Last Thursday, Vancouver Canucks beat reporter Trevor Beggs was escorted from Rogers Arena and had his credentials revoked during a game over a story he wrote about a business related to the team’s owner.
On Monday, the team released a statement saying that the story, which had since been deleted, “contains statements that are inaccurate, misleading, and cause reputational and commercial harm” and that “the credential referenced will not be reinstated.”
Also on Monday, Beggs, who has covered the team since 2019, spoke about the situation with co-host Kyle Bhawan on their Locked On Canucks podcast.
The offending story that Beggs wrote for Daily Hive Vancouver was about Aquilini Vineyards, a Washington State vineyard founded by the family that owns the Canucks, which is attempting to distance itself from Harvest Plus, a local firm facing an indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Washington over accusations that it forged information on visa applications for Mexican laborers brought to the United States. Per the indictment, the firm forced these workers into unsafe conditions, and several Harvest Plus workers were at Aquilini Vineyards in 2022.
Begg’s story on Daily Hive highlighted the vineyard’s connection to the Canucks and was led by an image of Francesco Aquilini, the owner and chairman of the NHL franchise, perhaps implying something that didn’t align with the reality of the story. It has since been deleted by the publisher without comment or explanation.
“I believe in myself as a journalist and as a reporter,” Beggs said on the podcast. “I always say to my kids, you know, you’ve got to learn something new every day. And I think there’s some learning experiences here for sure. But I believe in myself. And look, Canuck fans deserve people covering this team who are truthful and honest. And yeah, I believe I can be that guy. I know I can be that guy for Canucks fans.
“I think I tried to lay that out in my story. And, you know, there were some issues with the framing. And look, like I said, I think there’s lessons to be learned. I gotta step up the bar, man.”
While Beggs took a conciliatory approach to the situation, Bhawan adopted more of a blowtorch mentality, calling out Aquilini for his history of making headlines for unsavory reasons.
“I keep saying it’s not the Aquilini Canucks, it’s not whatever business number they have Canucks, it’s the Vancouver Canucks. So if you’re gonna constantly be in the news for noisy stuff, it’s like the people need to hear because you represent all of us, and sometimes enough is enough. And it’s embarrassing on top of having a sh*tty team— pardon my language— on top of having a team that’s in the bottom of the standings and losing this player and losing that player and losing the franchise player and only making the Western Conference Finals 3 times in 55-plus years. And on top of that, you have somebody who owns a team that is like, like so Googleable, you know, like so many stories about the guy.
“I don’t care how incorporated they get over there. It’s like when you’re this rich, and you just want to buy a team, it’s cool, add it to your collection, congratulations. Now you’ve got some more revenue coming up, but it’s like, man, take— what’s that Spider-Man quote, right? ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ And just, it’s a communal thing. It’s the Vancouver Canucks, not the Aquilini Canucks. So get your ish together and stop f*cking around.
“…if Francesco’s listening to this, which he might be, like, yo, just stop. You represent the whole city. You don’t need all the money in the world. You represent the Vancouver Canucks. Again, it’s not just your team, it’s our team. I don’t care if you get the invoices. Enough’s enough. Straight up, straight up. No, it’s just the truth. Like, this is our team, so stop. Stop. Stop being in the news.”
Beggs reiterated that his goal in covering the Canucks has always been to write about the good and the bad, which is how any sports journalist should handle their beat, regardless of whether they consider themselves a fan.
“I think when situations like this happen, you do kind of have to look at things a bit critically. And, you know, I said I believe in myself. I stand by myself as a reporter. But, you know, this has been a bit of a unique situation. And look, man, I would love nothing more than to cover positive stories and a winning hockey team.
“I think that’s the commonality here, you know, whether it’s the ownership or the fan base. We might not all get along, we might not all agree on things, but we all want to see this team win. Look, that’s my goal, man. My goal is to cover a Stanley Cup-winning Vancouver Canucks hockey team. That is my goal. And tell the stories along the way, right?
“As a journalist, you’ve got to report on everything good and bad. But like, I love nothing more than to cover a good hockey team, man.”
While it doesn’t sound as though the Canucks will reinstate his credentials, Beggs plans to continue covering the team in some capacity.
“I just got to say, no matter what happens, I’ll always be covering this team, because I have an unhealthy obsession with this crappy hockey team, man,” he added. “I’m not going anywhere, man. I’ll be writing about this team and talking about this team until no one wants to listen to me anymore.”