Gillis’ daughter: Criticism was hard to ignore


The Vancouver Canucks have endured more than their fair share of disappointment over the past few years and much of the frustration and criticism over that was directed to now fired general manager Mike Gillis.

As the guy tasked with running the team, it’s to be expected that he will be assigned the brunt of the blame whenever something goes wrong, but it was still difficult for his daughter and Canada’s women’s field hockey team captain, Kate Gillis, to block it all out.

“I think it’s always hard for people to say those things about your father. With the Internet these days, you can just have a free-for-all,” she told the Canadian Press. “It’s tough to kind of differentiate between the truth and the fiction, but I just keep my head down. He definitely doesn’t let us get affected, but in the long run it’s hard.

“It’s your dad.”

In a way, Kate is part of the reason her father worked for the Canucks in the first place. She was scouted by the national field hockey team when she was 17, but that meant moving from Kingston, Ontario to Vancouver. Her parents didn’t like the idea of her making that journey on her own at that age, so they moved with her.

The elder Gillis, who a player agent at the time, only intended of staying in Vancouver for a year, but he ended up sticking there because of his job with the Canucks. With that chapter of his life over, Gillis has been able to spend more time watching his daughter’s career. He’ll be able to stick around for the entire field hockey tournament at the Commonwealth Games, which is something he might not have been able to do otherwise.

“It was a very difficult circumstance when it happened but now we’re seeing him more relaxed, he has more time, and he’s able to capitalize on these sort of events,” Kate Gillis said.