As a sports fan, I’m always fascinated by the lessons sports history can teach us. And as a sports fan, I’m even more fascinated by the stuff that doesn’t matter. The bizarre stories that nobody really likes to talk about too loudly. The stats that don’t really matter.

And in this case, the starts that don’t really matter.

As my Thanksgiving long weekend came to a close, I found myself in a familiar position: scrolling through Hockey Reference. What came to mind while doing so was trying to figure out the last time the Vancouver Canucks began a season with two overtime losses as they have to kick off this 2024-25 NHL season.

25 “open link in new tab” clicks later, and I found my answer… sort of.

The last time the Canucks opened the year with two games that went to overtime that they failed to secure a win in was during the 1988-89 season. Now you may notice that the wording there is a bit odd, and that’s by design. The NHL introduced a five minute overtime period during the 1983-84 regular season, but didn’t introduce the shootout until 2005. That meant that until 2005, NHL regular season games could end in a tie, and that’s exactly how both of the Canucks’ first two games of the season ended to kick off the 88-89 season.

First, the Canucks played their home opener at the Pacific Coliseum against the Winnipeg Jets on October 6th. This game was the highly-anticipated NHL debut of Trevor Linden, whose only contribution to the scoresheet ended up being a rather inconsequential two-minute minor for hooking in overtime.

After Stu Kulak opened the scoring for the Jets in the first period, the Canucks jumped out to a one-goal lead after goals from Barry Pederson and Steve Bozek in the second and third periods. The Canucks were holding onto the lead late and were granted a power play with under three minutes to go when Mario Marois was called for slashing.

Shorthanded goals are rare, and they should be even more rare when you’re protecting a lead late in the game. But with just under ten seconds remaining on the Canucks’ power play, the Jets scored a shorthanded goal to tie things up after Randy Carlyle and Doug Smail connected with Teppo Numminen, who put the puck past Kirk McLean. McLean was brilliant in goal that night, turning aside 29 of 31 Winnipeg shots for a .935 save percentage, but his team couldn’t get him the win. The game went to overtime and ended in a final score of 2-2.

Looking to bounce back after blowing a late lead in their season opener, the Canucks welcomed the Detroit Red Wings to the Coliseum two days later and once again blew a lead — this time, a two-goal lead.

The Canucks jumped out to a 3-1 lead after goals from Petri Skriko in the first and second periods, along with a power play tally from Greg Adams. Steve Yzerman pulled the Wings within one 11:52 into the third, with Gerard Gallant picking up the assist. Yzerman picked up an assist on Dave Barr’s goal that tied things up with under four minutes to go in the third, as the Canucks once again blew a lead on home ice and went to overtime, where the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

Now the big question — what happened to that 88-89 team? What was their fate after failing to pick up the OT win in their first two games of the season? Because clearly, that will tell us exactly how the 2024-25 Vancouver Canucks’ season is going to go.

The 88-89 Canucks finished the season with a record of 33-39-8 (74 points), which placed them 4th in the Smythe Division. The Smythe Division was stacked that season, as the Cup-winning Calgary Flames finished with 117 points. The LA Kings and Edmonton Oilers trailed behind them with 91 and 84 points respectively. For context, the Detroit Red Wings finished at the top of the Norris Division with just 80 points, and the Washington Capitals won the Patrick Division with 92 points.

The 88-89 Canucks finished with a league-worst 251 goals for, but finished with the third-lowest goals against in the league with 253. Here’s the really interesting part — the Canucks almost pulled off a massive upset against the would-be Cup champion Flames, as the Canucks took their first round opponent all the way to overtime of game seven, losing by a final score of 4-3.

Why couldn’t that one also just end in a tie?