My Name Is Eric

I've written about hockey a little bit on this blog, but probably not enough to illustrate the impact it has in Canada. It is incredibly central to our culture, and players often become icons, in some cases, heroes. One player who undoubtedly became a hero is Trevor Linden.




I grew up in British Columbia (BC), home to the Vancouver Canucks. I started to watch the Canucks avidly in around 1993, at which point Trevor Linden had been playing for around five years and had been named captain of the team (the youngest player ever to be named captain at that point). Like many other young British Columbians, Trevor Linden was my favorite player. He was always what you would call a two way player. He would score a reasonable amount (though not as much as his offensive minded counterpart, Pavel Bure) while still being defensively responsible. He also played a very typically Canadian style of hockey - physical, hard working, persistent and honest. Plus, he had a fantasic amount of heart, on and off the ice. He was known for his incredible devotion to the city of Vancouver and his significant contributions to numerous charities.

It was great to have a player like this to cheer for. In 1994 he led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals and came incredibly close to winning the championship. It was incredibly inspring to watch Linden in that playoff run; he played with such determination that it was hard to believe the team could possibly lose. He literally gave everything he had. I'm including a very famous photo of Linden standing with Kirk Mclean (the goalie) in game 6, exhausted and covered in blood, after an incredibly tough game.



This playoff run is still actively talked about amongst Canucks fans. Everyone knew how much the team, and especially Linden, gave to reach the finals. This week, before Linden's jersey retirement ceremony, Cliff Ronning, a member of the 1994 team, revealed just how much Linden gave to carry his team to the finals.

You don't know this, but Trevor Linden had cracked ribs and torn rib cartilage for the last four games of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final," Cliff Ronning said. "You can't imagine what it's like to hear your captain, in a room down the hall, screaming at the top of his lungs as they injected the needle into his rib cage. Knowing him, he probably thought we couldn't hear. He would then walk into our dressing room like nothing had happened. That was inspirational.

When Canadians think of how a hockey player should carry themselves, we think of everything Trevor stood for.

After the big playoff run, Trevor continued to captain the team until 1997 when the team signed Mark Messier . At that point Linden offered the captaincy to Messier, who was known as one of the best leaders in hockey history. He accepted the offer, which many, including myself, consider to be very disrespectful to the team and to Linden. Messier was accused of intentionally making the team bad to encourage the team owners to fire General Manager Pat Quinn and replace him with Messier's friend, Mike Keenan. Whether this is true or not, Keenan became General Manager and soon after traded away Linden, the Canucks greatest player of all time.

Linden played for several other teams until 2001. At this point, the Canucks had begun to recover from the damage Messier and Keenan did to the franchise and were once again becoming contenders. New General Manager, Brian Burke, traded to the Washington Capitals to bring Trevor Linden home to Vancouver. He was not as effective a player as he was in his first run with the Canucks, but he obviously still had more heart than anyone on the team. Vancouver was ecstatic to have its hero back.

He would play for six more seasons with the Canucks, retiring last year. Througout these six years, many fans felt that he was the true captain of the team and was its heart. This, despite Markus Naslund being the official captain. Linden, despite advancing age, continued to be a guy who played hard and performed in high pressure situations, particularly the playoffs. When he retired, he held the team record in many categories includies games played and assists. There was no question that his jersey should be retired, which is the highest honour a hockey player can receive from his team.

Last night, December 17, 2008, Trevor Linden received the honour he deserved. You can see the video of his jeresy being raised to the rafters below. I'd like this post to be a tribute to my favorite player, and a thank you to him for giving me so many great memories.

Christmas is now only 14 days away, which is very very exciting! Here in the office we all have advent calendars to help us countdown in chocolately style. See our own Putri eagerly opening the door to to day 11 below.



It's a very nice tradition and really helps build anticipation for the big day.... unfortunately, Uliana could not wait until the big day to eat her chocolate treats! Below you can see Uliana's calendar (on the left) compared to a calendar as it should look at this point.



Are you guys strong enough to open the doors to your chocolate when you should? Or, do you cheat and skip days?