Official Aquilini Thread

[y2kcanucks]

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

Uh not at all. Frank Aquilini is a complete idiot, and anyone who knows him will likely tell you the same.

The Canucks ownership group is only in it for the money. I said this back when they bought the team, and now it's becoming increasingly more evident. All they care about is the money. That's why they're putting pressure to do everything they can to make the playoffs, at any cost. It's ok though. I have a gut feeling that they'll be selling the team within the next 2 years max.

 

[opendoor]

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.

And if you want the team to compete in the long term sometimes you need to take some short term lumps to reach that goal. LA, Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh, the last 5 cup winners, all missed the playoffs multiple years in a row before winning the cup. That doesn't mean deliberately losing, but it does mean being willing to accept short term mediocrity in order to retain and build up assets for the future.

And to be honest, that kind of looks like what the team is doing whether they intend to or not. They've just downgraded the roster of a 25th place team and removed some of their best defensive players in favor of soft and/or slow replacements. They're probably going to be a pretty bad team but many of their acquisitions (particularly Bonino and Vrbata) are easily moved at a later trade deadline for futures if it comes to that.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Uh not at all. Frank Aquilini is a complete idiot, and anyone who knows him will likely tell you the same.

The Canucks ownership group is only in it for the money. I said this back when they bought the team, and now it's becoming increasingly more evident. All they care about is the money. That's why they're putting pressure to do everything they can to make the playoffs, at any cost. It's ok though. I have a gut feeling that they'll be selling the team within the next 2 years max.

Do you know him?

 

[y2kcanucks]

Do you know him?

I know people that do.

 

[Fat Tony]

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.

If that's the case, every thing Aquilini said in that article is a load.

 

[Gormo]

“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.”

What in here is tantamount to an admission of meddling on Aquaman's behalf?

Does "I’m learning about the ups and downs of the business and realize the success of the hockey team is not in my control.” necessarily mean he tried to control things at some point? I dont get it.

“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.

This is a narrative by a reporter.

When guys like Botch write conjecture about one of our players we go squirrely on them, so whats the difference here? Why believe this?

I dont even like Aquaman, hes not a pleasant individual. But I need facts.

.

 

[ddawg1950]

I know people that do.

That's really weak.

 

[Diamonddog01]

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.

Very, very well said. Could not agree with you more.

This ownership is meddlesome narrative has come out only to absolve Gillis of his mistakes. For 5 years we never heard a sniff of this - then suddenly Gillis ***** the bed hard for a few years and all the poor decisions are the owners fault.

I also love how the owners were responsible for a variety of seemingly contradictory moves:

Hiring Tortorella (despite firing him at huge cost to themselves a year later)
Preventing a Kesler trade to stay competitive
Forcing a Kesler trade to stay competitive
Forcing Gillis to adopt a Boston model
Hiring Linden as a figurehead...so he could hire a coach who plays an uptempo, puck-possession, Detroit-style?

Such a load of horse****.

 

[NoShowWilly]

Uh not at all. Frank Aquilini is a complete idiot, and anyone who knows him will likely tell you the same.

The Canucks ownership group is only in it for the money. I said this back when they bought the team, and now it's becoming increasingly more evident. All they care about is the money. That's why they're putting pressure to do everything they can to make the playoffs, at any cost. It's ok though. I have a gut feeling that they'll be selling the team within the next 2 years max.

once the towers are up on Rogers Arena i could see them possibly unloading everything.

 

[btdvox]

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.

Umm.. I guess you haven't paid close attention have you? Here's a small list:

1) Michael Grabner (14th overall in 2006) + 25th overall 2010 which became Quinton Howden for Keith Ballard
2) Two 2012 4th round picks and Taylor Ellington (33rd overall in 2007) for Sami Pahlsson
3) Kevin Connaughton + 2nd round 2013 for Derek Roy

Thats 7 Canucks prospects that could have been, simply given away by Mike Gillis. What's more shocking is that NONE of those players that came back worked out.

Sami Pahlsson and Derek Roy were terrible Rental players and we all know the story about Keith Ballard.

 

[btdvox]

Uh not at all. Frank Aquilini is a complete idiot, and anyone who knows him will likely tell you the same.

The Canucks ownership group is only in it for the money. I said this back when they bought the team, and now it's becoming increasingly more evident. All they care about is the money. That's why they're putting pressure to do everything they can to make the playoffs, at any cost. It's ok though. I have a gut feeling that they'll be selling the team within the next 2 years max.

once the towers are up on Rogers Arena i could see them possibly unloading everything.

Well, both these statements are completely incorrect.

I worked for Rogers Arena up until last season and they built those towers for Aquilini's to have office space for their entire Investment Group.

They literally built the office space so that they could have all their staff for all their ventures under one roof, so to speak.

I think one floor of it is going to be the new team store, while another is going to be a bar/restaurant and the other 2 floors are for office space. Note that they have a ton of office space underground too from Gate 16.

 

[RandV]

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.

I should expand on what I said a little. It's not just HF, there are many dedicated fans that would understand a downturn for a few seasons. I'm sure there are season ticket holders who've held their spots for 10, 20, or more years that aren't going to go away if we suck a few seasons in a row.

But, we also weren't selling 16,000 season tickets in the 90's. Dwarfing the dedicated fan is the fair weather group. Vancouver becomes 'Canuck land' when the team is strong, and tickets become a hot item. Should the team fade they'll start drifting away, and ticket demand will plummet. How much money you make on your team is not just how many butts you put into seats, as there's only a finite amount, but how much people are willing to pay to get in.

I was tempted but never actually tried it out, but pretty sure tickets from scalpers were getting pretty damn cheap nearing the end of last season.

 

[Zombotron]

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 recall Gillis saying something about how the 2012-13 season was a very difficult one for him, with no real explanation as to why, so I'm thinking you may be right on that one aside from when it started.

 

[Chubros]

All I know is that the team is better off now than when it was owned by foreign ownership and there were weekly news reports of the team potentially being relocated.

 

[The Stig]

All I know is that the team is better off now than when it was owned by foreign ownership and there were weekly news reports of the team potentially being relocated.

This times alot

 

[F A N]

Umm.. I guess you haven't paid close attention have you? Here's a small list:

1) Michael Grabner (14th overall in 2006) + 25th overall 2010 which became Quinton Howden for Keith Ballard
2) Two 2012 4th round picks and Taylor Ellington (33rd overall in 2007) for Sami Pahlsson
3) Kevin Connaughton + 2nd round 2013 for Derek Roy

Thats 7 Canucks prospects that could have been, simply given away by Mike Gillis.

Umm... is this some kind of joke? First of all, draft picks aren't "prospects". Nobody calls draft picks prospects. Second of all, Connauton was really the only worthy "prospect" on that list. Grabner should be considered a graduated prospect as he was no longer waiver exempt. That means he either cracked the NHL lineup full time or he would likely be lost to waivers. Besides, Gillis acquired Oreskovich in the same deal so prospect for prospect if you would. Taylor Ellington is not a prospect but a bust.

Results may not be what Gillis had hoped for, but there was little wrong behind the decision making of those trades. He traded the 1st round pick thinking his team was a revamped defense away from being contenders. He was wrong about Ballard, but he was spot on in his timing. The Roy trade was a much needed band-aid solution. If you don't understand the necessity of adding depth for the playoffs I can't help you. It's not like Gillis traded a 1st round pick for a rental and it's not like he traded 2nd and 3rd round picks only to have his team miss the playoffs like his predecessor.

 

[Archangel]

All I know is that the team is better off now than when it was owned by foreign ownership and there were weekly news reports of the team potentially being relocated.

Please post legit info on the relocation statement. I worked for the canyck sales team untill the ownership tookover. There was no legit talk of the team moving. Grizzlies yea. Canucks no

 

[F A N]

I recall Gillis saying something about how the 2012-13 season was a very difficult one for him, with no real explanation as to why, so I'm thinking you may be right on that one aside from when it started.

There was a delay between the Canucks' playoff exit and Gillis' extension. Most thought it would be a slam dunk given that the team was in the Cup finals less than a year ago. That led to speculation that Aquilini and Gillis weren't seeing eye to eye on something. Could be extension for Vigneault. Could be something else. Regardless Aquilini gave Gillis a 5 year contract anyways.

 

[Jordalenko]

This, and all the Aquilini threads have so much gawk it's ridiculous. I do not support him based on reasonable assert actions of interference. But there are a lot of comments that devolve into personal comments. I then see even more baseless comments supporting him.

IMO, we need to make this more constructive. What sports owner would you want? Try to pick someone who has built a champion team and loves to be involved in whatever capacity they can.

My pick: Ed Debartolo Jr. - SF 49ers

Opposite of my pick: Jerry Jones

 

[Jordalenko]

This, and all the Aquilini threads have so much gawk it's ridiculous. I do not support him based on reasonable assert actions of interference. But there are a lot of comments that devolve into personal comments. I then see even more baseless comments supporting him.

IMO, we need to make this more constructive. What sports owner would you want? Try to pick someone who has built a champion team and loves to be involved in whatever capacity they can.

My pick: Ed Debartolo Jr. - SF 49ers

Opposite of my pick: Jerry Jones

Gak is 'garbage' and auto complete spelled it as gawk above.

 

[Spectrefire]

I have a gut feeling that they'll be selling the team within the next 2 years max.

I really hope not. They're not perfect owners by any means, but they're still one of the better ones in the league. Meddling aside, they are more than willing to write blank cheques for the team, spend to the cap and pour money in all sorts of stuff to make the team better (sleep doctors, nutrition programs, an AHL team).

You compare the Aquillinis to someone like Melnyk, I'd take the Aquillinis every ******* time.

 

[MarkMM]

This, and all the Aquilini threads have so much gawk it's ridiculous. I do not support him based on reasonable assert actions of interference. But there are a lot of comments that devolve into personal comments. I then see even more baseless comments supporting him.

IMO, we need to make this more constructive. What sports owner would you want? Try to pick someone who has built a champion team and loves to be involved in whatever capacity they can.

My pick: Ed Debartolo Jr. - SF 49ers

Opposite of my pick: Jerry Jones

Mark Cuban is about as hands-on as it gets and was able to turn the Mavericks around in short order, eventually winning the championship.

 

[Peen]

Mark Cuban is about as hands-on as it gets and was able to turn the Mavericks around in short order, eventually winning the championship.

Cuban knows a lot about basketball. I have a lot of respect for him as an owner.

Even without the superstars, he puts together a team that works and puts in place an excellent staff.

 

[DennisReynolds]

As long as they are willing to spend money to improve the team, who cares?

 

[Wilch]

Mark Cuban is about as hands-on as it gets and was able to turn the Mavericks around in short order, eventually winning the championship.

Cuban's got a deeper pocket is smarter than the Aquilinis.

No texting journalists calling them ******, not dumb enough to get married without a prenup and cheat, not a trust fund baby.

If Cuban was the owner, he would have bought out Luongo or retained salary to jettison his ass.