Speculation: Francesco Aquilini Warning Shot towards Jim Benning?

[canuckfan75]

Botchford keeps hinting Ferraro here and there. They are close.

 

[xtra]

Ferraro in a management role yes, Ferraro in the lead role no.


With that said if my options are Ferraro or weisbrod I’ll take Ferraro because he seems smart enough to know what he doesn’t know and weisbrod is useless

 

[Josepho]

Ron Hextall as President/GM Ray Ferraro as AGM/Advisor

 

[vancityluongo]

Jason Botchford is hinting that Ray Ferraro may be interested in getting into management. Local guy. would be outstanding with the media. Italian background. what do you guys think

I think there are better people out there than an inexperienced Ray Ferraro who is only being mentioned because he doesn't come across as a total moron on TV/radio (especially relative to Jeff O'Neill), but he would be exponentially better than Benning. Would take him in a heartbeat and look to pair him with an experienced President of Hockey Ops.

 

[ginner classic]

I heard on the radio that Benning has the longest playoff drought among tenured GM's. I'd say one more year max before he gets fired if the Canucks miss it again.

I think it's very probable he gets fired after July 1. If he is going to be fired I imagine Aquilini is going to put the trade and contract handcuffs on him. Submit qualifying offers to RFAs, resign Edler, do the draft and then GTFO. He could even get fired in the next two weeks to increase the amount of time available to do a GM search. I think Dean Lombardi is a pretty good bet to be the next GM.

 

[Hit the post]

I heard on the radio that Benning has the longest playoff drought among tenured GM's. I'd say one more year max before he gets fired if the Canucks miss it again.

It's hardly like we were that close to a wild card spot in the previous three seasons. We're only close this season (to a wild card spot) because the West sucks so bad.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

We need a progressive young GM who comprehends we have the worst travel schedule by far in the NHL and is prepared to make every aspect of the organization elite to compensate for the disadvantages Vancouver faces as a NHL franchise. I'd rather not recycle old meathead players since they seem brain dead towards advanced stats and 21st century nuances of running a billion dollar professional sports organization.

 

[Zippgunn]

Owners like Aquilini fire their GMs based on media perception and public pressure.
Gillis was fired only after the media turned the public against him and the crowd at the arena was chanting it.
Chiarelli wasn't fired until the national media was screaming for his head, and even then fired reluctantly.

Judging by Twitter, the tide of public opinion finally seems to be turning against Benning.
I think there's a small chance he either gets let go or re-assigned to a different position in the organization at the end of the year.

I don't think replacing Benning will solve the real problem here though: Francesco.
All of his tweets come off as an egotistical, impatient, uninformed fanboy who wants everything now now now and I'm sure he vetoes beneficial long-term moves in favor of short-sighted junk.
The stories about Linden getting fired for preaching patience were probably true.
Even when Benning is replaced, I think we'll see a lot of the same problems.
Even Melnyk is willing to be patient and rebuild.

This. Very little will change until FAQ sells this team.

 

[Fire Benning]

Frankie wants an old conventional hockey dinosaur like Benning because he knows a brighter, more progressive mind will outsmart him and effectively undermine his control. Gillis was unequivocally more fit to run a team than Benning, yet he was fired after one bad season meanwhile Benning is at the helm for what's soon to be 4 consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs while having one of the worst records in the league in that time frame, and he's still going strong.

 

[sting101]

The only role i would want Ferraro in is Assistant GM....he would instantly improve our pro scouting. He usually hits the nail with his player evaluations and we need an accurate critical thinker not an lackadaisical nice guy like what we've been dealing with since Gillis left.

 

[sting101]

Frankie wants an old conventional hockey dinosaur like Benning because he knows a brighter, more progressive mind will outsmart him and undermine his control. Gillis was unequivocally more fit to run a team than Benning, yet he was fired after one bad season meanwhile Benning is at the helm for what's soon to be 4 consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs while having one of the worst records in the league in that time frame and is still going strong.

yes right lol.
undermine his control??

Gillis was fired because he had a finalist that had turned into a laughing stalk and the fans were chanting to get rid of him along with the media hating him.

The only reason Aquilini has kept Benning is because Linden and others plus Petey Brock Hughes have convinced him that Benning is a good scout and will re stock the cupboards.

 

[Boeser Fan]

Owners like Aquilini fire their GMs based on media perception and public pressure.
Gillis was fired only after the media turned the public against him and the crowd at the arena was chanting it.
Chiarelli wasn't fired until the national media was screaming for his head, and even then fired reluctantly.

Judging by Twitter, the tide of public opinion finally seems to be turning against Benning.
I think there's a small chance he either gets let go or re-assigned to a different position in the organization at the end of the year.

I don't think replacing Benning will solve the real problem here though: Francesco.
All of his tweets come off as an egotistical, impatient, uninformed fanboy who wants everything now now now and I'm sure he vetoes beneficial long-term moves in favor of short-sighted junk.
The stories about Linden getting fired for preaching patience were probably true.
Even when Benning is replaced, I think we'll see a lot of the same problems.
Even Melnyk is willing to be patient and rebuild.

Yes by trading that unprotected 1st this year..

 

[Scumbag Frank]

Yes by trading that unprotected 1st this year..

When they traded that 1st they were coming off a conference finals and weren't in rebuild mode yet

 

[dwarf]

I hate seeing GMs getting fired unless they really deserve it. People in any capacity get better at it with experience.

As Canuck fans we just went through all the mistakes of a rookie GM with Benning, and seeing the results of a Forsling on Chicago, is a good example of those growing pains.

I would love to see a competent GM brought in to handle matters in Van, but anyone with a backbone towards ownership has been a no no.

Hopefully Francisco can see the mistakes he has made as an owner, and can learn from them.

Bringing in a Dean Lombardi would be a good move for Van, and I hope something like that happens.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

I think it's very probable he gets fired after July 1. If he is going to be fired I imagine Aquilini is going to put the trade and contract handcuffs on him. Submit qualifying offers to RFAs, resign Edler, do the draft and then GTFO. He could even get fired in the next two weeks to increase the amount of time available to do a GM search. I think Dean Lombardi is a pretty good bet to be the next GM.

This season has been a win/win situation for the Canucks management...Enthusiasm and interest is growing for our future star players.(another player with huge interest will be arriving in a few weeks)..Season ticket sales are up..and here we are practically at the beginning of March,....still playing meaningful games...JB's not getting fired.

 

[lush]

Classic Aquaman, during the lows he's only the money guy.

 

[Pip]

This season has been a win/win situation for the Canucks management...Enthusiasm and interest is growing for our future star players.(another player with huge interest will be arriving in a few weeks)..Season ticket sales are up..and here we are practically at the beginning of March,....still playing meaningful games...JB's not getting fired.

We’re worse than Arizona. I guess Chayka is doing a great job down there.

 

[timw33]

.still playing meaningful games

We're only playing meaningful games because the conference is terrible. We're at pretty much the same place as last year points wise.

 

[Hit the post]

,....still playing meaningful games..

And St Anger was a great album.

Assuming we win tonight, we’ll be one point over .500.

As of this month & day under the year of Torts, we were four points above .500.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Botchford keeps hinting Ferraro here and there. They are close.

Ferraro and Aquilini would be like oil and water. Ferraro is a progressive thinker, but he's blunt and stubborn at times too. Could you imagine Ferraro and Aquilini disagreeing on something? There would be fireworks.

 

[mathonwy]

Ferraro and Aquilini would be like oil and water. Ferraro is a progressive thinker, but he's blunt and stubborn at times too. Could you imagine Ferraro and Aquilini disagreeing on something? There would be fireworks.

Unless it's the league that's running things and not Franky.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

And St Anger was a great album.

Assuming we win tonight, we’ll be one point over .500.

As of this month & day under the year of Torts, we were four points above .500.

They were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league..let alone ‘meaningful ‘ anything.

They are now being led by the ‘under 23’ squad...but obviously you can’t appease everyone..can you?..genius.

 

[TruKnyte]

They were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league..let alone ‘meaningful ‘ anything.

They are now being led by the ‘under 23’ squad...but obviously you can’t appease everyone..can you?..genius.

But we are one of the worst teams in the league. There are currently 23 teams above us in the standings.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Unless it's the league that's running things and not Franky.

Got to do it for Melnyk first...

My one hope for a management change is to have FA target a GM with tenure and reputation. It's the only way Aquilini gets pushed away enough from Hockey Ops that the organization can truly take shape.

I've brought up Holland, so I'll use him as an example here. If FA hires Holland, Holland's reputation comes with him. If anything leaks out about behind the scenes turmoil, the crosshairs will be directly on Aqua, not Holland. Holland is above reproach in hockey circles while Aquilini already has the reputation of being a petulant meddler. That's not going to end well for Aquilini.

Holland can create pressure in this way. Linden couldn't because he was missing the resume.

 

[mathonwy]

Got to do it for Melnyk first...

My one hope for a management change is to have FA target a GM with tenure and reputation. It's the only way Aquilini gets pushed away enough from Hockey Ops that the organization can truly take shape.

I've brought up Holland, so I'll use him as an example here. If FA hires Holland, Holland's reputation comes with him. If anything leaks out about behind the scenes turmoil, the crosshairs will be directly on Aqua, not Holland. Holland is above reproach in hockey circles while Aquilini already has the reputation of being a petulant meddler. That's not going to end well for Aquilini.

Holland can create pressure in this way. Linden couldn't because he was missing the resume.

If FA wants the heat off of him, he needs to do something to make up for quashing the media for close to a decade.

I encourage you to subscribe to the Athletics because it's pretty much Botch unleashed.