Pre-Game Talk: Francesco Aquilini on Sportsnet 650 at 10am - Thursday

[Love]

Francesco has actually been pretty good in this interview and I say that as someone who has heavily criticized him for a long time.

At the end of the day he still needs to fire our management and coaching staff but I get the sense that he wants to give them a more than fair shot at building a team. But, Francesco is a businessman and I also get the sense that his patience is getting thinner after every season.

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini: I remember when we had our 40th anniversary, it was very exciting. Henrik Sedin was named captain, we're going to name our captain on Wednesday - it's probably the worst kept secret in town... but I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag!

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini: To succeed, I think you need 5 captains on a team. Just because 1 person wears the 'C' doesn't mean that the others don't provide leadership that is needed. We're hoping for a whole group of guys to emerge.

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini on being patient: In this business there are ebbs & flows. People have expectations to win all the time forever - that just doesn't work. There's always a new group of players that come in. We had a good team for many years, this new younger group comes in... 1/3

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini cont'd: and need to learn what it takes. You have to be patient - there's no other choice. You can't bring in a core, which is what you need to do to win, by trading players & free agency. All the successful teams have cores that have been drafted. 2/3

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini cont'd: That's Jim & his team - identifying players that can be our core, give them time to develop, learn the game. They're coming in as 18-20 yr olds and playing against men. 3/3

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini: We've got to take the next step. Based on the group we have, the experience we're bringing in & some of these young guys, it's something that evolves and expect improvement. I think the whole city is expecting improvement

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini on Baertschi waiving: As an owner, all I can do is provide the best and as many resources I can to Jim. Internal competition is always a good thing - this year we had that. Jim & Travis had a lot of options. It's unfortunate for Sven, I think he's a good hockey player.

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini on sending down high-price players: The goal is to make the hockey team better. Whoever is going to fit in and make that happen, that's what's going to happen. Money is not a factor 1/2

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini cont'd: If 1 player is better than another, Jim & Travis their only goal is to win, my job is to support them. If it starts turning into a money issue then we're not trying to win.

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini: Roberto was the backbone of the team. I don't know what his personal circumstances were & his situation - I don't know why he did retire. We did appeal to the league, but the rules are the rules and we just have to live with it - nothing we can do about it.

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini: I'm frustrated as well but there's nothing we can do about it - we have to accept it and move on............. if you don't like it @SatiarShah - I'll give you Gary's number

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini on commemorating Luongo: Roberto's number is being retired in Florida this year. We've got a lot of stuff going on with our our 50th anniversary plans, so no plans right now for Roberto - we might in the future but right now we don't.

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini: We've got a good relationship with Utica but we're always looking to improve. If bringing the team closer makes it better from a hockey perspective - we'd look at that. There's pros & cons to both sides of the argument. Right now we have a contract for 2 years.

 

[Addison Rae]

Message me if you want the full interview (if it isn't on 650's website yet)

 

[canuckfan75]

Aquilini on NBA: The numbers are cost prohibitive now. There was a time that maybe it was possible but to spend $2billion on an NBA team is not something we're going to do. It's just not in our wheelhouse.

 

[canuckfan75]

We can finally put the NBA to Vancouver in the Grave.

 

[Addison Rae]

Great, now Weisbrod knows...

W

 

[I am toxic]

Let's be clear. This is not journalism.

This is marketing.

 

[Hansen]

Let's be clear. This is not journalism.

This is marketing.

650 in a nutshell

 

[I am toxic]

Aquilini: Roberto was the backbone of the team. I don't know what his personal circumstances were & his situation - I don't know why he did retire. We did appeal to the league, but the rules are the rules and we just have to live with it - nothing we can do about it.

You just plagiarized MS.

I'd love to hear a question as to why we didn't trade a pick for his rights to put him on LTIR. Lobbying the NHL when it was too late and there was a rule in place is pointless. The question is why an obvious move that helped all three parties (a pick for Florida, no recapture for us, more $ for Luongo) didn't happen and where and how the ball was dropped there.

Like, I could answer the question for Aquilini there. 'Well, we tried, but there was a rule in place and unfortunately there wasn't a lot we could do'. It's something that sounds like a tough question but in fact is actually a softball because it misses the main point and just allows for an easy non-answer.

 

[MS]

I'd love to hear a question as to why we didn't trade a pick for his rights to put him on LTIR. Lobbying the NHL when it was too late and there was a rule in place is pointless. The question is why an obvious move that helped all three parties (a pick for Florida, no recapture for us, more $ for Luongo) didn't happen and where and how the ball was dropped there.

Like, I could answer the question for Aquilini there. 'Well, we tried, but there was a rule in place and unfortunately there wasn't a lot we could do'. It's something that sounds like a tough question but in fact is actually a softball because it misses the main point and just allows for an easy non-answer.

We did appeal to the league, but the rules are the rules and we just have to live with it - nothing we can do about it.

Like, yeah. Pointless question. A softball pretending to touch a tough issue.

 

[timw33]

Aquilini cont'd: and need to learn what it takes. You have to be patient - there's no other choice. You can't bring in a core, which is what you need to do to win, by trading players & free agency. All the successful teams have cores that have been drafted

This is exactly how they've tried to build the team and the results from those teams is high draft picks that should look good. They have not been patient at all.

Aquilini cont'd: That's Jim & his team - identifying players that can be our core, give them time to develop, learn the game. They're coming in as 18-20 yr olds and playing against men. 3/3

Other than first round picks.....no, they aren't, cause we aren't taking players who are good enough outside the first round.

Aquilini on sending down high-price players: The goal is to make the hockey team better. Whoever is going to fit in and make that happen, that's what's going to happen. Money is not a factor 1/2

That makes the decision not to send Eriksson down worse for Benning, not better.

 

[Hit the post]

I'd love to hear a question as to why we didn't trade a pick for his rights to put him on LTIR. Lobbying the NHL when it was too late and there was a rule in place is pointless. The question is why an obvious move that helped all three parties (a pick for Florida, no recapture for us, more $ for Luongo) didn't happen and where and how the ball was dropped there.

Like, I could answer the question for Aquilini there. 'Well, we tried, but there was a rule in place and unfortunately there wasn't a lot we could do'. It's something that sounds like a tough question but in fact is actually a softball because it misses the main point and just allows for an easy non-answer.

Weisbrod, the Canucks CBA guru was looking into the issue but ran out of time.

 

[MS]

Aquilini on being patient: In this business there are ebbs & flows. People have expectations to win all the time forever - that just doesn't work. There's always a new group of players that come in. We had a good team for many years, this new younger group comes in... 1/3

Aquilini cont'd: and need to learn what it takes. You have to be patient - there's no other choice. You can't bring in a core, which is what you need to do to win, by trading players & free agency. All the successful teams have cores that have been drafted. 2/3

Aquilini cont'd: That's Jim & his team - identifying players that can be our core, give them time to develop, learn the game. They're coming in as 18-20 yr olds and playing against men. 3/3

It's so frustrating that we're still being fed this BS that we the fans are impatient but ownership and management are taking the time to do things the right way.

Like, the reason fans are upset with this regime are the constant short-cuts, failed attempts at competing, and total lack of a plan. Fans wanted young players and were ok with a proper rebuild. The owner and GM weren't, and to the be patronized by this idiot telling *us* to be patient is infuriating.