Report: Very troubling signs of meddling from Canucks ownership.

There have long been rumors that would suggest Vancouver Canucks ownership is far too involved in the hockey side of their business. The accusations range from meddling with personnel decisions on the ice to the hiring of staff behind the bench like head coach John Tortorella, and now we may have more evidence of that meddling.

According to comments made by Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province the decision to draft the team's current headache Jake Virtanen may not have been a management decision, but instead may have been done under direct orders from ownership.

"I suspect ownership had a small influence in drafting Virtanen, said Gallagher." "Before he departed, Gillis told me that they liked Larkin."

That's former general manager Mike Gillis stating that the organization was looking to draft Dylan Larkin and not Virtanen, and while it's still early in both their careers, there's little doubt that Larkin has developed into a far better player than Virtanen has.

I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for fans of the Vancouver Canucks, and unfortunately it doesn't seem like there's an end to meddling from ownership coming anytime soon.

[pub]