Vancouver Canucks: Aquilini talks captaincy, seat colours, and more
The Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini took to Sportsnet650 this morning to discuss an abundance of topics.
Long before Francesco Aquilini owned the Vancouver Canucks, he was a fan. That’s why Aquilini wants to do whatever he can to make the Canucks the best team they can be on and off the ice. If things off ice need improvement, Aquilini won’t ignore them.
Which is why there’s no plans in place to change the seat colours at Rogers Arena. Recently, fans have been voicing their opinions on Twitter about how the Canucks are due to move from the burgundy seats that currently line Rogers Arena, to seats which are some shade of blue.
Aquilini personally doesn’t see a problem with the seats, adding that his main concern is that they’re comfortable for fans to sit in. He did mention, however, that nothing is out of the question when it comes to arena upgrades, just that changing out the seats isn’t at the top of his priority list. Don’t worry he talked about more important things, too.
More from The Canuck Way
- Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
- What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
- Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
- Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
- 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg
Among those things was the recapture penalty given to the Canucks after Roberto Luongo retired. Aquilini was asked what his thoughts on Luongo choosing to retire, rather than go on LTIR, were:
"Everybody knows what kind of player Roberto is and what he meant to the organization. He was the cornerstone and backbone of the team. I don’t know what his personal circumstances were, I don’t know why he did that [retired]. We did appeal to the league but the rules are the rules, and we just have to live with it — nothing we can do about it.” -Francesco Aquilini"
Aquilini added that while there are currently no plans to retire Luongo’s number or honour the netminder, there may be something done in the future. Just not right now.
Aquilini also talked about the “worst kept secret in the city“, the Canucks’ captaincy announcement. He added that he won’t be the one to let the cat out of the bag, but from everything we’ve heard, it’s sounding more and more certain that Bo Horvat will be named the Canucks’ 14th captain in franchise history at their home opener Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings.
Other topics Aquilini touched on included sending Sven Baertschi to the minors, the importance of being patient throughout a rebuild, and the buzz around the city surrounding this year’s Canucks team. You can listen to the full interview here.