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(Discussion)Trevor Linden bringing some luck of PQ to the draft lottery!

jono2009

By jono2009
in Canucks Talk

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jono2009 Abbotsford Star

jono2009

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We got this Draft! #1 pick here we come. Trev bringing some good luck from Pat Quinn to help our chances. A great article!

 

http://www.theprovince.com/luck+irish+canucks+linden+take+quinn+hockey+card+draft+lottery+saturday/11883512/story.html

 

'Luck of the Irish'? Canucks' Linden to take Quinn's old hockey card to NHL draft lottery Saturday

 

 

 
BY ED WILLES, THE PROVINCE APRIL 28, 2016 11:32 AM
 
 
 
 
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'Luck of the Irish'? Canucks' Linden to take Quinn's old hockey card to NHL draft lottery Saturday
 

Trevor Linden has had a close connection with Pat Quinn since the late Canucks general manager drafted the Medicine Hat kid second overall in 1988. On Saturday, Linden will be holding Quinn's 1970-71 Canucks player card when the NHL holds its draft lottery.

Photograph by: Jonathan Hayward , CP files

Kalli Quinn says she was surprised when she first heard the request but, the more she thought about it, the more she thought, yes, this is perfect.

She knew how her father, Pat Quinn, felt about Trevor Linden, and she knew how Trevor Linden felt about her father. She remembered back in June of '88 when Quinn, who was just starting his second year as the Canucks' general manager, stepped up to the podium at the Forum in Montreal and announced the Canucks were pleased to select Linden — "a proud Westerner" — with their first-round draft pick. And she remembered how that day changed so many things for the Canucks, her dad and Linden.

So when Linden, now the Canucks' president, called recently and asked Quinn's daughter for something to take to the NHL draft lottery in Toronto, she rummaged around her memory drawer and came up with the perfect memento. On Saturday, when a large part of the Canucks' future is being determined by the whims of the ping-pong balls, Linden will be carrying the 1970-71 playing card of Pat Quinn in a Canucks uniform.

"I thought I'd call on the luck of the Irish, but I'm not Irish," Linden cracks. "I'm just hoping to steal a bit of it."

But there's more to all of this than a one-liner.

"He drafted me," Linden continues. "He was a mentor for me throughout my life and hockey career. The impact and the culture Pat created is very much a part of this team. His fingerprints are still all over this franchise."

"I get goosebumps when I think about it," Kalli Quinn says from her home in Prince George. "Dad was very fond of Trevor, and Trevor really grew up under him. We always knew (Linden) would be successful, but to see where he is now, I'm so proud of that.

"My dad always had a great respect for Trevor — his work ethic, his values — even when he was 18. I think Trevor had a lot of the same qualities my dad had."

That's, at least, where it started. But it doesn't end there.

The cosmic forces at play in this story are enough to shake deep space. Quinn was 45 when he drafted Linden in 1988. Linden will be 46 when the Canucks make their pick in Buffalo in late June. Linden was a franchise-changing pick for the Canucks. This year, Linden hopes to make a franchise-changing pick for Quinn's team.

As for the talisman Linden will carry to Toronto, that came from the year the Canucks lost the first overall pick and Hall of Fame centre Gilbert Perreault on the spin of a wheel.

You might say karma owes the Canucks one.

There's also something irresistible about the idea of Quinn, who passed away in November 2014, reaching down and helping the Canucks one more time. But whether the Canucks draft first or sixth, this story is about something different. It's about the connective tissue which runs from Quinn to Linden. It's about the man who shaped the franchise and the man who's been entrusted with its future. It's also about their shared history and their shared beliefs.

And it all started 28 years ago.

By the time the '88 draft rolled around, it was a given that the Minnesota North Stars would take Mike Modano with the first pick and the Canucks would follow with Linden. The kid from Medicine Hat, in fact, visited Vancouver before the draft, where he was picked up at the airport by Jack McIlhargey and whisked to the Quinn domicile.

Kalli, as it happened, was home from the University of Georgia, where she was a competitive swimmer and training for the Canadian Olympic team. After some hockey talk, her dad suggested she show Linden around Vancouver.

"I can still clearly see that in my mind," she says. "I love thinking of that."

Linden was asked if he remembers that grand tour.

"Of course," he says. "How could I forget? It was the first time I saw the city."

Anything else stand out?

"I remember going to the equipment room (at the Coliseum) and meeting (Canucks assistant equipment manager) Ed Georgica and Troy Gamble and Rob Murphy," Linden says. "They had all this new gear and I thought, 'Wow, this is the NHL.'

"That's all it took to impress me back then."

A little over two years ago, Linden was given the keys to the Canucks and it was his intention to create a special advisory role for Quinn, who'd been estranged from the organization. Sadly, it never happened, but shortly after Linden took over the big office, Kalli asked her father about the challenges facing the new president.

"He said it will be hard but Trevor can get through anything," she says. "He was excited to see where Trevor would take the team."

On Saturday, Linden could take the team to some place new and exciting. And the old man, his friend, will be right beside him.

ewilles@postmedia.com

twitter.com/willesonsports

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Patchoball Cannons Abbotsford Star

Patchoball Cannons

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13 minutes ago, jono2009 said:

We got this Draft! #1 pick here we come. Trev bringing some good luck from Pat Quinn to help our chances. A great article!

 

http://www.theprovince.com/luck+irish+canucks+linden+take+quinn+hockey+card+draft+lottery+saturday/11883512/story.html

 

'Luck of the Irish'? Canucks' Linden to take Quinn's old hockey card to NHL draft lottery Saturday

 

 

 
BY ED WILLES, THE PROVINCE APRIL 28, 2016 11:32 AM
 
 
 
 
0
 
 
 
 

Love it! The only problem I see is that we'll end up with the 2nd pick, since that's where Quinn took Linden! Oh well Laine is not a bad consolation prize to Matthews, and may very well end up being the better player.

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Roger Neilsons Towel Canucks Star

Roger Neilsons Towel

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22 minutes ago, jono2009 said:

We got this Draft! #1 pick here we come. Trev bringing some good luck from Pat Quinn to help our chances. A great article!

 

http://www.theprovince.com/luck+irish+canucks+linden+take+quinn+hockey+card+draft+lottery+saturday/11883512/story.html

 

Thank you very much for posting this. A fantastic article. Brought a tear to my eye. I've always had so much respect for Pat Quinn and also Trevor Linden. I love how Linden hasn't forgotten Pat and where he came from. I feel better about this draft already.

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Positive Canuck Canucks Prospect

Positive Canuck

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At some point this franchise needs to get a break, please Hockey Gods, grant us A.Mathews.

 

If we can hold at #3 and not drop ill consider that a win, any of the top 3 will be huge and a bonafide Sedin calibre replacement for us. Dubois or Tkachuk i wouldn't mind either. Nylander meh ,

 

My gut says it feels like we pick 4-5 and Dubois will be our guy.

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Nuck1991 Abbotsford Star

Nuck1991

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16 minutes ago, Patchoball Cannons said:

Love it! The only problem I see is that we'll end up with the 2nd pick, since that's where Quinn took Linden! Oh well Laine is not a bad consolation prize to Matthews, and may very well end up being the better player.

laine>> matthews. drafting him 2nd overall would be a dream come true for many.

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Inge34 Abbotsford Prospect

Inge34

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6 minutes ago, Nuck1991 said:

laine>> matthews. drafting him 2nd overall would be a dream come true for many.

I'm with you. I think the Finns are a tougher more feisty breed of hockey player than the Americans, anyways. I am hoping for Laine even with the #1. 6'4" 210lbs, great skater, wicked shot, play making abilities, cocky, scouts are reminded of Selanne!!!! Did I mention 6'4" and still growing. Shut the front door!!!!! I think we get a later pick and take Dubois but I'm toes and fingers crossed that we get Laine.

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