July 28, 1997 - The Canucks sign unrestricted free agent Mark Messier, thereby ushering in three years of misery, including:

• Wearing #11 and angering Wayne Maki's family and fans
• Yanking the captaincy away from Trevor Linden who himself was traded a few months later
• The emergence of the failed Messier/Keenan partnership
• Notching his worst point totals in his career up until that point (60 in the first year, 48 in the second and 4 in the third)
• Never "led" the team to the playoffs
• Ran away at the end of his contract back to NY to bury the hatchet (and failed to "lead" them to the playoffs too)

So to wash the bad taste of that signing out of your mouth, fast forward to July 28, 1999 when Burke signed the Sedin twins to their first NHL contract with Vancouver.

There. All better now.