'I'm definitely on team tank': Canucks fans losing patience at season's midway point

Zach Mazerolle describes himself as a lifelong fan who’s grown frustrated and fatigued with his favourite team.

“I’m definitely on team tank,” said Mazerolle, meaning he hopes the Vancouver Canucks continue losing in order to improve its chances in this spring’s NHL draft lottery.

“The team itself is on a spiral. It has been for seasons. There’s no easy way to fix this. It’s going to be ugly, but you just have to rebuild through the draft.”

The Canucks have made the playoffs just twice in the past 10 years and currently sit 26th out of 32 teams in the NHL standings.

“I think we’ve become accustomed to it,” added fellow Canucks fan Ben Zuckerman.

Blake Price, co-host of Sekeres & Price and someone who’s covered the Canucks for decades, says a portion of the fanbase is fed up with the team’s lack of direction and unwillingness to commit to a full overhaul. He says through the years the team has either not been good enough to contend, or not been bad enough to rebuild.

“When you’re losing big without that being part of the plan, that’s when it hurts the fans the most,” said Price. “So I think that’s where the frustration is and I think that’s where the organization has to change to get the fans on board.”

With 41 games to go, the Canucks currently have the seventh-best odds of selecting first in the draft. North Vancouver’s Connor Bedard sits atop the projected draft board and is considered a generational talent by some.

“You have the opportunity to get a guy like that, and even if you don’t hit the lottery and get that guy, you’re still going to get a guy that can turn the ship around,” said Mazerolle.

He believes that more losing will likely result in management making more bold moves ahead of the trade deadline to help build the team’s future.

Whether the Canucks try to regroup in the second half for a playoff push or continue losing to improve their chances at Bedard, both are considered long-shots.

“As it stands now, the Canucks can only sink so low and get a mediocre chance of Connor Bedard,” said Price, noting that the Blackhawks, Coyotes and Ducks are considerably lower than the Canucks in the standings.

“I think that’s the most likely scenario. So they’re once again kind of caught in no man’s land, somewhere in-between.”