See, it makes perfect sense.

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Mike Gillis. Of course.

Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini's firing last week of general manager Dave Nonis wasn't about leadership or sustainability or even winning, although no hockey boss in this town can dodge that requirement. It was about getting his own guy, having a general manager of his choosing to run the organization the way ownership envisions.

So Francesco and Roberto and Paulo hired Gillis. They have their man.

And he is a bright, aggressive, successful player agent who has never made a trade, never drafted a player, never worked in management or built a hockey department or done anything for a National Hockey League team except play.

This isn't to say Gillis won't be a good general manager for the Canucks. But he is certainly not a mainstream pick and represents a bold -- and uncertain -- new direction for an organization still trying to win its first Stanley Cup 38 years after joining the NHL.

Asked a week ago Tuesday whether his new general manager would have GM experience, Aquilini said: "Absolutely. I mean, to have that experience in hockey, that's for sure. They'd have to have extensive experience and really understand the game."

The owner might like a mulligan on that press conference.

The message should have been: Nonis did a good job positioning the Canucks for success, but the team needs a new man for the final stage of building a winner, someone to go boldly into the trade and free-agent markets to get the few vital missing pieces.

I disagree. But you can sell that message.

Surely, this will be Gillis's mandate, to find those pieces.

And, surely, he was the guy Aquilini had in mind all along.

In eight days -- the time between news breaking of Nonis's dismissal and Gillis's hiring -- an NHL organization cannot go out and thoroughly investigate, identify and interview all the best candidates for the general manager's job.

Anaheim hockey executives Bob Murray and David McNab couldn't have been interviewed, Detroit assistant Jim Nill not legally contacted and asked about his interest in the job.

No, Gillis was the Aquilinis' guy all along. Much of the evidence can be found in Francesco's inner counsel, which includes ex-Canuck Geoff Courtnall, close friends with the owner and the new general manager.

And there's nothing wrong with having your guy. Most teams, in fact, can't function without a cohesiveness and uniformity in beliefs from the top down. But everyone in the Canuck organization except Aquilini believed in Nonis and what he was doing, and that now becomes a serious dilemma for Gillis.

Presumably, there are profound personnel changes ahead for the Canucks, beginning with the coaching staff and the senior people in hockey operations. Or else why hire a GM who represents a seismic shift in thinking for the franchise?

But here is where Gillis seems a risky pick, and an unpopular one according to a TEAM radio poll Tuesday night that showed three-quarters of respondents initially opposed to the hiring.