I had thought about starting this blog for a number of months, but the impetus for me actually doing so came from my desire to express my appreciation of the greatest Vancouver Canuck, Trevor Linden. The first ever post on 'Nucks and Pucks came last June, on the occasion of Trevor's retirement - and now, on the day that his jersey is raised to the rafters of GM Place, I present my Top 10 Trevor Linden Moments. This first part presents moments 10-6.
Number 10
Unfortunately I couldn’t track down the date for this massive hit, but I believe it was during the 1995 playoffs, when
Number 9
January 21, 1998 –
Linden fights for his Captain
In what looked at the time to be his last game ever as a Canuck, Trevor Linden valiantly defended Mark Messier after a Coyote player took liberties with him. This, despite the fact that Messier had taken over the captaincy from Linden and been the reason for bringing in Mike Keenan as coach. Keenan verbally assaulted Linden in the dressing room, and was eventually responsible for trading the Canucks icon to the New York Islanders. That Linden would defend Messier despite these circumstances speaks volumes about his character and his dedication to the Canucks.
Number 8
1988-89 Season – Trevor Linden’s Rookie Season
Linden Makes NHL All-Rookie Team
Linden finished his rookie season with 30 goals and 29 assists, good enough to earn him a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team. Check out this vintage of clip of TL in his rookie year. I have a serious love/hate for those canary duds!
Number 7
April 23, 2007 – Dallas Stars vs.
Western Conference Quarter-Finals, Game 7
Linden nets the game winner as the Canucks advance to the second round. The Canucks lost in the second round to the Anaheim Ducks, who would go on to win the Cup that season. Linden finished the 2007 playoffs, the last of his career, with seven points to tie for the team lead.
Number 6
Western Conference Final, Game 5
After Greg Adams’ dramatic double-overtime goal sent the Canucks to the Finals,
2 comments:
I was talking to some female co-workers the other day about the fact that Trevor Linden was my first, last and only celebrity crush during my adolescence (okay, fine, during my womanhood as well). Forget River Phoenix and his teenage angst or Keanu Reeves and his floppy hair. Trevor’s good-guy-ness, serious and quiet demeanor, rancher's son meets hockey warrior work ethic, his ruggedness, and his tendency to show up on local TV being kind to sick children was soooo clearly a perfect match for me.
However, to my surprise, each co-worker strongly asserted, that Trevor was, in fact, first in THEIR heart. I was stunned, hurt almost, that my affection for Trevor was equally matched by these other women. Women who don't know what an icing call is, women who don't bother watching hockey until the playoffs, women who couldn't stomach a day of branding cattle on the ranch, women who are married, women who are mothers! As the day unfolded, I started bringing up the name Trevor Linden around any woman I encountered - the grocery store clerk, the student I was advising, the friend of a friend I ran into at J.J. Bean. As it turns out, in addition to his achievements described above, Trevor Linden found his way into the romantic fantasies of an entire generation of Vancouver women.
This is a feat he is not normally recognized for. However, speaking on behalf of all Vancouver women born between 1970 and 1983, I would like to raise a glass in honour of his role in our journey into womanhood.
Wow, now there's an endorsement!
Mine is not nearly so deeply personal... and my journey into womanhood will be achieved only through surgery.
But re Moment #10: I've seen ultra-slo-mo replays of this hit that illustrate the dichotomy of Linden: an amazing and rigorously decent human who was nonetheless a ferocious competitor.
As he's driving that dude through the glass, he has the brutal orc face of a win-at-any-cost competitor. But the moment the glass shatters (therefore putting fans as well as the victim in jeopardy), his face transforms into an oh-goodness-is-everyone-all-right expression and (if my memory isn't clouded by sentimentality) he actually starts to haul the guy up.
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