NHL monitoring court proceedings, child abuse allegations, against Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini

"Mr. Aquilini has advised us that he categorically denies the allegations. We plan to continue to monitor the situation and, if necessary, will respond as we learn more as events unfold.” — NHL

The National Hockey League is taking a cautious approach to Vancouver Canucks chairman and governor Francesco Aquilini following allegations of child abuse levelled at him by his own children.

“We are aware of the allegations that have been made in the family court proceeding in Vancouver and have been in touch with Mr. Aquilini and his lawyers regarding same. Clearly, the parties have been involved in a most contentious divorce,” the NHL said in a statement released Wednesday morning.

“Mr. Aquilini has advised us that he categorically denies the allegations. We plan to continue to monitor the situation and, if necessary, will respond as we learn more as events unfold.”

In affidavits submitted to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Karen Douglas, Aquilini’s children allege their father hit them when they were young. One affidavit says Aquilini threw one of the children across a room when the child was just five years old.

A statement released on Aquilini’s behalf said that he categorically denies and is “outraged” by the accusations made by his ex-wife in family court that he has ever abused his kids.

The court files in this case are sealed to the public, but the lawyer for the mother of the children, Aquilini’s ex-wife Tali’ah Aquilini, read them aloud during an open hearing on Tuesday.

The children described abuse and inappropriate conduct by their father, including alleged incidents of physical and psychological abuse, court heard.

The affidavits were submitted as part of a dispute between the former couple, who divorced in 2013, over whether Francesco Aquilini is still responsible to pay for his children’s education. The couple have four children together, the three youngest are still attending university.

Francesco Aquilini says he has not been given information on his children’s studies, even which universities they are attending, and if he is to continue to pay for their education he needs to see information about whether his children are regularly attending their classes, their grades, as well as justification for housing choices, periods away from school, the costs of airline flights and the purchase of a computer for $48,000.

The couple have a fourth child, their eldest, who is no longer in school and does not need support from her father. Nonetheless, she also has sought to cut off contact from her father and Talia’h Aquilini’s lawyer read a letter sent from the eldest child to her farther in 2020,

Talia’h Aquilini says she has redacted information submitted to Aquilini and his lawyer on the request of their children, because they did not want to be contacted.

The children expressed a desire not to disclose their information so that they could not be contacted by their father, her lawyer said.