Vancouver, B.C. – The Vancouver Canucks today announced that Mike Gillis has been named the 10th General Manager in club history. Gillis joins the Canucks organization after spending the past 16 years as a player representative.

“This is an exciting day for the future of the Vancouver Canucks,” said Francesco Aquilini, Chairman, Canucks Sports & Entertainment. “Mike’s involvement with the National Hockey League dates back 30 years as a player and player representative. We believe that he brings a wealth of experience to this role and will embrace the opportunity to lead our Hockey Operations department.”

“I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to lead the Vancouver Canucks as General Manager,” said Mike Gillis. “This is a great hockey market with loyal fans and supporters. Everyone who works in this industry wants to work in a Canadian NHL city, there is nothing else like it.”

Gillis, 49, began his NHL career in 1978 as the 5th selection of the Colorado Rockies. In 246 NHL regular season games, Gillis recorded 76 points (33-43-76) and 186 penalty minutes with Colorado and Boston before a leg injury forced him to retire in 1985.

The Kingston, Ontario, native returned home to obtain his law degree from Queen’s University in 1990. Gillis began his career as a NHL player representative in 1992 and became one of the most successful in his industry. His ability to evaluate players, negotiate contracts and his extensive knowledge of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, provided Gillis the opportunity to work with a number of the NHL’s most elite players over the past 15 years.

Career Regular Season Stats Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW GT Shots Pct 1975-1976 Kingston  OMJHL   64 16 45 61   34             1976-1977 Kingston  OMJHL   4 2 2 4   4             1977-1978 Kingston  OMJHL   43 21 46 67   86             1978-1979 Rockies   30 1 7 8 -18 6 0 0 0 54 1.9 1978-1979 Philadelphia  AHL   2 0 0 0   0             1979-1980 Rockies   40 4 5 9 -18 22 1 0 0 56 7.1 1979-1980 Fort Worth  CHL   29 9 13 22   43             1980-1981 Rockies   51 11 7 18 -21 54 1 0 2 78 14.1 1980-1981 Bruins   17 2 4 6 -2 15 0 0 0 26 7.7 1981-1982 Bruins   53 9 8 17 10 54 0 0 0 66 13.6 1982-1983 Bruins   5 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 1982-1983 Baltimore  AHL   74 32 81 113   33             1983-1984 Bruins   50 6 11 17 -7 35 0 0 1 59 10.2 1983-1984 Hershey  AHL   26 8 21 29   13               NHL Totals:   246 33 43 76 -55 186 2 0 3   341 9.7 Career Playoff Stats Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW Shots Pct 1975-1976 Kingston  OMJHL   7 1 2 3   11           1977-1978 Kingston  OMJHL   5 3 12 15   0           1980-1981 Bruins   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1981-1982 Bruins   11 1 2 3 6 0 0 0 1982-1983 Bruins   12 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 1983-1984 Bruins   3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0   NHL Totals:   27 2 5 7   10 0 0 0