Trevor Linden recently announced his retirement from the NHL
after 19 seasons, sixteen of which were spent with the Vancouver Canucks, nearly
seven of those as team captain.
Linden hasn’t been captain of the Canucks for years but in
the minds of most of the team’s fans he’ll always be considered the best
captain the team ever had.
His best seasons were in his first go-around with the
Canucks from his NHL rookie season of 1988-89 through the 1997-98 campaign,
where he’d score over 30 goals six times and exceed the 50 point mark seven
times, including four 70-plus point seasons.
Linden was never flashy as teammate Pavel Bure during that
time but his strong two-way play and leadership made him a standout and the
true heart-and-soul of the club for most of the 1990s.
He also earned a reputation as a solid playoff performer
renowned for his clutch play, and he was never better than in the 1994
playoffs, captaining the Canucks to a thrilling seven game Stanley Cup final series
against the NY Rangers, where the Canucks rallied from a 3-1 series deficit before
falling to the Rangers in the deciding seventh game.
Dealt to the NY Islanders mid-way through the 1997-98 season
for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe and a third round pick (used to select Jarkko
Ruutu), Linden struggled with injuries as he bounced from the Isles to the
then-equally mediocre Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals over the
course of four seasons.
But early in the 2001-02 season Linden was dealt back to the
Canucks where he truly belonged, and while he was no longer the captain and his
offensive skills were in decline he was still relied upon for leadership and
strong defensive play.
He was also president of the NHL Players Association for 8
years, during which the NHL was shut down for an entire season due to a
lockout.
Linden was a loyal lieutenant of PA Executive Director Bob
Goodenow but broke with him in March 2005 following the league’s cancellation
of the 2004-05 season, joining with PA assistant director Ted Saskin in
negotiating the current collective bargaining agreement which brought the lock
to an end in July 2005.
His role in the firing of Goodenow later than month and in
the controversial hiring of Saskin as the PA’s new executive director remains
murky, and resulted in his stepping down as PA president
Linden has also been a long-time active member of the
Vancouver community, particularly in charity work associated with the BC
Children’s Hospital and other charitable organizations, which has only deepened
the love Canucks fans feel for Linden.
Presently it’s unknown if Linden will have a role in the
Canucks organization in the near future, but considering all he’s done for the
team on and off the ice as a player as well as in the community the Canucks
hierarchy would be daft not to hire him, if not in management then at the very
least a goodwill ambassador.
Linden finishes his NHL career with 375 goals and 867 points
in 1, 382 regular season games, and an even more impressive 99 points
(including 65 assists) in 124 playoff games.
It remains to be seen if he’ll ever be inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Canucks retired his
number 16 in honor of the most popular player in team history.
Linden's jersey will certainly be hung from the rafters of GM Place, and it would only be fitting if he stayed with the Canucks in a scouting or eventually a coaching position with the team. His numbers, good as they are, are but a small part of the total package Trev brought to the team. His leadership on and off the ice will be sorely missed by the Canucks, and if Naslund moves on ( as he most likely will ) it's a ####-shoot as to who can step up and not just sew a C on their jersey, but get our favourite underacheivers to perform.
Good luck in your future endeavours Trevor, and thanks for all the great memories here in Canuck-ville.
The only real knock against the guy is kind of a big one and that's this `murky' business at the end of the lockout. I always thought he was a stand-up guy, great for the community and he tried hard on the ice, even though he wasn't the most naturally-skilled of players. However, this business of going behind Goodenow's back in what appeared to be an attempt to get himself playing for one or two more years was pretty callous. I'm hoping this was just an aberration in his character; I guess only time will tell. And, you can bet he'll be with the Canucks in some capacity, someday. Right now there's just more money to be made in property development out here.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
