It also speaks to the rank insanity of the free ride he’s received here.
As long as Milbury and Tambellini managed to last, they were at least universally despised by their fan bases and took massive amounts of heat through those periods.
What has happened here is bizarre and unheard-of. One of the most incompetent management regimes in sports history and the media do nothing but cheerlead for them and the fanbase mostly thinks they’re great because we’ve stumbled into a couple young players. It’s just bonkers.
My theory is its due to a near perfect confluence of events:
1. VAN was competitive for over 11 years straight. Right from the WCE era to the Sedins. Compared to other franchises, this one bought itself a lot of leeway with fans.
2. During their competitive streak, VAN never won the cup. This educates the fanbase on playoff hockey. It lets them know about talent, and what it takes to win the cup. By way of this, it highlights the critical nature of drafting.
3. So when Gillis was ousted and the super scout was hired by the favoured son, the fanbase was ready to draft. Ready for "pain".
4. When the favoured son realized what the ownership was really like, he left. This allowed Aqua to become a full on puppet master.
5. Aquilini is very aware of how meddlesome the fanbase and media thinks he is, so he keeps the puppet in house for an extended period of time.
So it's the perception of Aqua, the previous success of Canuck teams and the playoff education of the fanbase that has led us here. The fanbase is completely pliable. The brand is solid and the owner has a preferential set up with a puppet GM. It's only when the gate gets really hurt will the ownership do anything of significance with the front office.