Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini forced to quell rumours on Twitter

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      When former president Trevor Linden left the Vancouver Canucks on non-amicable terms (because, come on, that's what happened), it was followed by a series of 12 tweets from owner Francesco Aquilini thanking Linden and sharing his thoughts on the club with the fanbase.

      One of those tweets has come back into the spotlight recently, as The Province’s, among others, suggested that the Canucks are actively looking for a new president of hockey operations.

      The tweet in question is, of course, number five in the tweetstorm.

      (Probably important to note here that the 12-episode outburst was eclipsed earlier this month by the prominent businessman’s 15-tweet manifesto about ride hailing in Vancouver that the Daily Hive called “compelling.”)

      In any case, it seems Aquilini—after initially turning a blind eye to rumours about who the Canucks would add as president to oversee what has been a tumultuous Jim Benning tenure—has started responding to a crop of reports that have popped up.

      First it was Dean Lombardi, who the Canucks (and Aquilini personally) were said to have “repeatedly” asked to take the helm of the franchise. After saying silent on the matter for almost a year, Aquilini addressed the Lombardi rumour last week.

      Then, as reports started surfacing about former Canucks general manager Mike Gillis possibly being courted by the team to return in a presidential role (to the happy surprise of many fans), Aquilini was forced to shut those down as well.

      At this point, who knows what the plan is when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks front office. There’s been many conflicting reports out there, but the one thing we can probably surmise is that the team has one of the smaller front office teams in the league, and Benning could badly use a couple of well-informed voices to help his squad.

      Or, maybe at some point in the summer Aquilini will finally allow himself to be questioned by some in the media who aren’t going to lob softballs at him. He rarely makes himself available to answer queries, and when he does it’s often to the radio station that works in cooperation with the Canucks.

      It must be noted that Gillis has strongly hinted that he was not the one who wanted to bring on former Canucks coach John Tortorella, with some media members suggesting that Aquilini made that call. Of course, Aquilini denied such allegations and even threatened legal action against a journalist. 

      No matter who the team settles on as president, it's safe to say they'll have their hands full. 

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