An 18-year-old Trevor Linden drinks from the Memorial Cup after winning it in 1988. Submitted photo.
WHL Honours Linden’s Superb Career
By / Andrew Chong
It doesn’t seem long ago that an usher at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum handed me a souvenir button that said, “I vote Trevor Linden for NHL Rookie of the Year 1989.”
Earlier this week, nearly two decades later, Linden won the 2008 WHL Alumni Association Achievement Award for his distinguished NHL career.
An impressive student-athlete, Linden was offered a hockey scholarship from Princeton University but declined for a chance to play for his hometown Medicine Hat Tigers following one season with the Alberta Midget Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Midget Tigers.
He won two consecutive Memorial Cup championships with the Tigers, captaining the second run in 1988. That year, Linden exploded for 110 points in 67 regular season games, won a World Junior Championship with Team Canada, and was drafted second overall by the Canucks (behind Mike Modano).
He came close to winning that Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie, but finished second in voting to New York Ranger Brian Leetch.
In 1994, the Canucks captain would again lose out to the Rangers and Leetch, this time in the Stanley Cup finals. Despite Vancouver’s 4-3 series loss, Linden’s play was spectacular throughout the playoffs and was highlighted by a two-goal performance in Game 7 of the final. His battle-scarred face, black eyes, and broken nose remain an unforgettable image of the Linden era in Vancouver.
After 1,382 NHL games and 867 career points, the Canucks will retire Linden’s No. 16 on Dec. 17 in a game against the Edmonton Oilers.
In a time when Sean Avery is shooting off, Kyle Wellwood is sitting around, and Mats Sundin is sitting out, Trevor Linden’s career provides a refreshing character model: unquestioned professionalism, a warrior’s work ethic, and an unwaivering team-first vision.
