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VANCOUVER -- An explosive divorce trial that had the potential to reveal intimate personal and financial details about Francesco Aquilini, a co-owner of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team and a member of one of British Columbias wealthiest families, ended before it began Monday as Aquilini and his estranged wife announced a last-minute settlement. The settlement eliminates the need for a lengthy and complex trial in a case that has already laid bare allegations of adultery and ran the risk of revealing previously unknown details about the Canucks ownership and the inner-workings of the Aquilini Investment Group, which owns the team and its arena in downtown Vancouver. The terms of the agreement between Francesco and Taliah Aquilini will remain secret, but the settlement will not affect ownership of the Vancouver Canucks, which the Aquilini family business has owned for the better part of a decade, one of Francescos lawyers confirmed. "I am pleased to have a reached a negotiated divorce settlement with Taliah," Francesco said in a written statement that he posted on Twitter. "This settlement means we will be able to keep our personal lives private and, most importantly, avoid the negative impact of a trial on the children we both love." The Aquilinis were married in 1994 and have four children together. Francesco has a fifth child from a previous marriage. The couple separated in January 2011, setting off a court battle over the custody of their children and the fate of millions of dollars in assets. Taliah did not say anything as she walked into the courthouse on Monday morning and sat in a small hearing room that was already packed with journalists. After a brief appearance that lasted just a few minutes, Taliah declined to comment until the next court appearance, scheduled for Wednesday morning. Francesco was not in court, nor was he required to be there. The settlement was reached Sunday afternoon, just a day before the start of the trial, after five days of negotiations, lawyers involved with the case said. Some of the finer details still need to be worked out, but that was expected to be finished by Wednesday. One of Francescos lawyers, Karen Shirley-Paterson, said the couples primary concern was protecting their children from a messy, high-profile divorce trial. "Its better to settle than to air the concerns in public," Shirley-Paterson said outside court. "They (the children) were first and foremost in the decision to settle and I think everyone is satisfied with the settlement, and its good for the children and everyone concerned." The four children from the Aquilinis marriage currently live with Taliah in the couples matrimonial home. While there was no formal order for child or spousal support, Francesco has been depositing money into a joint bank account each month to cover living costs for his estranged wife and their children, according to a previous court decision. The intense public interest in the case -- relatively rare for a divorce proceeding -- was fuelled, in part, by the connection to one of Canadas seven NHL hockey teams. But the case also offered a rare look into the complicated lives of a well-known, wealthy family, with details of expensive wine collections, fights over hockey tickets, and allegations of infidelity becoming instant headline fodder. Earlier this year, a judge rejected Taliahs request to force the sale of a wine collection estimated to be worth nearly $800,000 to cover her legal expenses. She also asked for an order giving her access to vacation properties, hockey tickets and other perks associated with the Canucks while the case works its way through the courts, but that, too, was rejected. Taliah had alleged in court filings that Francesco had committed adultery, though no specific details have ever made it into public court documents. She had asked for permission to have her lawyers question Francesco about those allegations in pre-trial discovery, but a judge ruled such evidence would be kept out of the case entirely. On Monday, Francescos lawyer declined to wade into the issue of adultery when asked by a reporter if he denied the allegations. "There are a number of allegations that were made by both parties against the other," said Shirley-Paterson. "Of course it was a concern, it would be a concern for any case, but with a case like the Aquilinis, where the public attention and media scrutiny is so intense, of course theyd want to settle it. ... We wont get into the allegations." Allegations of adultery are generally kept out of family law proceedings, and they cannot be used when it comes to child custody or division of property. Under Canadas no-fault divorce laws, the most common -- and simplest -- way for a couple to end a marriage is to prove they have lived separate and apart for 12 months. A spouse can, however, allege adultery or cruelty to seek a divorce before the one-year period is up. In this case, because Francesco and Taliah had already been living apart for a year, the judge ruled there was no need to hear evidence about alleged infidelity. Even if the trial did go ahead, it was unclear how much detail about the Canucks and the Aquilini Investment Group would be made public, as Francescos lawyers had planned to ask the judge to keep portions of the trial confidential in order to protect his familys financial interests and his five children. There is little concrete information about the Aquilini family business, which as a private corporation isnt required to disclose its financial records. Some media outlets have attempted to put a value on the companys worth, but for the most part those have been crude estimates that have varied widely. Francesco is one of five partners -- along with his parents and two brothers -- in the Aquilini Investment Group, a holding company that controls a network of corporations and business interests. The company purchased half of the Canucks hockey franchise from Seattle businessman John McCaw in 2004 for about $250 million and then bought the other half two years later. Aside from the Canucks, the companys holdings include Aquilini Development and Construction, which is behind several condo developments in Vancouver and elsewhere. The investment group also owns Golden Eagle Group, which controls a sprawling section of agricultural land in Pitt Meadows, east of Vancouver, that is home to a golf course, tree nursery, blueberry farm and cranberry farm. Online, the surprise settlement prompted many users to question why news outlets were covering the story at all. "Why is this anyones business?" one user wrote on Twitter, in what was a common response to the headlines from the days developments. "Sorry, Vancouver media vultures, but no salacious Aquilini divorce trial for you to feast on!" wrote another. Coverage of divorce proceedings is rare in Canada, partly because more than 90 per cent of all divorces are settled outside of court and partly because few family law cases involve anyone with such a public profile. Even so, its not unheard of for details of such cases to make their way into the public realm. When Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger separated from his common-law spouse two years ago, media outlets covered various court proceedings linked to the case, including when a judge ordered Kroeger to pay his former spouse $25,000 a month. South of the border, former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is still entangled in a divorce case that has been stretching on for years. McCourt reached a $131 million divorce settlement with his ex-wife, Jamie, in 2011, when he still owned the baseball team. He later sold the Dodgers for $2 billion, and Jamie McCourt has forced the matter back to court as she claims she was misled about the teams value. Theodore (Blue) Edwards, a former NBA star with the Vancouver Grizzlies, was involved in a lengthy child custody case a decade ago that went to Canadas highest court. Edwards trial heard that he had a series of extramarital affairs, including one with a woman he met at a downtown Vancouver sports bar with whom he fathered a child. Edwards initially won custody of the child, but that decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada. He was subsequently ordered to pay more than $300,000 in child support by a court in B.C. Cheap NFL Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap NHL Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.cheapnflchinawholesale.biz/ . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Cheap Soccer Jerseys .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Cheap MLB Jerseys .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me.BOSTON -- Derek Roy blew a chance to end the game in the first minute of overtime. Then St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock gave him a chance to make up for it. Roy scored once in regulation and added the clincher in the fourth round of the shootout on Thursday night to lead the Blues to a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. Roy, who hit the crossbar on a breakaway in sudden death, didnt make the same mistake when he got another chance to win it. "I usually look at body language on the bench, and Roysie was perked up he wanted to go," Hitchcock said. "So we had him go." Jaroslav Halak stopped 27 shots in regulation, two more in overtime, and three in the shootout as St. Louis won for the fourth time in five games and continued the hottest start in its history. David Backes also scored for the Blues, and NHL points-leader Alexander Steen converted their other shootout goal after going the entire game without a shot. Gregory Campbell and Carl Soderberg scored for Boston. Tuukka Rask made 24 saves and forced Roy to put one off the crossbar on a breakaway in the first minute of overtime. "I knew I could get him on that shot, and I thought I picked it perfect, and I hit crossbar," Roy said. "I wanted to redeem myself in the shootout, and Coach put me out there. ... It shows that hes got confidence in me going out in the shootout. "I just wanted to help my team win the game, and Im happy to do that and be put in that position to do that." Soderberg broke in alone in the last 15 seconds of overtime, but he meekly shot the puck into Halaks pads just before the final buzzer. That sent the game to a shootout, and Boston took an early lead when Patrice Bergeron beat Halak over his shoulder to make it 1-0. T.J. Oshie, David Krejci and Jarome Iginla all missed before Steen poked it through Rasks pads to tie it 1-1 after three tries apiece. Chris Kelly missed for Boston in the first extra round, and Roy went in quickly, skidded to a stop and then went around Rask to poke the puck in for the winner. "He told guys on the bench that he was going to do the move, and did it and got away with it," Hitchcock said. After Roys shot went in, Rask slammed his stick against the goal post and continued hammering it into the ice as he skated off to the locker room. It was the Blues 15th win in 21 games this season, giving them 33 points -- the most in the NHL. The Bruins had won six of their previous seven games and taken over the best record in the Eastern Conference.dddddddddddd "Theres a lot of similarities" between the teams, Backes said. "I dont know if we quite have a 6-foot-9 defenceman, but theres tough to play against forwards, and teams that are disciplined and stick to the game plan. "You saw a couple of breakdowns tonight, and they all ended up in the back of the net." Each team had just one penalty in the game, and Bruins coach Claude Julien said he thought his team played well enough to win. "I thought it was a real fun game to watch," he said. "Everything, from my end, except for that extra point that I thought we should have had." The Bruins scored late in the first when Blues defenceman Ian Cole fell in his own end, allowing Boston to keep the puck in the zone. Torey Krug slid it over to Campbell, who tried to one-time it, but sculled it off the heel of his stick. The slow-moving puck seemed to confuse Halak and went into the net off the corner of the post. But the Blues tied it just 37 seconds later, when Roy wristed the puck toward the net from the left point. Stewart tried to deflect it near the circle, missing the puck but knocking a defenders stick away. Another Blues player tried to get a stick on it in the crease but it also eluded him as he was taken down by Boston defenceman Matt Bartkowski. Instead, the undeflected puck went right through Rasks legs to make it 1-all with 9 seconds left in the period. St. Louis took a 2-1 lead late in the second when Kevin Shattenkirks wrist shot from the point was deflected into the net by Backes. It was Shattenkirks 100th career assist. This time it was the Bruins turn to answer quickly. About 2 1/2 minutes after the Blues took the lead, Reilly Smith fed the puck from behind the net to Soderberg in the slot, and he beat Halak to tie it 2-2. NOTES: Hall of Famer Bobby Orr took part in a ceremonial puck drop. John "Pie" McKenzie, another member of the Bruins 1970 and 72 Stanley Cup championship teams, was also in attendance. The 1970 team swept St. Louis in the finals. ... The Bruins called up D Kevan Miller to fill in while Adam McQuaid and Dennis Seidenberg are out with undisclosed injuries. Miller made his NHL debut. ... St. Louis finished a three-game road stretch. 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