I ALWAYS SAID THAT I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE A HOCKEY PLAYER; LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE A HOCKEY PLAYER IN BC, FOR VANCOUVER, AND I TRIED TO MAKE THE BIGGEST IMPACT I COULD.
A
s soon as Trevor Linden skated onto the Pacific Coliseum ice the evening of Tursday, October 6, 1988 in his NHL debut, it became evident that
the Vancouver Canucks first-round draft pick (second overall) would become a very popular personality indeed. Few could have foreseen, however, that this fresh-faced eighteen-year- old Alberta-born hockey prospect would go on to become not only BC’s premier sports icon and goodwill ambassador, but a recipient of the Order of British Columbia and a Mem- ber of the Order of Canada. Nearly a quarter of a century later—and with his signature Number 16 permanently retired and hanging proudly from the rafters high above Rogers Arena—the passion, dedication and exuberance he so consistently exhibited on the ice is still evident. Sitting in his South Granville Street office, 41-year-old Trevor Linden today oversees a
blossoming business empire that includes residential and commercial developments, the ever-expanding Club 16 Trevor Linden Fitness chain of health facilities and his namesake fundraising foundation. Our conversation occurs fourteen years to the week after his being traded away from the Canucks—that date and the circumstances surrounding his departure remain indelibly imprinted in his mind. “February sixth,” he responds immediately,
recalling the tumultuous events of that period when reminded of the ominous anniversary. “It was a very odd time in the Vancouver hockey world; a time of really mixed emo- tions. Tere were tons of changes—Pat Quinn had been fired in October, Tom Renney was fired shortly after that and Mike Keenan was the manager and coach, so it was a really turbulent time. Kirk McLean and Martin Gelinas had been traded in January so I kind of knew it was going to happen—it kind of
had to happen. As sad as I was to be leaving, I knew it had to be that way. Tere was no way around it.”
As things unfolded, there were a few stops in
rival NHL destinations before Linden eventu- ally returned to Vancouver in 2001. Did he ever think that he would wear a Canucks uniform again? “At that point, no,” states Linden flatly.
“Probably the first time I thought of that was after Brian Burke had become the general manager here. I was in Montreal—my second year. I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea but the thought did cross my mind.” As Canuck Nation bore adoring witness,
Trevor Linden finally retired as a Vancouver Canuck on June 11, 2008—twenty years to the day after being drafted into the NHL. With health and fitness clearly at the fore-
front of the Linden lifestyle, his emergence as a player in the fitness business appears like it should have been an obvious choice for him,
April 2012 VANCOUVER VIEW 33
CREDIT: DAVE HAMILTON
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