from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

The Vancouver Canucks have never had a home-opener like this one. Has anybody?

In their first game in front of their paying fans, 11 days into a season in which everyone in the organization believes the National Hockey League playoffs are the baseline goal, the Canucks lost 5-1 Saturday to the Buffalo Sabres and were booed off the ice at Rogers Arena.

Three times late in a listless third period, when the Canucks barely competed despite trailing only 2-1 when it began, Vancouver jerseys had to be scraped off the ice after being discarded like trash by fans who have seen too many losses over too many seasons.

After a winless five-game road trip to start the year, the Canucks are 0-4-2. They have 40 home games remaining. Forty!

A jersey on the ice was the symbolic last straw for the Jim Benning-Travis Green era last season. Both were fired on Dec. 5, the evening after the Canucks came home from a long road trip and were beaten 4-1 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on a Hockey-Night-in-Canada Saturday night.

The new regime, headed by president Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin, can’t possibly wait until December if this continues.

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Below, Rutherford after the game and the game highlights.