Canucks fans call out owner Francesco Aquilini in creative chant during 5-1 loss

In case you missed it last night, the NHL's 26th place Vancouver Canucks slid even further down the standings with a very uninspiring 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

For those keeping track at home, that's back to back 5-1 losses on home ice for the Canucks. Not pretty.

The fact of the matter is that this team simply isn't nearly as good as their roster might suggest and are more likely to be in the running for a Draft lottery position than a playoff position. GM Patrik Allvin and President Jim Rutherford haven't done much at all to change the team's fate since taking over last season with their roster closely resembling the one cobbled together by former GM Jim Benning. In other words: Nothing new.

The only constant over the Canucks' decade long stretch of sub-par play is owner Francesco Aquilini. Many Canucks fans feel that Aquilini is the reason for the team's mediocrity because he won't commit to a full rebuild of the on-ice personnel. The Canucks under Aquilini have been obsessed with tinkering their roster in the hopes of landing a playoff spot, all the while shooting themselves in the foot with uninspired play and band-aid type solutions. Last night, the fans sent a message directly to Aquilini when they broke out in a roaring chant of "SELL THE TEAM! SELL THE TEAM!"

Check it out:

Also not pretty... but... I mean, can you blame these fans?

It's been over a decade since the Canucks had a competitive team and it may be another half decade before they get back there again. They have good young players in Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko, but at a certain point those players aren't going to be young anymore and they have to learn how to win. Take Bo Horvat for example, he's been through 9 seasons with the Canucks and has played just 23 playoff games. Now he's liable to leave the team as a free agent and move on to greener pastures after nearly a decade of futility. Would you blame the likes of Pettersson, Hughes and Demko if they ultimately decide to do the same?