Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini thanks Trevor Linden

A few minutes after the Vancouver Canucks announced that Trevor Linden was leaving the franchise, the team's owner, Francesco Aquilini, sent a personal message on Twitter.

Linden had been president of the team for four years. Although the Canucks did not behave very well on the ice during this period, the 48-year-old was congratulated for the work he has done to rebuild the team on the fly.

"I deeply appreciate everything Trevor did for this city and this franchise," Aquilini wrote as part of a thread of 12 tweets . He is extremely popular in Vancouver and for good reason. I thank him for helping us get there, and I wish him every success in his future endeavors.

In addition to Aquilini praising Linden and announcing that Jim Benning, Canucks general manager, will now be responsible for leading the team's hockey operations department, he also made a trip to the memory.

"I am a hardcore fan of the Canucks and a landlord," said Aquilini. "I love this city and this team.An interviewer from a business magazine recently asked me if I had any unrealized dreams and I said: "One, I want to bring the Stanley Cup back to Vancouver."

"I grew up not far from the Pacific Coliseum at the time the Canucks played there." I used to park cars in our driveway on game nights.When I was little, Lars Lindgren gave me a hockey stick.It was a precious possession.I still remember the terrible feeling that the Canucks had lost to the Islanders in 1982. Again in 1994, they lost to the Rangers, I remember the crushing defeat of Game 7 against the Bruins in 2011 as it was yesterday. "

then focused his attention on the base of the followers and on what they can hope to go from before

"A reconstruction is long, slow, gradual process. the world must be united behind the same vision and go in the same direction, "he writes. "Our fans are incredibly knowledgeable, pbadionate and loyal and my goal is to reward their loyalty and pbadion by giving them the joy of seeing their team lift the Stanley Cup."

"After the June draft, we now have the best group of young players and hopes we have acquired since our acquisition. the Canucks. The post-Sedin future begins to take shape. The property group has done, and will continue to do, all that is needed to bring the Canucks back to the NHL elite. I am confident that we are moving in this direction.

Although there is still a sense of mystery around why Linden leaves the team right now, the favorite of the fans who also spent 1,140 matches Regular season in a Canucks uniform during his "This team and this game occupy a special place in my life and I am very optimistic about the direction the Canucks will take," Linden wrote in his own message that echoed a part of what Aquilini said. "Above all, I am excited by the highly qualified group of prospects and young stars we have gathered from property to hockey and commercial operations, the club is as strong as it has been for years. years On top of all that, I can still feel the hope of our fans and I know that the future of the Canucks is very promising.

"I love this city and this province , and I will always have a special relationship with this team. Canucks fans. "