Official Aquilini Thread

[me2]

You have no idea what he wants.. He wants a Stanley Cup.. He is a hard core Canucks Fan....and has thrown so much money at this team.

I can't believe some of the fans of this team.

Is he closer or farther?

 

[The Stig]

All I know is that it could be way worse. These guys at least spend to and above the cap and give every resource possible into this team. I know people hate them after the whole Gillis saga but I'm still thankful that we have owners that care (too much perhaps) and are willing to spend money into this team.

I hope they learned their lesson and won't get involved in the hockey side of things as much. I think it's interesting how there was never a peep about them being overly involved until last year. My theory is that they let Gillis do his thing for years until last year when he began to slip up and the team started declining. That's probably when they started worrying and got too involved. I don't see Gillis as someone who would work for years under a boss that was controlling so I see it as more of a recent issue.

I agree with everything here. Very good post.

 

[Krnuckfan]

Money grubbing slimeballs who will doom this franchise to years of mediocrity while never being a true contender for the cup all for a couple playoff home games.

 

[Iridescent*]

All I know is that it could be way worse. These guys at least spend to and above the cap and give every resource possible into this team. I know people hate them after the whole Gillis saga but I'm still thankful that we have owners that care (too much perhaps) and are willing to spend money into this team.

I hope they learned their lesson and won't get involved in the hockey side of things as much. I think it's interesting how there was never a peep about them being overly involved until last year. My theory is that they let Gillis do his thing for years until last year when he began to slip up and the team started declining. That's probably when they started worrying and got too involved. I don't see Gillis as someone who would work for years under a boss that was controlling so I see it as more of a recent issue.

Quoting so everyone can read it again. Agree on every point.

I for one love the Aquilini family and how much time, effort, and money they have poured into every aspect of this franchise, off-ice and on.

 

[DoubleTrouble]

And you do? Are you related to him?

As someone who owns a business, I can tell you he is doing everything possible to be a winning team.

What ever management needs to make the team better, He gives.. Not to many owners like that..

 

[Fat Tony]

I could have sworn I saw a thread just like this one over in the Oilers forums.

 

[LiquidSnake]

As someone who owns a business, I can tell you he is doing everything possible to be a winning team.

What ever management needs to make the team better, He gives.. Not to many owners like that..

And as a someone who also owns a successful business, you also can't micromanage because that's where the problems come in.

Tortorella was clearly their meddlesome hire. The Luongo deal. Hell, Miller went and had dinner with Aquilini before making his mind up.

Their raising of ticket prices yearly based on lies, restricting sales on certain games and leaking out codes for discounted playoff tickets is a direct **** you to any paying fan.

His goal is profit. And of course, winning brings profits

 

[Jordalenko]

You have no idea what he wants.. He wants a Stanley Cup.. He is a hard core Canucks Fan....and has thrown so much money at this team.

I can't believe some of the fans of this team.

I am not a fan at this point but I am trying to keep an open mind. The money thing is a red herring IMO. This market supports a full cap team. The decision this year to push for free agents is the Aquilinis. I find that distasteful. Yet I can't make a qualitative call on it.

The fact remains that youth is best when they have a chance to develop under qualified veterans. They develop best when they don't lose all the time. The free agent acquisitions accomplish some of that. Yet it takes the option to play youth and develop a significant opportunity at a high end prospect in this years draft.

I am not talking about tanking. We have guys who are probably not going to contribute when we next challenge for the Cup and we have good young guys who could benefit from some pro level minutes. Combine that with the fact Vancouver is, on paper, the 9th best team in the west. It puts us in no mans land for the draft, and this is a significant draft. Coming on the heels of four top picks in 2 years it could be enough to create the next wave. But we are not doing that.

The reason we are not doing that is because non hockey people have dictated this course of action. I struggle to see how that is appropriate or so easily forgiven by fans. I want Benning and Linden to sink or swim on their own choices.

 

[Jordalenko]

It wasn't. Supposedly neither was the 24th, that's when things changed.

In retrospect this could be true if Bonino was always in the deal. IMO Bonino is significantly more valuable than the 10th pick. If I was asked about the Anaheim trade prior to the deal happening I never once speculated Bonino was in. Couldn't believe that he and a 1st were included. But then we traded a good 3rd for a weaker one this year and we took a salary dump in Sbisa.

Still, Sbisa may have some success here, or more, and McCann and Bonino for a guy who admitted he would walk in 2 years was relatively good value.

 

[RandV]

I am not a fan at this point but I am trying to keep an open mind. The money thing is a red herring IMO. This market supports a full cap team. The decision this year to push for free agents is the Aquilinis. I find that distasteful. Yet I can't make a qualitative call on it.

The fact remains that youth is best when they have a chance to develop under qualified veterans. They develop best when they don't lose all the time. The free agent acquisitions accomplish some of that. Yet it takes the option to play youth and develop a significant opportunity at a high end prospect in this years draft.

I am not talking about tanking. We have guys who are probably not going to contribute when we next challenge for the Cup and we have good young guys who could benefit from some pro level minutes. Combine that with the fact Vancouver is, on paper, the 9th best team in the west. It puts us in no mans land for the draft, and this is a significant draft. Coming on the heels of four top picks in 2 years it could be enough to create the next wave. But we are not doing that.

The reason we are not doing that is because non hockey people have dictated this course of action. I struggle to see how that is appropriate or so easily forgiven by fans. I want Benning and Linden to sink or swim on their own choices.

You'll see how it's appropriate when you understand the large majority of fans, including the most important ones that actually buy tickets, want us to compete. HFBoards is a little oasis where fans tend to value youth, prospects, and rebuilding far more than the regular fanbase.

 

[west in the east]

That's about the only saving grace for me here, because I respect him as an owner who's willing to spend but I can't respect him as a fellow fan, where he appears to be both impatient and self entitled.

In a way it's good to have an owner that gets involved, that means he's not just treating the team as just another business.

As things stand now I was a big fan of Gillis, and it just feels like Aquilini was the man behind the current responsible for screwing things up to which Gillis took the fall. I still feel like Gillis left us in a good enough position going forward, and Benning should be a good hockey guy in his own right, so I can only hope Aqulini learned his listen and will let the actual hockey guys do their jobs.

Exactly how I feel. I am willing to see how things go before passing judgment on the Benning regime. Hopefully they stick to what they know best and let Benning do his job.

 

[Verviticus]

As someone who owns a business, I can tell you he is doing everything possible to be a winning team.

all business owners are the same

 

[oyvey]

 

[Archangel]

I am amused in how in 24 months both gillis and the owner went from gods to cow dung

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

I am amused in how in 24 months both gillis and the owner went from gods to cow dung

Well they did **** up countless times in that span.

 

[ddawg1950]

I am amused in how in 24 months both gillis and the owner went from gods to cow dung

That's what losing does...and it's why I've always been opposed to a tank. Losing is like an infection and it can spread very quickly.

For me, I think Aquaman was indeed over involved and I hope he has learned this one lesson: leave hockey decisions to hockey people.

Having said that, after having seen what absentee, financially unstable ownership has done to other franchises, I'm glad we have a local owner with deep pockets.

And an owner who's number one goal is to win a cup.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

 

[F A N]

Let me ask you this.. if you are the owner of the Canucks and it was your money that was being thrown around.. Would you want to be hands on?

I can tell you this ... I would.. You hire people to run your business and you hope you have hired the right ones.. But when the teams is failing on the ice and in season ticket sales.. Alarms go off..

The aquo family gave the team to Gillis to run and trusted him with their money.. He made some mistakes and lost his Job

Linden and Company are not going to be able to do whatever they want.. The Aquo family has let them know that this is not a rebuild and the teams is expect to make the playoffs every year..

There's a difference between being "involved" and "hands on." If I was the owner I would certainly be involved in the sense that I want to know everything that is going on. I will sit in on the interviews my President or GM is conducting because I can. I want to know the moves my GM is planning because I am a fan and I am the boss. I might even sit in on the scout meetings if I wanted to. But that doesn't mean I am going to veto my President or GM's suggestion/decision. I am not going to tell Benning to hire Bylsma if Linden and Benning wanted Desjardins. I will try very hard to be "hands off." There's no problem with giving the team to Gillis to run and then firing him for making mistakes or bad performance. The problem comes from being so "hands on" that you get in the way of Gillis properly doing his job. Not allowing Linden to tear the team down and do an Edmonton style rebuild is already less of an evil but if Jim Benning came to me at the deadline and said look... we gave it a shot and we simply don't have the horses to compete. We need to rebuild and get the maximum return for our veterans while we can. I would ask the management team if that is what they all think. If that's what they think I will let them make the decision. If it's not about the money and I just want a Stanley Cup I will support any decision that my management team feels is best for the club.

Sounds to me like Gillis was a guy he didn't trust. I wouldn't have either. After seeing Gillis simply sell all of the Canucks prospects for an immediate success wasn't truly the right call now was it? Finally 4-5 years later we have a cupboard full of prospects, and it only took Benning one off season, though Gillis started it last draft.

On the other hand looks like Aquamen do trust Linden which is a positive.

What the hell are you talking about? How did sell all of the Canucks prospects for immediate success? Who did Gillis sell? I didn't see anything of that sort. If we have a cupboard full of prospects that credit should belong mostly to Gillis.

 

[Archangel]

That is epic. We had threads for two years how gillis and the owners could do no wrong. Where their supporters

 

[Pump n Dump]

Wel see what the mods think but I thought it might be good to have a thread devoted to Canuck ownership. Since we debate about it anyway. What spurred me on to start this thread was this quote I just read from Francesco Aquilini.


To me... Those quotes point towards him almost admitting he was having way too much control over hockey ops.


-----

With recently anointed president of hockey operations Trevor Linden sitting in the front row, Aquilini won the crowd over when he said: “Winning a Stanley Cup is everything. If you don’t want to win the Stanley Cup, you shouldn’t own a team. I’m learning about the ups and downs of the business and realize the success of the hockey team is not in my control.â€

Without mentioning names, that’s the closest Aquilini has ventured into admitting his contribution to the horror show produced by Mike Gillis and directed by John Tortorella last year.

“We just want Trevor to be what he is and who he is and leave it with him to put the best product possible on the ice,†Aquilini said.

At that point, a sigh of “Amen†seemed to drift through the room.

---------

http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story.html?id=10001812

The only thing that quote points to is the press continuing to stroke a rumour. "a sigh of "Amen" seemed to drift through the room" - what a hack.

Aquilini is well aware of the "meddlesome owner" tag and he is trying to distance himself from it- heck he threatened to sue over it (which was not smart and only made things worse). No doubt he was involved in the decision process, but I'd like to see a shred of evidence that Aquilini overruled Gillis over Tortorella's hiring. Without that, 95% of the nonsense on this board about this subject is without any factual foundation. I don't think for a minute that the Aquilinis are saints and maybe one day Gillis will write his memoirs and reveal that he went to the wall to hire Steven's and was overruled. But right now, there is only the kind of rumour that hack sports reporters thrive on.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

We have one of the best owners in sports and anyone who thinks differently is delusional quite frankly.

 

[Jordalenko]

You'll see how it's appropriate when you understand the large majority of fans, including the most important ones that actually buy tickets, want us to compete. HFBoards is a little oasis where fans tend to value youth, prospects, and rebuilding far more than the regular fanbase.

Um, I am a lower bowl season ticket holder. What I understand is Aquilini's supporters are very vocal, quick to take an opinion as an opportunity for conflict and/or to make an assumption and extrapolate an opinion from there.

 

[bo2shink*]

I think the fact that he is such a fan is what clouds his judgement sometimes. If the rumours are true that he nixed the trade deadline deal that would have sent Kesler to ANA for Etem, 10th overall + are true then fans have a right to be pissed. He also seemed to be way too involved with Luongo.

Sounds like half the posters here.

 

[bo2shink*]

HFBoards is a little oasis where fans tend to value youth, prospects, and rebuilding far more than the regular fanbase.

The beauty of being an armchair GM is that none of the decisions one would make matter. People here live in this "oasis" believing that everything they'd do would work perfectly.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

As someone who owns a business, I can tell you he is doing everything possible to be a winning team.

What ever management needs to make the team better, He gives.. Not to many owners like that..

Yea, he even has Nonna Aquilini interview head coaches, now if that isn't giving every possible edge to management, I don't know what is.

Word to the wise, watch what is said in this thread, its already public knowledge that there was a nasty text message exchange between Francesco and a reporter, trying to stop him from talking on many of the topics we're talking about here.