

But I assure you that no one is more frustrated and unhappy than me and my family," Aquilini said. “I know our fans and the media are frustrated and unhappy. Right now, though, he wants to see his team get back in the win column. The search for new hockey operations leadership is underway, Aquilini said, and "everything is on the table," including potentially hiring both a GM and a president. We do have some talented young players and a good core to build around, but we need to be better." "Bottom line, our performance this season hasn’t been good enough. Was it the decision on the GM? Was it the decision on a coach? We didn’t have all those answers and the players were looking around for answers, and what happens when you get to this point is you start finger pointing," he said. Stan Smyl, a former Canucks right-winger who was promoted from senior adviser to interim general manager on Sunday, said the moves send the right message to a locker room that was waiting for something to happen. Vancouver sits last in the Pacific Division with an 8-15-2 record. The changes followed a dismal start to the season. We were losing these games by one goal and maybe I was too optimistic, and so we made the change when we made the change." I mean, to fire everybody at the same time, that's a hard thing to do and maybe I was a little bit too patient," Aquilini told reporters Monday. His patience ran out Sunday as the team cleaned house, firing general manager Jim Benning, assistant manager Jim Weisbrod, head coach Travis Green and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner. Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini says he may have been "too patient" in waiting for the struggling NHL team to turn its season around.
