Was using my The Athletic subscription to check out their rankings series, and came across their ranking of NHL team ownership from earlier this year. Here's where the Aquaman placed:
Quote:
One of the most intense fan bases in all of pro sports, Canucks supporters have had to deal with a lot in recent years. Vancouver has missed the playoffs in seven of the past nine years, and the GM tenure of Jim Benning (2014-21) was one of the most disastrous in NHL history.
Even with more stability in place now and the front office cleaning up a lot of the mess, the fan base hasn’t forgiven or forgotten, ranking ownership 30th in franchise stability and 31st in treatment of the fan base. It’s likely going to take a period of sustained success for Aquilini to win over the market.
Fan perspective: “He’s a fine owner when the team is winning but needs to stop meddling and let his GMs work when the team is rebuilding. Or at least let them rebuild instead of retool.”
“If I could erase the eight years of Benning hell that Aquilini directly caused, this would be a very different survey, as (former GM) Mike Gillis took us to the finals and (new president) Jim Rutherford is killing it. But alas, those scars run too deep.”
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