For a certain generation of fans, Trevor Linden will always be synonymous with what it means to be a Vancouver Canuck. For nearly two decades, Linden entertained fans with his signature style of hard-nosed two-way play, perhaps best exemplified by his infamous hit that sent Jeff Norton through the glass during a game against the St. Louis Blues in the 1995 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Linden arrived in Vancouver as one of the most highly-touted prospects in team history at the time. Drafted second overall out of the WHL, Linden won back-to-back Memorial Cups with the Medicine Hat Tigers in 1987 and 1988.

Linden quickly became a leader on the team and was named team captain for the 1990-91 season at the age of 21, making him the youngest captain in franchise history.

He led the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994, where he cemented himself as the team’s all-time greatest playoff performer. Linden finished second on the team in playoff scoring behind only Pavel Bure and scored both goals in a 3-2 Game 7 loss despite suffering a broken rib in Game 3.

Linden would have several more productive seasons with the Canucks, including a career-high 80-point campaign in 1995-96, but was traded to the New York Islanders in 1998 due to a falling out with new Canucks GM and bench boss, Mike Keenan. The move was widely panned at the time, but would ironically turn out to be one of the greatest deals in franchise history. In return, the Canucks received power forward Todd Bertuzzi, legendary pest Jarkko Ruutu, and defenceman Bryan McCabe. McCabe was later included in a series of transactions that led to the Canucks selecting Daniel and Henrik Sedin, second and third overall, respectively, at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

The fact that Linden would end up returning via trade in 2002 after a brief sojourn in Montreal and Washington during the club’s lean years in the late ‘90s helped to take the sting off of losing him in the first place. He would continue his playoff heroics for the remainder of his time in Vancouver, including an unexpected team-leading performance in the 2006-07 playoffs in which he scored two game-winners in the first round.

Linden retired on June 11, 2008, twenty years to the day that he was first drafted by the Canucks. He retired as the franchise leader in playoff points and games played, records which he maintains to this day.

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko
#38 – Geoff Courtnall
#37 – Dennis Ververgaert
#36 – Petri Skriko
#35 – Dan Hamhuis
#34 – Doug Lidster
#33 – Patrik Sundstrom
#32 – Brendan Morrison
#31 – Richard Brodeur
#30 – Sami Salo
#29 – André Boudrais
#28 – Kevin Bieksa
#27 – Don Lever
#26 – Bo Horvat
#25 – Brock Boeser
#24 – Dennis Kearns
#23 – Ed Jovanovski
#22 – Greg Adams
#21 – Cliff Ronning
#20 – JT Miller
#19 – Tony Tanti
#18 – Jyrki Lumme
#17 – Elias Pettersson
#16 – Alex Burrows
#15 – Alexander Mogilny
#14 – Mattias Ohlund
#13 – Thomas Gradin
#12 – Stan Smyl
#11 – Alex Edler
#10 – Todd Bertuzzi
#9 – Kirk McLean
#8 – Ryan Kesler
#7 – Markus Naslund

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