Confirmed with Link: Canuck Boss Francesco Aquillini State of the Union

[RobertKron]

The Gagner one really surprised me
Still can’t believe he’s willing to pay him to play for other organization

Why is that tough to believe? He’s been happily doing that with Gudbranson for years.

 

[F A N]

And there are posters here who think what a bad PR move it was not having Francesco come out to address Linden’s amicable parting of ways.

 

[Curmudgeon]

And there are posters here who think what a bad PR move it was not having Francesco come out to address Linden’s amicable parting of ways.

He probably should have but the question is the "how". Between the Linden departure and this interview, which I admit to not listening to, he's either not getting very good advice from his support network or isn't open to receiving any at all. Regardless of the motivation behind this appearance, whether it was Gillis' spot yesterday or not, you have to control or at least heavily influence the narrative going into it and it doesn't appear they accomplished that. Poor preparation all around including the timing.

I don't believe for a second he hasn't influenced trades and personnel moves and the preaching of patience and taking a patient approach is in direct conflict with a lot of the moves over the past handful of years, what we've seen as fans, and what Linden kind of positioned upon leaving.

 

[RandV]

And there are posters here who think what a bad PR move it was not having Francesco come out to address Linden’s amicable parting of ways.

I think the issue is more that it's something an owner should have done, but it's not really something Aquilini is able to accomplish. Didn't listen to this one but he's never been good when going in front of the camera. I mean that's what he hired Linden for.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Francesco Aquilini on the rebuild: Jim has had a very tough job. When he came here there was maybe two prospects to work with so he had to start from scratch. I think for the most part he has done a tremendous job bringing in new exciting prospects.

Welp, if anyone was wondering whether Francesco was an intelligent businessman who earned his fortune or a trust fund baby with severely poor judgement and decision making skills, I think this answers the question.

 

[SillyRabbit]

The Gagner one really surprised me
Still can’t believe he’s willing to pay him to play for other organization

He can’t really come out and criticize Benning now can he?

I was so glad that question was asked though, such a slap in the face to both Benning and Aquilini because he brought in a guy who basically bled millions of dollars from his pockets and he has no one to blame but himself.

 

[m9]

This interview was a whole lot of nothing to me. Nothing too good, nothing too bad.. just a fluff interview which lightly touched on relevant things in a non-invasive way.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

the contrast between this and the gillis interview.... yikes!

 

[m9]

Welp, if anyone was wondering whether Francesco was an intelligent businessman who earned his fortune or a trust fund baby with severely poor judgement and decision making skills, I think this answers the question.

As was the theme of this interview, Francesco was technically correct in that Benning has added exciting prospects and improved the prospect pool.

The issue is that Benning has added exciting prospects the easiest way there is - having a terrible team and then selecting highly-rated prospects at the top of each round as per mandated by the league rules.

 

[SillyRabbit]

As was the theme of this interview, Francesco was technically correct in that Benning has added exciting prospects and improved the prospect pool.

The issue is that Benning has added exciting prospects the easiest way there is - having a terrible team and then selecting highly-rated prospects at the top of each round as per mandated by the league rules.

And still somehow managed to botch a 5th and 6th overall.

 

[Canucks LB]

Only big things were him getting mad at gillis and captaincy answers

 

[GetFocht]

Gillis is clearly on another level than him in terms of intelligence.

 

[Peen]

This market is going to sour hard this year or next if results don't start coming in. It's hard to watch a losing team. Really it seems as if Boeser and Pettersson are the lifelines that this regime is clinging to.

Still think the Linden departure is going to rear it's head sometime soon with the casuals and infighting is going to begin.

 

[VanJack]

Honestly, I did try to listen to the interview but quickly lost track of how many times the owner said "you know" to punctuate everything he said. It drives you nuts after awhile and you find yourself cringing and waiting for the next 'you know'. I've always thought when people use this phrase 'you know' after everything they say, it's because deep-down they're not sure what they're saying is actually convincing anyone. But just my nitpicking I guess.

 

[krutovsdonut]

This interview was a whole lot of nothing to me. Nothing too good, nothing too bad.. just a fluff interview which lightly touched on relevant things in a non-invasive way.

i think he is getting professional media advice dating back to his twitter top ten. presumably this was set up as a softball interview intended to furnish him a chance to rebut quickly anything gillis said that stung and otherwise say as little as possible.

it might also be a chance for him to hone his media skills as he follows through with his apparent plan to take an increasingly hands on role with his team. shudder.

 

[Pavel96]

What a weird interview. Aquilini spent a lot of time preaching patience, and then also at one point said the team could become "very good very quickly". Hard to know what he's really thinking.

He's an idiot?

 

[krutovsdonut]

Honestly, I did try to listen to the interview but quickly lost track of how many times the owner said "you know" to punctuate everything he said. It drives you nuts after awhile and you find yourself cringing and waiting for the next 'you know'. I've always thought when people use this phrase 'you know' after everything they say, it's because deep-down they're not sure what they're saying is actually convincing anyone. But just my nitpicking I guess.

make it into a drinking game and it will be fine.

 

[THE Green Man]

Francesco Aquilini on the President: I don't think we will replace that role. The Canucks are the interface of who we are as the Aquilinis and Jim will take over with Trevors duties.

Makes sense- give more responsibility to a guy who's already floundering in his own role within the organization....

Francesco Aquilini on general business: No idea where talk of us selling the team came from but we are local guys who want to be a part of this for a long time. As far as the Lions at the moment it just doesn't make sense for us.

Wasn't expecting anything different but still a bummer to hear out loud.

As much as this ownership group and GM make me sick, they've done 100% the right thing with the captaincy.

It's an incredibly overrated and overanalyzed fan thing and the last thing we need to do is hang that albatross and responsibility around the neck of a young player like Horvat who should be focusing solely on improving his stagnated on-ice performance.

For the record, I believe that the best choice for a transition captain would be Alex Biega - who is easily the most vocal and natural leader in the room and has been a popular captain at every level - but that obviously could never happen unless he was in the limeup every night, which will never happen as long as they insist on playing their inferior pet donkey Gudbranson.

To be fair when Derek Mackenzie gets the "C" I suppose anything is possible

 

[Foundational Player]

Francesco Aquilini on ownership in a Canadian market part 2: As an owner all we can do is provide resources and Jim is welcome to spend to the cap if needed. But you have to be realistic, you aren't always going to be on top. It is hard but its necessary, it's about the process.

So, Jim essentially has no limit on his credit card and is ready to spend at will. How reassuring.

No accountability needed here folks, don't question the plan as we all know the direction. $$$

I am not feeling very optimistic with the prospect of the Canucks ever winning the Stanley Cup with the Aquilini Group owning/operating this franchise.

The past few years indicate that ownership has played a much larger role in major decisions and managerial duties to a fault. This has hurt the team over the short term and now certainly looks as though there will be long term pain ahead as well.

 

[Hit the post]

Fredo better get Kanye West signed as President before he gets offered the UN Ambassador job.

 

[F A N]

I think the issue is more that it's something an owner should have done, but it's not really something Aquilini is able to accomplish. Didn't listen to this one but he's never been good when going in front of the camera. I mean that's what he hired Linden for.

Exactly. That's what I was arguing. You need to take into account the ability of Aquilini to go in front of the cameras and answer the questions that the media want answered. He's clearly not good at it. It's idiotic to not consider the ability of the guy to deliver the type of messaging you want.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

I didn't listen but I suspect Mr Aquilini defended his moves and acquisitions like any gm would.

 

[Siludin]

Those ambivalent comments about Utica scare me.

Utica deserves a hockey team but if the Canucks can get a better option close to Vancouver that would be really cool too.

 

[SillyRabbit]

The thing I find funny is that he was so desperate for playoff revenue that he refused to greenlight a rebuild under Gillis, yet he’s pissed away more than he would’ve earned even if we made the playoffs every year in bad Benning contracts.

Had he just allowed the rebuild to go forward, he would’ve actually saved money on bad contracts, still missed the playoffs the same amount of times, but would have a strong roster of young players ready to start making the playoffs and earning him even more money.

It’s a lesson in how shortsightedness can cost you in the long term if you don’t look at things from the right perspective.

 

[GetFocht]

hate to say it but I think Canucks need a self-made billionaire owner, not a inherited wealth from father type of owner.