Rough night. Thanks for everything Trev., I must note that Jarome Igininla waiting at center ice to lead his team in shaking the hand of one of the finest Canucks ever was a moving moment. Perhaps the classiest moment I've seen in almost 30 years of watching this fine game. Captain Canuck, aka Linden, seemingly handled the moment well, though I'll admit to adding a bit of volume to my pail...Here's how a real writer summed it all up:
With the Canucks season already over after Thursday’s lack of finish on a plethora of scoring chances in a 2-1 loss to the Oilers, there’s definitely not a lot to look forward to in tonight’s season ending game against the Flames.
If the Canucks had won that game instead of making Dwayne Roloson look all-world, game #82 would have been another classic in the rivalry with a playoff position on the line for both teams. Instead, the annual Fan Appreciation night will be nothing but a formality to close out one of the most disappointing seasons in the Canuck’s oh-so-disappointing history.
All that’s really on the line in tonight’s game is playoff and draft seeding. The Flames can finish as high as 6th ensuring a first round match up with Minnesota while the Canucks could finish as low as 20th overall which, if they were to somehow win the Draft Lottery, would give them the 7th overall pick in this year’s extremely deep draft.
Really, the only thing to look forward to is that tonight’s game will more than likely be the last for two of this city’s sporting icons in Trevor Linden and Marcus Naslund. A cynic would say that is definitely something to look forward to as it has been too long as it is, but regardless of how you feel about this team, if you are truly a Vancouver Canuck hockey fan you have to feel at least a little bit of remorse in seeing the end of an era right before your eyes.
Linden and Naslund have served as Captains of this team for a combined 15 years which is 40% of the time that this team has been in this league. They are #1 and #2 in all time team scoring and have given fans in this city many memories while being nothing but upstanding citizens of the community.
Linden will be dressing in his team record 1140th game as Canuck and will be trying to add to his 733 points wearing the Canuck jersey. The most revered Captain in team history is closing out his 20th season in the league and his 2 goal performance against Calgary last Sunday left him in the top 100 scorers in league history. His team goals and points records were surpassed this year by Naslund, but #16 will retire with the most assists as his own at 415 and counting.
Linden has always come through when his team needed him most and this season has been no different as his 5 goals in the Shootout, will attest. He led the team in playoff scoring last year with limited minutes and has scored more points in Game 7’s than almost every player who has ever played the game. In ’94 he scored two goals in game 7 against the Rangers and recorded 25 points in 24 games in that historical post-season run.
Linden has always been the consummate professional and this season has perhaps been his most trying after being a healthy scratch for 23 games, but he has never wavered from his team-first attitude. Even going into tonight’s game which is almost certain be his last ever, he will not allow himself to be put before the rest of his team by letting everyone know that he will be retiring. He apparently has made the decision, but does not want to tonight to be about him and him only.
Naslund, the longest serving Captain in team history, holds the records for most goals and points at 346 and 756 respectively. The last two years, as disappointing as they may have been, added to his goal scoring records with 9 consecutive 20-goal seasons and 11 hat-tricks as a Canuck (tied with Toni Tanti). Leading the team in scoring for 7 straight years and being the team’s MVP 5 times are also both team records. He is the only Canuck to win the Pearson Award as the Leagues best player (voted by the players) in 2003 when he also came second in balloting for the Hart Trophy as the League’s MVP.
Naslund was the cornerstone of this Franchise for many years and was an integral part of allowing us to witness some of the most exciting hockey we have ever seen. Along with Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi he formed the “West Coast Express” line which was arguably the very best trio in the league for a couple of seasons. When Naslund was at his peak there were very few better offensively, and other than Pavel Bure, there’s no one else in the team’s history that we can say that about.
Like Linden, Naslund will also not comment publicly as to what his future may hold and whether he even wants to come back and play here. The simple fact that there have been no talks to date would seem to mean that the team will be looking to go in a new direction. That does not mean that he can’t come back next year, but the likelihood of re-signing him, even at a discounted rate, does not look very promising.
Honourable mention should also be given to Morrison in this piece as, even though he won’t be suiting up in tonight’s game; it too could also be his last as a Vancouver Canuck. My gut tells me the home-town boy will be back next year to try and resurrect his career that has been devastated by serious injuries the last 3 years, but regardless, he is part of team that we will never see again.
So Canuck fans, in this deepest hour of despair that we currently find ourselves in after missing the playoffs for the second time in the last three years, tonight we can honour the passing of an era and two of the most celebrated players in the team’s history. I for one, am looking forward to it and am sure there will be a few tears in my eyes as I salute these two great players at GM Place tonight.
Thanks for the memories Trevor and Markus!
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