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Best Captain in Canucks History


thejazz97

  

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Maniwaki;

So last night the greatest Captain in Canuck history was sitting high above the ice continuing his role along with GM Jim Benning, another Canuck alumni. Smyl was likely somewhere around there as well. Sorry but I have never had the same confidence in Naslund or Henrik.

Yeah, that's fine and I pretty much agree. The only thing about Naslund's captaincy is that the team turned a corner early on and became an almost-contender for a few years. And then it proceeded to underachieve, which I'm guessing is your point. But I am grateful to Naslund for delivering us from the Messier era, just like I was grateful to Boudrias and Lever for turning us into a lower-rung playoff team. We have had some pretty terrible stretches in our franchise's history, as I'm sure you're aware. Breaking out of that losing culture isn't easily done.

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1. Linden

2. Naslund

3. Sedin

1. The way I view it, I think we were no different from a team like Arizona, Atlanta (formerly), and Florida's of the NHL. These teams aren't respected very much and always a subject to relocation.

Linden got the team on the map, and solidified it's place in the NHL. We wouldn't have to worry about relocation and etc. The team established itself as a legitimate NHL team that is here to stay with good fan base.

2. All the work of the late 80's and early 90's were cancelled out by Messier and Keenan. Then, the talk of relocation resurfaced because the fans turned on the team and the McCaw's were losing money. In comes Naslund. We stopped the Avalanche's reign as the Northwest division champs, a streak that went on for 10 years. The team became a legitimate playoff team and on its way to becoming a contender, at least we became a top 8 team in the NHL. However, subpar goaltending meant that the team never reached past the 2nd round. Then, came the Bertuzzi incident, which basically ended Naslund's time here.

3. However, the work of Naslund and company weren't lost. Sedins developed without much pressure of having to produce right away thanks to Naslund and Bertuzzi. And Bertuzzi turned into Luongo (who also was a captain by the way) solving the goaltending problems.

Henrik led the team to two consecutive President's trophies and got the team to the Stanley cup final for the third time in the history of the franchise and first time as a favourite. We became one of the top 4 teams in the NHL, a legitimate contender.

I feel like sucking like we used to in the late 90's is no longer possible with the mentality that is instilled on the new and incoming players led by the Sedins. Just like I can't imagine Detroit finishing bottom 3 in the NHL, I just don't see ourselves doing that bad barring another Keenan-Messier type regime.

In summary, Linden, Naslund, and Sedin all did their part to get the team to where it is now. It is not just one man, say Linden, or Naslund, or Sedin. But Linden's contribution is probably the greatest. He not only served its team as a great captain but he got us Bertuzzi and a Sedin. Naslund salvaged what Linden achieved (nearly destroyed by Keenan and Messier) and upgraded the team's level of play. Sedin then got the team to be an elite team.

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