Aquilini vs. Gaglardi finally hits the ice in Vancouver
This probably isn’t quite how Tom Gaglardi envisioned his first game in Vancouver as a National Hockey League owner.
The businessman with deep roots on the West Coast had long dreamed of owning the Vancouver Canucks, and, along with former business partner Ryan Beedie, had waged a bitter court battle to try to wrest control of the team from the Aquilini family.
When that court challenge ultimately failed in 2008, Gaglardi began to examine ownership options elsewhere. Tonight, he returns to his hometown as the new owner of the Dallas Stars, who meet the Canucks at Rogers Arena.
In a phone interview Monday, Gaglardi insisted he was not feeling sentimental about the game against the Canucks, although he did acknowledge he will have friends and family there.
“It’s nice to have the guys here and I think it will be kind of surreal,” he said. “I’ve only been an owner for about three months and most of the hockey I have seen has been at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“It’s all pretty new and novel. It will be kind of cool to see them in Canada, especially in Vancouver, and I am certainly looking forward to it. I’m mindful we are playing a very tough team, No. 1 in the West, so it will be a tough game for us.
“But it would be great to win in my hometown. I have lots of friends who are Canuck fans and are teasing me about the game and were doing it last week when the Canucks were in Dallas. For us it’s about making the playoffs. Hopefully we can come in tomorrow night and get a point or two.”
Four years later, Gaglardi will not discuss the court case or his relationship with Canuck owner Francesco Aquilini.
“It’s not relevant any more” he said. “It’s well in the past and we have all gotten past that.”
Aquilini could not be reached for comment Monday.
Late in 2003, Gaglardi, Beedie and Aquilini came together to launch a joint ownership bid for the Canucks, who were then owned by Seattle- based John Mccaw. Aquilini subsequently left the group and in November 2004 bought the Canucks and Rogers Arena, then called General Motors Place.
Beedie and Gaglardi, who is the grandson of legendary former B. C. cabinet minister Phil Gaglardi, went to court and accused Aquilini of betraying them and cheating them out of ownership of the team.
In a 136- page ruling released on Jan. 10, 2008, B. C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge dismissed the lawsuit.
Asked Monday if he now, as a fellow NHL owner, has a cordial working relationship with the Aquilini family, Gaglardi said: “I am not going to make a comment on that. It’s old news and no longer relevant.”
But Gaglardi had plenty of other projects on the go as president of Vancouverbased Northland Properties Corp. The company owns a number of hospitality- based businesses.
Gaglardi’s most recent venture, taking control of the Stars and half of American Airlines Center, came this past November for a reported $ 240 million.
Now dividing his time between Vancouver and Texas, Gaglardi said he is already seeing positive signs.
“Attendance has been up something like 5,000 a game since the ownership change, so the market is responding nicely and we feel good about where we are going.”