Canucks President of Hockey Operations

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

January 20, 2024

Vancouver Canucks announced Friday that President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford has signed a multi-year contract extension.

“On behalf of ownership, our company, and our fans, we are thrilled to have Jim continue in his role as President of Hockey Operations for the Vancouver Canucks,” said Francesco Aquilini, Chairman and Governor, NHL.

“Since arriving in Vancouver, Jim’s strategic vision has revitalized the competitiveness of our team, generating excitement among fans, players, and employees alike. We look forward to having the Canucks continue to progress under Jim’s leadership.”
Francesco Aquilini, Chairman and Governor NHL, Vancouver Canucks

As for Rutherford:

“I feel the energy and enthusiasm of our fan base every day, and I am committed to building on our recent success to solidify the foundation for years to come,” said Rutherford.

“My family and I love living here and working with the Aquilini family. Ownership, management, coaches, players, and staff all have a unified vision in understanding what it takes to win.”
Jim Rutherford, President of Hockey Operations

411 On Rutherford

Rutherford joined the team as President and Interim General Manager in December 2021 and has succeeded in establishing a hockey operations organization that is fully aligned.
A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builders’ category, Rutherford joined the Canucks from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In Pittsburgh, he was the teams’ General Manager from 2014 to 2021, leading the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.
He was voted the General Manager of the Year Award winner for the 2015-16 season and, in 2019, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Prior to his seven seasons with the Penguins, Rutherford worked 20 seasons as GM and President of the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1994-2014).
Rutherford was named the NHL’s Executive of the Year by The Hockey News in 2002 and 2006 and by The Sporting News in 2006.
Under Rutherfords’ leadership, the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006; made two trips to the Stanley Cup final, won the Eastern Conference championship in 2002 and 2006, reached the Conference Finals in 2009 and captured three Division titles.

Together with his leadership team, he has defined a new culture and identity for the entire (Canucks) franchise.
Canucks Press Release

Source: nhl.com

Aquilini’s Ornament Will Never Lose Its Shine, Win Or Lose

Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini and his brothers continue to remain absentee owners, and let things play out as they will with the Vancouver Canucks day-to-day hockey operations.

Aquilini’s twitter account describes him as a “Vancouver business leader”. There is the rub:

Acquilini considers the Vancouver Canucks as a sports team that he can parade on his arm and in business board rooms, and not worthy of true respect and leadership, except to flaunt and show off by bragging he owns them, regardless of how poorly they do as a hockey team.

The Canucks are no more than an “organized sports team” playing a “kids game” in an organized “kids hockey league” that pretends to be a business, in his mind. The men are just “big kids”.

Aquilini will invest as little as he needs to in the Canucks because he does not consider the team a vital running component to the financial empire: Just an attractive ornament like a trophy wife: an attractive status symbol for an older man, that he and his brothers can view from a distance, as it passively accrues in value on paper.

Source: Forbes Magazine

To conclude, the Canucks are just an organized kids sports team, the Aquilini empire is all businesses, except for one that isn’t so much.

After all, men in the Aquilini family oversee businesses. The Canucks are just a “big kids” hockey team, run by “grown-up kids” in a professional hockey league.