<p>For my entire time as a hockey fan, I’ve heard people complain about how early start times are a disadvantage to the Vancouver Canucks. I was curious what the Canucks’ record in early starts is actually like, and after not being able to find a quick answer, I decided to look this up myself.</p>
<p>The schedule on Canucks.com has reliable start times going back as far as the 2001-02 season. Using this, I tracked every game across over 20 seasons&#8217; worth of games. I also separated these into different categories to see if there were any clear patterns. For the purposes of this research, I counted 5 pm start times as the threshold for an early start.</p>
<p>From the 2001-02 season to December 27th, 2024, the Canucks have a 71-49-16 record in early start times and a points percentage just slightly north of 58%. The Canucks&#8217; overall record during this time is 866-644-193, with a points percentage of 56.52%. Frankly, I was surprised at these results. My hypothesis going into this was that the Canucks would have a record at or below .500 in early games at best.</p>
<p>Perhaps 5 pm start times tilt the record in the Canucks’ favour. Surely a 5 pm time would be better than, as an example, 2 pm? The numbers, however, disputed this as well. The Canucks’ record for 5 pm games is 13-15-4 (46.88% points percentage) and 58-34-12 (61.54%) when these games are excluded. 5 pm games have been more of a hindrance than earlier afternoon games.</p>
<p>There is a big discrepancy in home and away splits, however. The Canucks have a very good record of 31-14-4 (67.35% points percentage) in Vancouver and an acceptable 40-35-12 (52.87%) on the road. Nearly twice as many early games are played on the road, although a lot of these tend to be played in Anaheim, a fellow Pacific Time Zone team.</p>
<p>I also became curious if there was a noticeable difference between time zones. The sample sizes of Mountain Standard Time (MST) and Central Standard Time (CST) are significantly smaller than for Pacific Standard Time (PST) and Eastern Standard Time (EST): 9 and 18 games vs 66 and 43 games. That said, the Canucks have a distinct advantage when playing early games in Vancouver.</p>
<p>The Canucks are 39-21-6 (63.64% points percentage) when playing near the Pacific Ocean and 20-16-7 (54.65% points percentage) when playing back east. Given that NHL teams tend to have better records at home than on the road, this makes sense. It’s a pretty large jump. A 4-5-0 (44.44% points percentage) against the mountain folk isn’t great, but, as stated earlier, it is a very small sample size. The 8-7-3 record (52.78% points percentage) against those that live near lakes has over half the games against the Minnesota Wild.</p>
<p>Naturally, I had to look at what the Canucks’ record is against every one of these teams.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><b>Team</b></td>
<td><b>Record</b></td>
<td><b>Games</b></td>
<td><b>Points</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Anaheim Ducks</td>
<td>7-5-2</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>16</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Toronto Maple Leafs</td>
<td>11-2-0</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Minnesota Wild</td>
<td>4-6-0</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dallas Stars</td>
<td>3-2-2</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Columbus Blue Jackets</td>
<td>4-0-3</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Buffalo Sabres</td>
<td>5-1-1</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Detroit Red Wings</td>
<td>2-3-1</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Colorado Avalanche</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Carolina Hurricanes</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Calgary Flames</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>San Jose Sharks</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Boston Bruins</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Los Angeles Kings</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>New Jersey Devils</td>
<td>0-3-2</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Florida Panthers</td>
<td>3-0-1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Washington Capitals</td>
<td>3-1-0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>New York Rangers</td>
<td>1-1-1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pittsburgh Penguins</td>
<td>1-1-1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Chicago Blackhawks</td>
<td>1-2-0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Winnipeg Jets</td>
<td>1-2-0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vegas Golden Knights</td>
<td>0-2-1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>New York Islanders</td>
<td>2-0-0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>St. Louis Blues</td>
<td>1-0-1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ottawa Senators</td>
<td>1-1-0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Arizona Coyotes</td>
<td>1-1-0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nashville Predators</td>
<td>1-0-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Montreal Canadiens</td>
<td>0-1-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philadelphia Flyers</td>
<td>0-1-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tampa Bay Lightning</td>
<td>0-1-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>11 of the 14 games against the Ducks have been in Anaheim. For reasons that aren’t clear to me, nine of those games have come at 5 pm. The Wild are the first early start time that I could confirm and have just kind of kept that tradition on. The Maple Leafs annual 4 pm start time in Vancouver didn’t begin in earnest until the 2008-09 season. Wait…</p>
<p>Computer! Enhance!</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Toronto Maple Leafs</td>
<td>11-2-0</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Aha! That explains the Canucks&#8217; tilted home record. All 13 games against the Maple Leafs have been played in Vancouver. The Canucks have won 11 straight. Removing the 13 games the Canucks have played against the Maple Leafs pretty significantly alters how the four strongest records look: overall record, home record, games before 5 pm, and PST start times.</p>
<p>Including Maple Leafs<br />
Overall: 71-49-16 (58.09%)<br />
Home: 31-14-4 (67.35%)<br />
Before 5 pm: 58-34-12 (61.54%)<br />
PST: 39-21-6 (63.64)</p>
<p>Without Maple Leafs:<br />
Overall: 60-47-16 (55.28%)<br />
Home: 20-12-4 (61.11%)<br />
Before 5 pm: 47-32-12 (58.24%)<br />
PST: 28-19-6 (58.49%)</p>
<p>There’s a large drop across the board. The Canucks still retain an advantage in home games but it is less pronounced. PST games and games played before 5 pm see a significant reduction in points percentage. Removing the Maples Leafs’ early games from the Canucks total record for this time period and comparing it to their early game record, minus the Maple Leafs, normalizes to no discerning difference.</p>
<p>Without Maple Leafs<br />
Total Record: 866-644-193 (56.52%)<br />
Early Game Record: 855-642-193 (56.30%)</p>
<p>The last thing I wanted to look at was whether the main driving factor was if the Canucks actually had a good team in a particular year. Good teams should have good records regardless of start times, was my theory.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-136433 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_02-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="568" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_02-Window.png 852w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_02-Window-300x200.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_02-Window-768x512.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px" /></p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-136434 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_34-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="673" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_34-Window.png 852w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_34-Window-300x237.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_34-Window-768x607.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px" /></p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-136435 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_20-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="652" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_20-Window.png 852w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_20-Window-300x230.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_20-Window-768x588.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px" /></p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-136436 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_44-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="568" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_44-Window.png 852w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_44-Window-300x200.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_44-Window-768x512.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px" /></p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-136437 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_22-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="673" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_22-Window.png 852w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_22-Window-300x237.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_22-Window-768x607.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px" /></p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-136438 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_55-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="421" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_55-Window.png 852w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_55-Window-300x148.png 300w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_55-Window-768x379.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px" /></p>
<p>While there is some obvious correlation (for example, the 2010-12 and 2011-12 seasons the Canucks went a combined 9-1-1 in early games) that good teams have good records in early games this isn’t true across the board. The Canucks only have one truly atrocious record in early games and that is during the 2015-16 season with a 1-5-2 record. The following season, though, was much worse overall and the Canucks bounced back to .500 hockey in early games. The season after that they were equally as bad but finished with a 3-1-1 early game record.</p>
<p>So looking at all this data, there doesn’t seem to be any distinct disadvantage to the Canucks playing early games. When the Canucks are playing well, they tend to win regardless of what time they are playing. The Canucks do better at home in early games but this is true for most teams regardless of start time, although this season’s Canucks have not read this memo. The Canucks have five more early start games this season. The next game is against the Seattle Kraken in Vancouver on Saturday, December 28th at 1 pm. This will be the first time the Canucks have had an early game against the Kraken. The game after that is the Toronto Maple Leafs, once again in Vancouver, on February 8th at 4pm. Contrary to what many may suspect, there is no distinct disadvantage for the Canucks in either of these games. Against the Maple Leafs, there seems to be a very real advantage.</p>
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For my entire time as a hockey fan, I’ve heard people complain about how early start times are a disadvantage to the Vancouver Canucks. I was curious what the Canucks’ record in early starts is actually like, and after not being able to find a quick answer, I decided to look this up myself.

The schedule on Canucks.com has reliable start times going back as far as the 2001-02 season. Using this, I tracked every game across over 20 seasons' worth of games. I also separated these into different categories to see if there were any clear patterns. For the purposes of this research, I counted 5 pm start times as the threshold for an early start.

From the 2001-02 season to December 27th, 2024, the Canucks have a 71-49-16 record in early start times and a points percentage just slightly north of 58%. The Canucks' overall record during this time is 866-644-193, with a points percentage of 56.52%. Frankly, I was surprised at these results. My hypothesis going into this was that the Canucks would have a record at or below .500 in early games at best.

Perhaps 5 pm start times tilt the record in the Canucks’ favour. Surely a 5 pm time would be better than, as an example, 2 pm? The numbers, however, disputed this as well. The Canucks’ record for 5 pm games is 13-15-4 (46.88% points percentage) and 58-34-12 (61.54%) when these games are excluded. 5 pm games have been more of a hindrance than earlier afternoon games.

There is a big discrepancy in home and away splits, however. The Canucks have a very good record of 31-14-4 (67.35% points percentage) in Vancouver and an acceptable 40-35-12 (52.87%) on the road. Nearly twice as many early games are played on the road, although a lot of these tend to be played in Anaheim, a fellow Pacific Time Zone team.

I also became curious if there was a noticeable difference between time zones. The sample sizes of Mountain Standard Time (MST) and Central Standard Time (CST) are significantly smaller than for Pacific Standard Time (PST) and Eastern Standard Time (EST): 9 and 18 games vs 66 and 43 games. That said, the Canucks have a distinct advantage when playing early games in Vancouver.

The Canucks are 39-21-6 (63.64% points percentage) when playing near the Pacific Ocean and 20-16-7 (54.65% points percentage) when playing back east. Given that NHL teams tend to have better records at home than on the road, this makes sense. It’s a pretty large jump. A 4-5-0 (44.44% points percentage) against the mountain folk isn’t great, but, as stated earlier, it is a very small sample size. The 8-7-3 record (52.78% points percentage) against those that live near lakes has over half the games against the Minnesota Wild.

Naturally, I had to look at what the Canucks’ record is against every one of these teams.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><b>Team</b></td>
<td><b>Record</b></td>
<td><b>Games</b></td>
<td><b>Points</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Anaheim Ducks</td>
<td>7-5-2</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>16</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Toronto Maple Leafs</td>
<td>11-2-0</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Minnesota Wild</td>
<td>4-6-0</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dallas Stars</td>
<td>3-2-2</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Columbus Blue Jackets</td>
<td>4-0-3</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Buffalo Sabres</td>
<td>5-1-1</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Detroit Red Wings</td>
<td>2-3-1</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Colorado Avalanche</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Carolina Hurricanes</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Calgary Flames</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>San Jose Sharks</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Boston Bruins</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Los Angeles Kings</td>
<td>3-2-0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>New Jersey Devils</td>
<td>0-3-2</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Florida Panthers</td>
<td>3-0-1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Washington Capitals</td>
<td>3-1-0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>New York Rangers</td>
<td>1-1-1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pittsburgh Penguins</td>
<td>1-1-1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Chicago Blackhawks</td>
<td>1-2-0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Winnipeg Jets</td>
<td>1-2-0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vegas Golden Knights</td>
<td>0-2-1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>New York Islanders</td>
<td>2-0-0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>St. Louis Blues</td>
<td>1-0-1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ottawa Senators</td>
<td>1-1-0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Arizona Coyotes</td>
<td>1-1-0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nashville Predators</td>
<td>1-0-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Montreal Canadiens</td>
<td>0-1-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philadelphia Flyers</td>
<td>0-1-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tampa Bay Lightning</td>
<td>0-1-0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
11 of the 14 games against the Ducks have been in Anaheim. For reasons that aren’t clear to me, nine of those games have come at 5 pm. The Wild are the first early start time that I could confirm and have just kind of kept that tradition on. The Maple Leafs annual 4 pm start time in Vancouver didn’t begin in earnest until the 2008-09 season. Wait…

Computer! Enhance!
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Toronto Maple Leafs</td>
<td>11-2-0</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Aha! That explains the Canucks' tilted home record. All 13 games against the Maple Leafs have been played in Vancouver. The Canucks have won 11 straight. Removing the 13 games the Canucks have played against the Maple Leafs pretty significantly alters how the four strongest records look: overall record, home record, games before 5 pm, and PST start times.

Including Maple Leafs
Overall: 71-49-16 (58.09%)
Home: 31-14-4 (67.35%)
Before 5 pm: 58-34-12 (61.54%)
PST: 39-21-6 (63.64)

Without Maple Leafs:
Overall: 60-47-16 (55.28%)
Home: 20-12-4 (61.11%)
Before 5 pm: 47-32-12 (58.24%)
PST: 28-19-6 (58.49%)

There’s a large drop across the board. The Canucks still retain an advantage in home games but it is less pronounced. PST games and games played before 5 pm see a significant reduction in points percentage. Removing the Maples Leafs’ early games from the Canucks total record for this time period and comparing it to their early game record, minus the Maple Leafs, normalizes to no discerning difference.

Without Maple Leafs
Total Record: 866-644-193 (56.52%)
Early Game Record: 855-642-193 (56.30%)

The last thing I wanted to look at was whether the main driving factor was if the Canucks actually had a good team in a particular year. Good teams should have good records regardless of start times, was my theory.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-136433 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_02-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="568" />

<img class="alignnone wp-image-136434 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_03_34-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="673" />

<img class="alignnone wp-image-136435 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_20-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="652" />

<img class="alignnone wp-image-136436 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_04_44-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="568" />

<img class="alignnone wp-image-136437 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_22-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="673" />

<img class="alignnone wp-image-136438 size-full" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/2024-12-26-11_05_55-Window.png" alt="" width="852" height="421" />

While there is some obvious correlation (for example, the 2010-12 and 2011-12 seasons the Canucks went a combined 9-1-1 in early games) that good teams have good records in early games this isn’t true across the board. The Canucks only have one truly atrocious record in early games and that is during the 2015-16 season with a 1-5-2 record. The following season, though, was much worse overall and the Canucks bounced back to .500 hockey in early games. The season after that they were equally as bad but finished with a 3-1-1 early game record.

So looking at all this data, there doesn’t seem to be any distinct disadvantage to the Canucks playing early games. When the Canucks are playing well, they tend to win regardless of what time they are playing. The Canucks do better at home in early games but this is true for most teams regardless of start time, although this season’s Canucks have not read this memo. The Canucks have five more early start games this season. The next game is against the Seattle Kraken in Vancouver on Saturday, December 28th at 1 pm. This will be the first time the Canucks have had an early game against the Kraken. The game after that is the Toronto Maple Leafs, once again in Vancouver, on February 8th at 4pm. Contrary to what many may suspect, there is no distinct disadvantage for the Canucks in either of these games. Against the Maple Leafs, there seems to be a very real advantage.
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The Canucks’ record in early start games is oddly good

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