Speculation: The Team Presidency Discussion Thread

[Fire Benning]

Franceso Aquilini - @fr_aquilini - May 7

Contrary to the media reports and widespread rumours, I have not contacted Ken Holland about becoming team president and have no plans to do so, I've never seen Ken Holland in person nor have I ever spoken to him, in fact I'm pretty sure Ken Holland is not even a real person.

 

[VanJack]

I wonder after five years of mediocrity, the Aquaman is having some regrets about canning both Gillis and Torts after only one bad season. Heading out the door, Torts had a better read on where the Canucks were heading than anybody.

But that's when the true rebuild should have started, as well as moratorium on trading any draft picks for immediate, short-term help in a vain attempt to prop up the stale, aging lineup.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Franceso Aquilini - @fr_aquilini - May 7

Contrary to the media reports and widespread rumours, I have not contacted Ken Holland about becoming team president and have no plans to do so, I've never seen Ken Holland in person nor have I ever spoken to him, in fact I'm pretty sure Ken Holland is not even a real person.

We have a fool for an owner,,

 

[Scorvat]

I wonder after five years of mediocrity, the Aquaman is having some regrets about canning both Gillis and Torts after only one bad season. Heading out the door, Torts had a better read on where the Canucks were heading than anybody.

But that's when the true rebuild should have started, as well as moratorium on trading any draft picks for immediate, short-term help in a vain attempt to prop up the stale, aging lineup.

Canning Torts was an absolute must. He showed no commitment to the team or the organisation and he essentially started goalie controversy 2.0, for no apparent reason, resulting in Loungo having to be traded. Every major player, minus Kassian and Tanev took steps back. He had no interest coaching in Canada long term and doubt he would have stomached a rebuild here. He was a horrible hire from the get-go by Aqua man.

 

[Hit the post]

Canning Torts was an absolute must. He showed no commitment to the team or the organisation and he essentially started goalie controversy 2.0, for no apparent reason, resulting in Loungo having to be traded. Every major player, minus Kassian and Tanev took steps back. He had no interest coaching in Canada long term and doubt he would have stomached a rebuild here. He was a horrible hire from the get-go by Aqua man.

I actually thought Tanev was one of the few players that actually didn’t play all that badly under Torts.

 

[StreetHawk]

Did you think in 2008 that the Sedin twins would ever become MVP's? 100+ point seasons? I doubt it.

What about 39 point and 31 point Kesler and Burrows? Did you see them hitting 35 and 40 goal scorers if you were prognosticating.

The revisionism surrounding the core Gillis inherited is something to behold.

But he’s also the guy who didn’t add to the cupboard which is why the rebuild was needed.

Plus as much as he can say he wanted to rebuild here’s a bunch of ntc to deal with.

And his signings of Higgins, burrows at the time he did doesn’t really signal a rebuild thought until they got swept by SJ.

 

[GetFocht]

Elliot Friedman's take

31 Thoughts: Penguins' big decisions include what to do with Malkin - Sportsnet.ca

"Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini has — for the second time — denied contacting a potential front-office hire. First, it was Dean Lombardi. Now it is Mike Gillis. What I do think happened is both Aquilini and Gillis have many mutual friends; and the owner asked those people if they think the ex-GM would consider working with him again. I also believe the story about Aquilini sending a text message to Gillis opening a conversation. Job offer? Premature. But I could certainly see the path towards… something. We just have to wait and see if Aquilini’s tweet changes anything:"

 

[Fire Benning]

Not that Frankie's word should be interpreted as the indisputable truth obviously, but I'd think the relationship between him and Gillis was too irreparable to see him return. Yeah it would be far better to have him preside over Benning and promptly fire him, but it was never going to happen.

 

[TruGr1t]

We should really put aside any GM or former GM debates in light of how bonkers weird this whole situation has been since Linden was fired.

Now you've basically had ownership in personal confrontation with almost every media outlet that covers the team. So basically all the SN650, Postmedia,and CBC guys got together over beers and decided to mess with Aquilini by reporting false rumours.

 

[Diamonddog01]

I wonder how this board would respond if Gillis gets re-hired as President and then gives Benning a vote of confidence, choosing to keep him for a bit longer?

Would be a very interesting development...

 

[Scorvat]

I actually thought Tanev was one of the few players that actually didn’t play all that badly under Torts.

Tanev to a major step forward with Torts, seems like a lot of young guys do. Shame we got him with arguably our oldest team ever.

 

[Jyrki21]

And what was wrong with Malhotra?

Almost none of the guys listed except Sturm were clearly bad acquisitions at the time. (The Hodgson-Kassian swap was unpopular, but we didn't know the whole story yet). You can't look at a post-deadline rental like Påhlsson or Roy who (like most rentals) doesn't end up doing too much in a short period of time, that's just the nature of trying to shore up depth heading into the playoffs. (Also Roy was quite a popular acquisition too). We'd love to have this problem today, frankly.

And for the millionth time – both goalie trades were plenty defensible at the time and both look like huge victories today. I don't see how this can be held up as a failing at all. Both deals blow any trade Benning has made out of the water.

 

[Scorvat]

I wonder how this board would respond if Gillis gets re-hired as President and then gives Benning a vote of confidence, choosing to keep him for a bit longer?

Would be a very interesting development...

That would be expected, no?

Most new hire presidents I dont think fire GM's right away without "evaluating them first". Idk how long that process would take, but 2-8 months seems reasonable

 

[xtra]

That would be expected, no?

Most new hire presidents I dont think fire GM's right away without "evaluating them first". Idk how long that process would take, but 2-8 months seems reasonable

Yup I’d be more surprised if he was hired to see him fire benning right away.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

OMFG dude, put your phone away. Seriously. Shouldn't you be more worried about running the US government...oh wait. Wrong guy. nvm.

 

[Melvin]

Even if they hired me as president I wouldn't fire Benning right away. That's just negligent.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Even if they hired me as president I wouldn't fire Benning right away. That's just negligent.

I would. Though that's perhaps because being in this market you have a better understanding of what's going on, but I would fire Benning the day I was hired. To me that's not negligence. He's incompetent. You get rid of that right away.

 

[The Drop]

Not sure I believe Aqulini with his tweets. Everything about him seems fake. Including his photoshopped faced on his profile.

But I also could see Willes being full of BS

 

[sting101]

Did you think in 2008 that the Sedin twins would ever become MVP's? 100+ point seasons? I doubt it.

What about 39 point and 31 point Kesler and Burrows? Did you see them hitting 35 and 40 goal scorers if you were prognosticating.

The revisionism surrounding the core Gillis inherited is something to behold.

Who cares.

This is the performance he got from them. And those were the players. What are you even arguing? Did Mike Gillis make them good at hockey now?

Revisionism? I stated facts. All those key players were 27-21. Most of them would be expected to improve gel and mature.

Once again.....he had his shot and left it after 6 yrs............a mess window closed

 

[member 290103]

This is what I believe has occurred:

Aqualini texted Gillis with something vague - "Hey Mike, long time no chat, we should reconnect." Aqualini had intentions of discussing Gillis' return. Gillis texts back: "Hey Frank, go f*** yourself." Aqualini, embarrassed by reception, uses a Clinton-esque tweet to deny offering Mike a job and to shut down any notion that he would at any point.

Sekeres was adamant on 1040 today that his sources were clear that Aqualini had attempted to talk to Lombardi about the VP job. He mentioned that Aqualini needs to be careful about tweeting to his fanbase if anything that can later be proven to be a lie.

Interesting times, but I am thinking there is smoke with both these rumours and Aqualini is playing on words a bit to spin the results so as not to embarrass himself.

If he has reached out to two potential VP's, one of whom has been without a job for years, and been rebuffed by both - that's god to be a dent in the old ego.

 

[clunk]

**** off Frank. Will always be a loser with too much of an ego to move on from the past.

Wish Gillis best of luck in Seattle likely. Hope they win a cup under him, before us.

 

[bossram]

Who cares.

This is the performance he got from them. And those were the players. What are you even arguing? Did Mike Gillis make them good at hockey now?

Revisionism? I stated facts. All those key players were 27-21. Most of them would be expected to improve gel and mature.

Once again.....he had his shot and left it after 6 yrs............a mess window closed

And Benning has been here five years, with no window opening in sight.

Hooray.

 

[F A N]

If he has reached out to two potential VP's, one of whom has been without a job for years, and been rebuffed by both - that's god to be a dent in the old ego.

Well if I was Aquilini I would think they are just stupid. Don't get me wrong, I think both Gillis and Lombardi have made enough money in their lives to be comfortable (and Lombardi is still presumably earning good money). If I was Gillis, why would I want to work for a Francesco? If he begged me to come back and offered me a 6 year $$$ contract with the promise that I can do what I want then maybe. As for Lombardi, he's been fired twice after doing a pretty good job. In his latest gig, he won 2 Cups. But apparently he wasn't interested in the Flyers' GM job either.

 

[sting101]

And Benning has been here five years, with no window opening in sight.

Hooray.

I didn't make a single statement about Benning other than he created his own mess and Gillis would be better.

Agree we need an upgrade on Benning but taking shots at Aquilini for not wanting to rehire Gillis is absurd.

**** off Frank. Will always be a loser with too much of an ego to move on from the past.

Wish Gillis best of luck in Seattle likely. Hope they win a cup under him, before us.

Pathetic post.

See ya later Seattle fan. Guess you have to trade in your Oiler and Flame jerseys for a Seattle one now.

 

[Jyrki21]

Just a reminder that some people on here have tried to argue, essentially, that the owner must be intelligent for having been born into a family with real estate holdings in BC.