Welcome Matt: Canucks' terrible preseason record is nothing to worry about

I don’t give a single, solitary bleep about preseason results.

I cannot get worked up about the Vancouver Canucks’ winless start through four games. I won’t be alarmist if they lose the three remaining games. And I don’t even care if veterans are dogging it.

As Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau said today, the Colorado Avalanche went 6-0 in 2016-17 preseason and finished with a league-worst 48 points.

It’s preseason. The points don’t count. The exercise is about timing, chemistry, and avoiding injury for NHL players, and showcases for those fighting for the bottom-end roster spots.

It’s not about winning or losing. And that is particularly true in this day of load management.

Veterans are staring down 82 regular season games, and as many as 28 more in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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In other words, it’s a long year. Getting through that year unscathed and with reserves left for April is the goal. Not winning games in late-September.

In fact, if enough veterans dog it for enough preseason games, we may actually get a reduction in the number of preseason games, benefitting us all.

NFL coaches, players, and fans all thought four preseason games too much, so now they have three. In the NHL’s case, if seven is too much then let’s have six, or better yet, five.

I understand how the Canucks struggled out of the gate last year, that the coach is entering a lame-duck year and needs results from the jump, and that management needs intel for the important roster decisions to come.

But results and the effort level of veterans aren’t indicators of what’s to come on October 12 in Edmonton, when the Canucks get going for real.

So let’s stop with the Chicken Little nonsense until we start keeping score.