Matt Lee’s personal sports podcast and blog

The Nonis Backlash

April 15th, 2008 Posted in Canucks, Uncategorized

I’m not impressed.

I’m so not impressed.

In their first move since becoming the official owner of the Vancouver Canucks, the Aqualini Investment Group fired Dave Nonis, general manager of the club for three years and part of the organization for 17. The move comes only a week after the Canucks missed the playoffs for the second time in two years.

Now, you can go all day about how the move was justified, saying that “winning is the style of play” you prefer and that you felt “We needed a leadership change”, but to me, that is just one big pile of crock that was uttered from Francesco Aquilini’s lips at this morning’s news conference. It’s a big, steaming pile of dog shit in a buffalo’s anus. It doesn’t get much more clearer to me then that.

You see, because unlike Frank and Arthur Griffiths, or even John McCaw, for that matter, Aquilini grew up a real Canuck fan. And while that appears like an advantage for Canuck fans in the sense that you think you have an owner who wants to win at all costs, that also means that you have an owner who pays close attention to what is and is not said in the media. And to me, Aquilini’s frustration may have reached the boiling point after the team missed the playoffs.

It’s a knee-jerk reaction: Miss the playoffs? His ass is fired. And frankly, I don’t understand it. All the media moguls around town were shocked and surprised to learn of Nonis’ demise last night, myself included. The general consensus is that many felt Nonis should’ve been given a chance to improve his club in the offseason, to fill the holes that have been plaguing his team for two years.

Alas, it isn’t so.

I’m not sure whether I can trust a guy like Francesco Aquilini with this team. I don’t like how he handled the Nonis situation and I think he was saying a bunch of BS at the news conference. And in all honesty, what kind of prospective GM wants to come to Vancouver knowing that the owner holds a short leash like that?

None of this really quite makes sense. But I’m holding final judgment on the Aquilini family until a new general manager is hired.

Make sure you cast your vote in my poll to the right!

  1. 6 Responses to “The Nonis Backlash”

  2. By admin on Apr 15, 2008

    I definitely agree, its clear the Aquilinis just want to place a puppet GM that they can control by the strings.

  3. By Hora on Apr 15, 2008

    I made sure to cast my vote, now YOU MAKE SURE YOU CATEGORIZE YOUR POSTS. n00b :P

  4. By Andy on Apr 15, 2008

    Couldn’t have said it better Matt. Nonis brought in Luongo, unloaded Bertuzzi, seemed to have drafted pretty well, and constructed a team that was able to end with the best season this organization ever had. In contrast, he failed to bring in the one obvious element the Canucks needed, and didn’t make the playoffs for 2 of 3 years — one being the worst year the team had since over 5 years ago. I’m voting unjustified reaction from Aquilini. Not that I think Nonis did a great job either, I just think it was too early to dismiss Nonis from just 3 seasons…

  5. By Raph on Apr 15, 2008

    Nonis really wasn’t THE reason the Canucks failed to qualify for post-April play. If anything, the coaching had a bad affect on the players. I mean, how would you feel being a Canucks player knowing the guys you play with on one shift will not be the same guys next shift? I think Vinyo’s constant line juggling played a role in the lack of heart by the players. If one can recall the obsticles Nonis had to deal with, he didnt have much to choose from this deadline. Honestly, I believe only old farts like Sergei Federov were in reach from what Nonis was offering to other teams: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Schneider and Bourdon. Other teams wanted all that AND Kesler, Edler and Raymond. *cough* Tampa Bay *cough*

  6. By Raph on Apr 15, 2008

    in terms of voting, i believe DN shouldve been given another chance to say the least.

  7. By Jack on Apr 16, 2008

    Yeah I think it was a bad decision by Aquilini to fire DV. Dave didnt really get an opportunity to create the team he wanted. Yes, he managed to get Luongo, and a potentially one of the best D’s in the league. But within the years he served as GM, he was stuck with little cap money to spend, very little amount of good players available to fix the offensive problems, and when he finally got the chance now with money to spend, he gets fired before he can fully put his plan in action(which could have been a great plan). It was very bad move by Aquilini and especially at the time when the Brunstromm deal was so close to being finished, i dont think it can be done now. I hear the chances of Brian Burke coming here a slim to none, he might be headed to Toronto and might take his good old pal Dave Nonis as his right hand man once again. But we’ll see. It’s hard to predict who the new GM might be, I have a gut feeling a big change is coming. Theres a dark cloud over the Vancouver Canucks right now, again..Change is coming.

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