Yell at Quinn Hughes all you want, but the truth is the organization wasn’t strong enough and that’s the problem.<\/p>\n
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Published Apr 02, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 18\u00a0minutes ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n As the hours counted down to Thursday\u2019s first meeting between the Canucks and former captain Quinn Hughes<\/a>, it was hard not to re-hash what has been.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. 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Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account.The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The greatest defenceman in team history is gone. He\u2019s been gone for months.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Seeing him again is like ripping the dressing off a still-seeping wound. No one likes that feeling, and it makes sense that people might yell at him<\/a> because of that. But that\u2019s misplaced frustration.<\/p>\n Why he left<\/a> must be understood.<\/p>\n This season probably never had a chance in hindsight, but it certainly came to a crashing end when Hughes was traded to Minnesota in early December.<\/p>\n The era that was, that had lingered on into this season, was over. You can\u2019t help but wonder if it could all have been different.<\/p>\n Hughes and his teammates all talk of the 2023-24 squad and what it was doing. Hughes told The Athletic on Thursday that the way the Canucks were playing in January 2024, they felt like they were just going to win every night.<\/p>\n Let us not forget that they sent five players (plus just-traded-for Elias Lindholm) to the All-Star weekend, plus coach Rick Tocchet.<\/p>\n They really were going places then. The future was bright. That it would come crashing down didn\u2019t seem possible.<\/p>\n Canucks Report<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n And yet here we are, standing amongst the wreckage. And in the destruction, we can see how weak the foundation all was. Maybe there was no way that Hughes ever would have stayed.<\/p>\n There were certainly things you know he set aside here while they were winning, things like playing closer to the east coast, and finding an organization that had the bigger picture clearly in focus, that didn\u2019t have so many things micromanaged to death.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re winning, you can put up with these things. When you\u2019re not \u2026<\/p>\n Despite what fans may think, Hughes showed up every night and tried to make things happen. He was the team\u2019s best player, and that\u2019s more obvious than ever in his absence. The number of times every game he would spin out of a pressure spot with control of the puck, resetting his team\u2019s playing posture? It happened so often you can\u2019t even really count it up.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what this team, this city, lost. It\u2019s an absolute failure by the Canucks organization that he is gone.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Yes, it seems likely that he wouldn\u2019t have been here forever, but he wasn\u2019t burning to leave until everything blew up and it just wasn\u2019t worth fighting through all the excess chaff anymore.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the job of NHL teams to create a seamless experience for its players. They are to focus on making themselves better. That\u2019s it. They shouldn\u2019t have to wonder why they are the only team in the league without a practice facility or a plan for one. They shouldn\u2019t have to watch their training staff pack up all the team\u2019s gear whenever they have an off-site practice. They should have a place to skate in the summer if they want.<\/p>\n They shouldn\u2019t have to sort out why so much of the team\u2019s public image is adversarial. The team and the community should just be one.<\/p>\n These small things all add up.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, it\u2019s the winning that matters most.<\/p>\n The great American novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote that you can\u2019t go home again \u2014 a book title even \u2014 basically saying that the past is just that and you just can\u2019t get back to how things were. That things were good then, and they\u2019re different now.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood \u2026 back home to a young man\u2019s dreams of glory and of fame \u2026 back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting, but which are changing all the time \u2014 back home to the escapes of Time and Memory,\u201d Wolfe wrote.<\/p>\n Hughes, obviously feels that. We all feel that, really. Those were good times.<\/p>\n In the end, the Canucks failed as an organization to keep those good times going, to keep that sense of \u201chome\u201d alive. That\u2019s what you do in sport \u2014 keep \u201chome\u201d thriving for as long as you can.<\/p>\n Of course, everyone dreams of starting afresh, of building a new era that can match the promise everyone felt in 2024. But in the end, we must not lose sight of why that era failed in the first place.<\/p>\n If the Canucks can\u2019t learn from why Quinn Hughes left, nothing will ever really get better.<\/p>\n pjohnston@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Canucks Preview: Aftershocks of mammoth Quinn Hughes trade still being felt<\/p>\n![\"quinn\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0403-col-canucks-1.jpg\")
Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild hosted his former Canucks team on Thursday night. Photo by Michael Reaves \/Getty ImagesArticle content<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-vp.svg\"){kind=logo}
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