The Canucks came within 1 win of the Stanley Cup in 2011, and then Frank started getting more involved in pushing for certain hockey operations decisions. Prior to that , Mike Gillis had more control. The Canucks have been an unmitigated disaster, and have now been the second worst team in the league over the last 4-year period. There has been no rebuild. They have continued with an incompetent management regime that , rather than rebuilding, has simply failed at their annual attempt at making the playoffs. I also wouldn't say the Canucks have drafted well, as there is very little outside of their first round picks making an impact. It's also not difficult to draft good players when you're picking high in the first round every year, but despite that they still have two glaring screw ups with the Virtanen and Juolevi picks. The Canucks certainly are not making the playoffs this year or next thanks to all the blunders their management has made. If they had committed to an actual rebuild they would absolutely be a team on the rise.David wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:46 pmNot sure I necessarily want the Aquilinis either but I'm going to bite this time (ignoring the other 15x you've written the same thing on here, lol). How have they "completely screwed" the Canucks? They are one of the most valuable teams in the league. Rumours persist of their (Francesco's?) over-involvement, thus delaying the rebuild. But the Canucks have drafted well and have a number of key assets in place to make the playoffs this year or next. Hell, they came within one game of winning the Stanley Cup in 2011!
Could their vast scale and reach not be helpful to the Lions' marketing? I love the Canucks marketing. "We Are All Canucks" was adopted as a local battle cry. I wish we had the staff and creative assets they have. The Stampeders seem to have benefitted from their partnership with the Flames as well. Even if you don't like the Aquilini family, what makes you think they would be as "hands-on" with the Lions as they are with the Canucks?
Further, while the sample size with Vancouver Warriors is limited and professional lacrosse teams have always been bad in this market, their attendance more than doubled by moving downtown to Rogers Arena and with ancillary marketing/branding by Canucks Sports and Entertainment (source: Globe and Mail, April 25, 2019). There is a precedent for owning other sports franchises and cross-promotion.
DH
The Canucks have actually lost franchise value over the past half decade, and are one of only two teams in the negative during that time period. The Canucks are an organization that promotes nepotism, with Aquilini having family members working in the organization. The general manager has also hired his own son as a scout (Brandon Benning's previous job was as a security guard), and has now been promoted to a more prominent role on the scouting staff for some reason.
The "We are all Canucks" marketing slogan was part of an NHL campaign, not a local Canucks campaign.
I do agree that there are some benefits in terms of streamlined marketing, merchandising, and I'm sure they could work out some sort of inter-branded ticket sales. And if the Canucks were owned by someone else I would probably think it's a good idea. But not with the Aquilini's, and certainly not with how the Canucks have been mismanaged over the past decade.