Aucoin spills the beans about ex-Canucks teammates. Best Interview ever

[JustNazzy]

 

Hockey, Sports

Aucoin spills the beans about ex-Canucks teammates Bure, Mogilny, Messier, Tikkanen

Omar Feb 08, 2019 4:08 pm 338

 

 

Vancouver Canucks / Twitter

 

Former Canucks defenceman Adrian Aucoin appeared on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast this week.

Canucks fans will remember him for the seven seasons he played in Vancouver, from 1994 to 2001. He was one of the few bright spots during a dark time for the team, scoring 23 goals in 1998-99, which is still a record for goals by a Canucks defenceman.

Aucoin shared a bunch of incredible stories from his playing days with hosts Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette, many involving former Canucks teammates and coaches. If you’re a longtime Canucks fan, it was all grade A material.

Having played on the Canucks in the 90s, the first teammate you’d have to ask about is Pavel Bure. Here’s what Aucoin said about him:

“He (Bure) was exactly what you would imagine. He was a Russian guy no one knew too much about …

“You never knew what he was up to. One time we were in Detroit. He’s got this guy that would meet us in Detroit all the time, the guy’s shoulders, he was like frickin’ Andre the Giant.

“We came into the locker room one day and the guy’s doing push-ups in the middle of the floor in our locker room. Nobody, even the coaches didn’t say anything to him.

“He grabs a soccer ball, he throws it at the wall where the jerseys are hanging, and he walks out of the room.

“Nobody says anything. It almost felt like we were in Russia because nobody wanted to get killed.”

Asked if he had to make a choice between having Bure or Alex Mogilny on his team, Aucoin quickly answered, “Mogilny.” Mogilny scored 55 goals for the Canucks when he was a teammate of Aucoin’s in 1995-96, while Bure potted 51 in 1997-98.

The former Canucks defenceman explained that Mogilny could pass as well as score goals. He also told this Mogilny story, which includes how he fared playing for Mike Keenan:

“Alex, he was not the most motivated guy because he was so &^@#ing good. He was so good it was scary.

“He could pass, he could shoot, he could skate, he could even play really physical. I’ve seen him bury guys in the corner, take the puck and go and score because he was pissed off – at will.

“(One time) we’re in the locker room and Keenan is all over him. We were like holy $&!# – normally he’s not on Mogilny like that.

“Mogilny looks up, he’s like, ‘Mike, have you ever heard of how I defected, how they &^@#ing threatened my family, how they wanted to kill everybody? You think you’re &^@#ing scaring me?’

“We were like, ‘Holy $&!#.’ It was pretty crazy. Mike didn’t know what to say – he normally gets the last word.”

As one of the league’s top players for nearly two decades, scoring 1032 points in 990 career games, Mogilny made a lot of money during his career. He spent a lot, too, as Aucoin shared this funny story about his monetary needs during one of the NHL lockouts.

“During the lockout, remember they had that war chest and they were like, ‘OK, we’re going to give you stipends. How much money are you guys going to need a month? You’ve got to write it down.’

“Some guys were like $5,000/month, some guys were like $2,000.

“He (Mogilny) wrote down $120,000/month.

“I was sitting next to him like, ‘What are you doing?’ He was like, ‘A guy needs to live.’ He was serious.”

One of Aucoin’s most interesting teammates, according to his stories, was Esa Tikkanen. Despite spending only two seasons in Vancouver from 1995-97, Tikkanen, a legendary character, clearly left his mark.

“I went out with him probably three or four nights in a row and I’m like, ‘Done. Can’t do it.’ He legitimately wrote the rule book on he could not play well unless he went out – he was one of those guys. If he didn’t go out, he looked hung over. If he went out, he looked fine.

“One time we were in Montreal. All my buddies from Ottawa drive up, we’re having the time of our life. He’s at the bar and my buddy’s like, ‘Oh my god, that’s Esa Tikkanen.’ I’m like, ‘Ya, come over, I’ll introduce you.’

“He (Tikkanen) was wearing all five of his Stanley Cup rings at the bar in Montreal. I’m like, ‘Hey Esa, come meet my buddies.’

“He literally just puts his hand in their face and says, ‘There you go boys. &^@# off.’

“I think he thought it was just fans who wanted to meet him, and I’m like, ‘No, they’re my buddies.’ He’s like, ‘Oh!’ and he hung out with them.”

A lot has changed since Aucoin entered the league in the mid-1990s, including coaching. Rick Ley was his first coach before Pat Quinn took over.

You can say communication between players and coaches a little bit different than it is today.

“Pat Quinn was a great coach, but even back then, the only thing he ever told me in probably a year and a half coaching me was, ‘Don’t go to your backhand kid. It sucks.’

“That was it. He never got mad at me. He was awesome. He was a great coach but there was no personal… you know what I mean? They didn’t break plays down, there wasn’t detail. We didn’t even do video.

“We had one video when I was there for the first playoffs (against St. Louis in 1995), it was a pump up video showing guys fighting and beating the $&!# out of the other team we were playing against.

“It was awesome.”

One notable teammate Aucoin spoke about was Mark Messier, who Aucoin played with in Vancouver for three seasons.

 

Aucoin, spoke positively about what kind of leader Messier was, but this story also explains why many media members and fans didn’t think he was fully invested during his time here.

“You look at some of the best leaders now – a guy like Jonathan Toews. Toews is going to outwork you everywhere.

“Mess obviously played hard … In practice, he wouldn’t wear a helmet, he’d just kind of float around. Half the time he wouldn’t practice, but that’s the way it was back then.

“The All-Stars would sit along the boards and watch the other guys do drills. But I give him credit because he got it done on the ice, and he partied like a rock star off the ice.”

Again, Aucoin was speaking positively about his experiences with Messier. Up to you how you interpret the comments, though

 

 

 

 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/aucoin-canucks-stories-bure-mogilny-messier

[Alflives]

Oak was a solid player for us.  He sure sounds like he loved Mogilny.  Bure,  maybe not so much.  As a fan I loved Bure.  I thought he was the most electrifying player I had ever seen live.  The players always know who are the best though.  

Now back to ny scotch.  

Oh.  Froffig” hate Messeit.  Guy I’d love to make tap-out.  

[King Heffy]

Would strongly disagree with Messier playing hard.  Laziest piece of garbage to ever disgrace the uniform; made Goldy look like a workaholic in comparison.  Love the Mogilny stories though.

[Slegr]

Wow, interesting stuff, thanks for sharing. 

I like how Aucoin wasn't critical but showed some faults of players through his stories. 

Bure was sure a mystery. I like the insights on Mogilny. 

And Quinn's comment about don't use your backhand - that's pretty funny.

[Nuxfanabroad]

Too much bad boy(accented) 'bro' talk, from this pov. So these guys like bouncing/shooting/passing balls, pucks, & found it hard to stay awake in school...

 

All these anecdotes provide PROOF that we(unwashed masses) pay 80-90% too much f***ing $, so privileged, talented(in some physical manner) & unbearably cocky youth can run around, banging supermodels, drinking like fish, & acting like animals.

 

I'm really glad I decided to walk away(almost completely, save for ice hockey) from pro sports hero worship. It's an overhyped ruse, with a diff set of rules, for a select group of individuals.

[Green Building]

Thanks for sharing; this was a great read.  

 

&^@# Messier.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 minute ago, Green Building said:

&^@# Messier.

That NEVER gets old.

 

#$%#$%@#% Messier.

[Green Building]

Just now, NewbieCanuckFan said:

That NEVER gets old.

 

#$%#$%@#% Messier.

I'll never forget he and Mike Keenan parading around like a bunch of dinks while they counted their money and did sweet F all on the ice. Messier, the lazy ass floater, can kiss my ass.

[Lancaster]

I guess it's true that Mogilny and Pavel weren't buddies off the ice.  That Pavel may have been rubbing shoulders with the mob might be true.  I remember Mogilny specifically mentioned that he knew how it worked, but that he wasn't a part of that circle unlike Bure.  

 

After reading it, my appreciation for #89 has gone up further.  

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 minute ago, Green Building said:

I'll never forget he and Mike Keenan parading around like a bunch of dinks while they counted their money and did sweet F all on the ice. Messier, the lazy ass floater, can kiss my ass.

He's another story involving the other equally "lovable" Mike Keenan (at least how I remember it which might actually match reality  but what I recall reading about in the Vancouver Sun)....

 

This involves Matt Cooke....

 

It was Matt Cooke's first training camp with the Canucks.  He was pretty nervious being his first NHL camp and heard about Mike Keenan.  One by one, the rookies would get torn a strip and/or called to his office for additional berating.  Yet, each day, Keenan wouldn't say a single word to Cooke!  As camp rolled on, rookies/other players destined for the farm club would get cut but Cooke was perplexed why Keenan left him alone.  More players get cut, demoted but there was Cooke still there (and still not a single conversation took place between Iron Mike and Cooke).  Then when the final cuts came, Cooke had found he made the team  (though I don't think he made it to the opening day roster, still ended up with the Canucks most of the season.  

 

Keenan must have looked into Cooke's eyes and saw the #@%R@$ he would eventually become (he was basically only an agitator as a Canucks...didn't really start going for headshots and/or other cheap stuff until after he left the team) and Keenan thought, he could be my son!

[DrJockitch]

I was always kind of Agnostic when it came to Mogilny, now I love him.

Feel about the same about Messier.  Didn't like him then, don't like him now.

There were definitely some shady things going on around Bure.  Not sure how much was his fault.  If it was bad here imagine what it would have been like in Miami.

You know I wonder how much of Gretzky's dominance was just that he was always playing against guys that were out getting drunk every night.  Obviously not all but definitely at least a little.

[McBackup]

30 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Too much bad boy(accented) 'bro' talk, from this pov. So these guys like bouncing/shooting/passing balls, pucks, & found it hard to stay awake in school...

 

All these anecdotes provide PROOF that we(unwashed masses) pay 80-90% too much f***ing $, so privileged, talented(in some physical manner) & unbearably cocky youth can run around, banging supermodels, drinking like fish, & acting like animals.

 

I'm really glad I decided to walk away(almost completely, save for ice hockey) from pro sports hero worship. It's an overhyped ruse, with a diff set of rules, for a select group of individuals.

Neat. Thanks for sharing.

[Nuxfanabroad]

3 minutes ago, Bitter Melon said:

Neat. Thanks for sharing.

Don' mention it!

[6string]

Great stuff. I enjoy the Clark Gillies interviews with all the insights of an NHL'er on and off the ice, some hilarious stuff in this series on YouTube.

 

 

[HerrDrFunk]

59 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Too much bad boy(accented) 'bro' talk, from this pov. So these guys like bouncing/shooting/passing balls, pucks, & found it hard to stay awake in school...

 

All these anecdotes provide PROOF that we(unwashed masses) pay 80-90% too much f***ing $, so privileged, talented(in some physical manner) & unbearably cocky youth can run around, banging supermodels, drinking like fish, & acting like animals.

 

I'm really glad I decided to walk away(almost completely, save for ice hockey) from pro sports hero worship. It's an overhyped ruse, with a diff set of rules, for a select group of individuals.

 

[Down by the River]

I loved the story about the "video" they watched. Basically reminded me of being a kid and putting a Rock 'em Sock 'em video on before we headed to our game. 

[Silky mitts]

Mogilny was so filthy

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Lancaster said:

I guess it's true that Mogilny and Pavel weren't buddies off the ice.  That Pavel may have been rubbing shoulders with the mob might be true.  I remember Mogilny specifically mentioned that he knew how it worked, but that he wasn't a part of that circle unlike Bure.  

 

After reading it, my appreciation for #89 has gone up further.  

When we got Mogilny I thought that’s it, we are going to win a cup.  Two of the best goal scorers in the league that can do it on their own without a top center dishing to them.  Then Bures knees gave out, labour disputes and Messier and BOOM an atom bomb dropped into the dressing room.   

 

This is was a fun read.  When Aucion first came in he was very prone to mistakes but he really turned into a solid player, a little like cross between Chris Phillips and Seabrook, and has a good career. 

 

Bure and his bodyguard is a weird story, liked the Tikannen story, and by far my favourite part is Keenan trying to dress down Mogilny.  He should be in the hall with his old line mates Federov  and Bure, and no surprise Aucion felt he was the better player (when in Vancouver), he played a more rounded and defensively responsible game for us.   Went on to play a key role in NJ and got a ring (he can put it one his middle finger when he goes out).  When he won the Lady Byng I remember he didn’t look all that impressed..like someone pissed in his coffee...(maybe his 120k a month lifestyle was finally catching up to him who knows, good grief upper class problems)

 

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

that story of mogilny punking out keenan was great

[-DLC-]

Loved this, thanks for sharing it! 

 

Remember Aucoin having one hell of a shot. 

 

Also remember Messier and he was just an ass.  That's all.