Canucks Lawsuit Reaches Climax By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor ke fate of the Vancouver Canucks rests on the shoulders of BC Supreme Court judge Catherine Wedge. She has the unenviable task of deciding who is right and who is wrong as the Canucks ownership battle approaches its conclusion. Current owner Francesco Aquilini is being sued by local Vancouver businessmen Tom Gaglardi and Ryan Beedie. This has been an ongoing dispute since Aquilini purchased 50 percent of both the Canucks franchise and GM Place from previous owner John McCaw in 2004. Aquilini later acquired the other half of the team. Gaglardi and Beedie initiated the lawsuit on November 8, 2006. Throughout the suit—in which Gaglardi and Beedie are demanding nothing less than full ownership of the team—the two plaintiffs have alleged that their former business partner, Aquilini, acted in bad faith in buying the team out from under them. The three were partners from November 2003 until March 2004, during which time they were the frontrunners in a bid to buy the team and the arena from Seattle billionaire McCaw. According to Gaglardi and Beedie, Aquilini dropped out of their bid to buy the team. The pair continued to pursue the team, meeting countless times with then Orca Bay CEO Stan McCammon. The two parties were close to a deal in November 2004 when they discovered that McCaw had recently sold the team to Aquilini. Gaglardi and Beedie, enraged by what they deemed “underhanded tactics,” sued Aquilini in response. Aquilini has defended himself, saying in court that he had no responsibility to Gaglardi or Beedie, and that their entire lawsuit was based on revenge and spite, not the Canucks. He also states that he never had a formal partnership with Gaglardi and Beedie, and that the three of them only had several informal meetings and shared only a common aspiration to own the Vancouver Canucks. He also has informed the court that he did not 16 form a partnership with Gaglardi and Beedie because of his stained relationship with Gaglardi, an old friend. He recalls Gaglardi saying, “This is my deal. I invited you in, I can disinvite you.” Aquilini remembers attempting to resolve their differences four months later, but says that he was denied. Because of this, he says, he did not owe Gaglardi or Beedie any sort of loyalty. However, Gaglardi and Beedie contend that they did indeed have a partnership, and that Aquilini dropped out of his own accord. They claim that he dropped out of the partnership to buy the team, which eliminated him from the running. McCaw opted to sell the team to Aquilini after several weeks of haggling with Gaglardi and Beedie. The reclusive McCaw says that he tendered his final offer to Gaglardi and Beedie on October 30 of 2004, and that when he learned that Gaglardi and Beedie had not accepted his last offer, he opened discussions for the sale to Aquilini. Aquilini maintains that he did not have any knowledge of ongoing negotiations between Gaglardi, Beedie, and McCaw. On the contrary, he claims that he believed the deal between them was dead. Gaglardi, who claims that owing the Canucks has been his “life-long dream,” is alleging that McCaw played the bids from both competing parties off one another, and that Aquilini had acted in bad faith by not informing his former partners (if they really were former partners) of his intention to buy the team. One way or another, the mud-slinging from both parties has lived through the case. It has become a classic case of he-said-he-said, with both sides crying foul of the other. Whichever way this case ends, it has become a landmark case in the Vancouver legal community, and it’s now up to Catherine Wedge to decide who wins the battle of the billionaires. qa ) COLLEGE! Coach van Niekerk a Real Winner By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor L, is pretty tough to match the career of Gert van Niekerk. The current Douglas College golf coach has enjoyed marvellous success in his time at Douglas, where he has coached in some capacity since 1970, this being his 38" year with the college. He is presently the department chair of the Sport Science Department at Douglas, and teaches at both Douglas College campuses. Gert came to Canada from South Africa in 1969. In Zambia, he was the national amateur light- heavyweight boxing champion. In fact, he represented South Africa in the World All-Student Games in 1963. He discontinued his boxing career when he arrived in Canada in order to focus more heavily on rugby. Gert was the coach of the Douglas College rugby team in the 1970’s. The program only existed for four years in the British Columbia Colleges Athletics Association (BCCAA), but in that short span Douglas dominated, capturing the league championship three out of the four years. Unfortunately, the rugby league folded throughout the BCCAA due to budget cut backs. However, many dedicated coaches and players helped build a club league. Gert was the coach of the Douglas club team, where he fielded another dominating line-up. They were so good that in an exhibition game during the year the club teams were first getting established, the coach of an opposing team took one look at Gert’s side and simply walked off the field, forfeiting the game. The team’s chief rival was Pocamo, and the two sides recently fused to from United Rugby Club. “What really amazed me is that when Gert started the Douglas Rugby club, he seemed so mature, yet he was only four or five years older than most of the players. In my mind, Gert built the athletic department of Douglas College,” said former player Mick McLennan. Coach van Niekerk took the helm of the golf program in 1983, where he put together such a powerful squad that the BCCAA golf division disbanded. Douglas was just too good for the competition. From 1983-1995, van Niekerk guided the golf team to six provincial gold medals, five silver medals, and one bronze. Since 1983, Gert has been named golf coach of the year twice in the BCCAA. That is success with a capital S. Continued on Page 19