Last Thursday, the Vancouver Canucks removed a beat reporter from the arena during a game and revoked his credentials over a story published earlier that day about another business owned by the team’s owners.
Monday, they finally explained why.
Trevor Beggs, who has been covering the Canucks for Daily Hive Vancouver since 2019 and also co-hosts the Locked On Canucks podcast, said on Friday that he had been escorted out of Rogers Arena during Thursday’s game and his press pass was taken away from him.
“I’ve got to apologize to the fans of Locked On Canucks because last night I got my press pass taken away. And I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m getting it back. We’ll see how it goes,” Beggs said on his podcast. “I wrote a story yesterday about the Aquilini family, a case they were involved in. Patrick Johnston has also written something similar if you want to check it out in The Province. He didn’t like it. So in the first intermission, I was removed from the rink and asked to give my press pass back. We redacted the article at Daily Hive, so we’ll see where it goes.”
The story in question 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. According to the indictment, the firm forced these workers into unsafe conditions. Several Harvest Plus workers were at Aquilini Vineyards in 2022, according to the indictment.
Begg’s story on Daily Hive played up the vineyard’s connection to the Canucks and was led by an image of Francesco Aquilini, the chair of the Canucks.
After Beggs was removed from the arena, Daily Hive removed the article entirely and deleted any social media posts directing to it. The site did not offer any explanation on why it decided to remove the piece rather than edit it.
While the Canucks have developed a reputation in local journalist circles for ignoring requests for comment (as they did to Awful Announcing and The Athletic), they did provide a statement to The Globe and Mail on Monday afternoon.
According to Victoria Ullrich, the director of communications for Canucks Sports and Entertainment, the article “contains statements that are inaccurate, misleading, and cause reputational and commercial harm. The strategic use of language and framing of the article are sensational and take flippant liberties, particularly with the inclusion of the Vancouver Canucks in the headline and in the photograph. It is unquestionably defamatory to accuse an individual by implication or insinuation of committing a criminal act.
“We view this matter as a marked departure from journalistic principles of fairness, honesty, objectivity, and integrity, and we remain committed to supporting accurate and responsible coverage.”
It appears that even though the team could have demanded a change or retraction before reinstating Beggs’ credentials, they have no plans to do so.
“Credentials are revoked if these standards are not met, and the credential referenced will not be reinstated,” the team’s statement continued. “There was no negotiation or a condition to have the article retracted in order to keep the credential.”
The Daily Hive has yet to comment on the situation.
The decision alarmed several journalists in the region, many of whom cover the Canucks.
“This is an unprecedented act,” said Patrick Johnston, the Vancouver Sun and Province columnist who is also chair of the Vancouver chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA). While Beggs is not a member of the PHWA, Johnston penned a column about his removal and later told the Globe & Mail that “as a principle, I don’t think reporters who are behaving in a responsible manner should be immediately expelled from the building just because you don’t like a story.”
“It’s troublesome, because of the precedent that it could set if teams decide that they’re the arbiters of what is fair journalism,” said Stephen Whyno, an Associated Press sports reporter who serves as president of the PHWA. “I hope it is not a trend.”
