakes with the Hughes factor and trying to be competitive, the ‘positives’ aren’t really positive – you’re practicing harder? Nobody wants to hear that. You’re starting to create more rush offence? Okay, you’re still getting scored on at a gross rate.”
The biggest sign to Quads that apathy has arrived came during the Canucks’ latest loss. “Nobody booed when they lost 5-2 against the 31st-ranked team in the league,” he said. “That’s embarrassing.”
He emphasized the lack of boos wasn’t about the players. “I get it, the players this year have been easy to root for; they’ve been working super hard,” he said. “But what you’re booing is you need some change – from management, from ownership – you need something different, and that’s what you’re asking as a fan. This fanbase deserves so much better.”
“As a fan, at a certain point and you’re angry over and over again, you eventually stop caring,” added Harm. “You stop seeing hope. I’m sure there are lots of fans right now who aren’t even angry, they’re just sad about the state of this team. You have to be angry enough to boo.”
As the Canucks slide further down the standings, the question becomes less about anger and more about resignation – a fanbase that is no longer shouting, but shrugging.
You can watch the full segment below!
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