Trevor Linden on After-Hours
By J.D. Burke
8 years agoWith Vancouver playing host to the Edmonton Oilers in the prime time spot on Hockey Night in Canada, there was sure to be a great show on the After Hours segment. At the very least, it was likely to be relevant to our beloved Canucks.
The CBC didn’t disappoint (rare), hosting Trevor Linden for a lengthy interview by Cassie Campbell-Pascall. Vancouver’s figurehead was questioned at length, about the state of the Canucks, their future and his relationship with Pat Quinn. It was hardly Howard Stern, but there are a few worthwhile nuggets to glean all the same.
Before we delve in depth, here’s a set of tweets which capture the interview in it’s entirety.
The questions weren’t overly challenging, but if you read between the lines there’s plenty to gather. Right off the hop the two get into the play of Jannik Hansen, lauding his ability to return from a nasty head first crash into the crossbar and score the overtime winner – his second goal of the evening.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the Concussion sequel about the NHL. That Hansen wasn’t sent to the quiet room is negligent at worst, asinine at best. Then again, this play came just minutes after Cam Talbot absorbed Adam Cracknell’s torso to his head and didn’t miss so much as a shift. Maybe this is something they could have, I don’t know, touched on?
Of course, what most Canucks fans are interested in is the long-term vision of this management group. In particular, what their plans are for pending UFA’s, Radim Vrbata and Dan Hamhuis. Campbell-Pascall touched upon this, bringing up comments made by Elliote Friedman during the intermission…
You know, I wanted to talk – the studio mentioned, I forget the intermission, whether it was the first or the second – about how important this seven game home stand is for you and Jim Benning, on making decisions. Because if you come out on top, maybe you keep guys like Vrbata or Hamhuis (whenever he’s able to come back). But, it is a big decision time here, isn’t it?
Trevor Linden had this to say…
18 months ago, when Jim and I took over, we recognized that we had some challenges and that they wouldn’t be fix in one season, or two seasons. We knew we had to get younger and deeper, replenish our prospect pool and we’ve done that consistently these last couple off-seasons. And we’re gonna continue to look at that and evaluate that as we go. So, we’re right in the thick of things right now and our group is playing hard.
Given the franchises stated goal of competing for a playoff spot, one couldn’t reasonably expect them to come right out and say “yeah, we’re selling the farm”. Still, it’s a little disconcerting that Linden didn’t even touch on the possibility of a trade for either of his expiring contracts.
The two went on to discuss Pat Quinn’s legacy at length, describing the way in which he touched so many lives and revitalized the Canucks franchise in the early 90’s.
Quinn was hired by the Canucks before I was born, so I can’t speak (based on my own experience) to the quality of person, or manager he was during his time in Vancouver. From everything I’ve heard though, he was a swell fella.
Linden went on to add that his fingerprints are still on this franchise, thirty years after originally joining. Now that’s some kind of special.
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