Trevor Linden

[Attila Umbrus]

39 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

I'll use this thread to say thank you to Trevor Linden.

 

Will always be a legend. He did so much for the city and the hearts and minds of Canucks fans everywhere.

 

Hope his life is fulfilling.

Very Zen of you 

 

Fully agree. Trevor tried to make an imprint on this team and was denied. Why would he come back when it’s still the same owner with the same views he disagreed on back then.

[Me_]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:39 AM, Slegr said:

I used to have the most respect for Trevor Linden. He was untouchable to me, and perhaps the greatest Canuck of all time. 

But the fallout from his Presidency position and his wiping his hands of anything to do with the Canucks now has given me different feelings about him.

It feels like even Pavel Bure is more willing to talk Canucks these days. 

I get that there was a fallout between Linden and ownership. but to me, while Linden may think he's being admirable by keeping his mouth shut on it all and simply walking away, it doesn't come across as the leader who many folks believe he is. The Canucks team transcends any ownership. Aquaman said it himself the other night, referring to himself as a steward rather than owner of the team. 

Linden should get over himself and be willing to still be a part of the big moments with this organization. Stan Smyl is here. The Sedins are here. Can it really be such a bad place with them here? Others such as Naslund don't shy away from the opportunity to speak about the Canucks players or the organization. 

Quite frankly, the more Linden keeps himself hidden from it all, the less respect I have for him as a true leader.

Linden is a babyman. Always has been. He was exposed when Messier came into town and he walked all over him. Like him or hate him, Messier is one of the most winning athletes in the sport. Linden couldn’t hold his ground. Then he had a thing against Bure; one of the most dynamic Canucks all time. And then clashed with management on the management of the team.

 

Linden is better on the sidelines.

[kloubek]

4 hours ago, Me_ said:

Linden is a babyman. Always has been. He was exposed when Messier came into town and he walked all over him. Like him or hate him, Messier is one of the most winning athletes in the sport. Linden couldn’t hold his ground.* Then he had a thing against Bure** And then clashed with management on the management of the team.***

For the first asterisk (*), is this really on Linden? Whether forced or not, he gave Messier his "C", and was part of the "old" team which was pretty much blown apart by Messier (who by all accounts had huge influence as to how the team was going to be going forward) as well as his joined-at-the-hip coach, Iron Mike. I don't know about you, but if my lead and my company owner wanted to get rid of me, I'm not sure there's a ton I can do about it....

 

For the second (**), I was not aware of any feud between the two prior to the jersey retirement debacle. And for that, the public were told that Linden had a business meeting already scheduled before the announcement was made. That might be made up damage control, but I'm not sure if you or I are privy to the true details enough to form educated opinions.

 

For the third (***), I already explained in an earlier post that it shouldn't really be held against him. It isn't like (according to reports at least) that he just had a hissy fit and up and quit. Yes there was a disagreement, though in retrospect it appears that Linden might have been the one who ended up being right. If he felt strongly about the direction this team needed to go in, and that direction was not shared by the rest of management and ownership, again, I don't think there's a lot he could have done.

 

I feel it's a terrible shame that his name is being dragged through the mud on here without people really knowing the facts. I feel what he gave to this team is enough for us to give him the benefit of the doubt so long as we aren't faced with concrete evidence that he acted with anything but professionalism.

[shiznak]

On 12/7/2021 at 9:57 AM, Slegr said:

Lots of defenders of Linden’s attitude on here, which is fine, but for me, it’s a bit classless. He needs to put his squabble with management aside. He is not an ordinary citizen. He is supposedly one of the Canucks greatest leaders. That inherently comes with some responsibilities, or at least it would for genuine leaders who still live in the community. For instance, when Pavel Bure is celebrated in Vancouver a few years ago, he skips out because of “work”. When the Canucks were in the playoff run in the bubble , plenty of former Canucks weighed in, but not him. He is watering down his own legacy by letting his feud with management override some basic acts that a former captain and teammate should be performing. It’s not classy, and sure he can hide away and be an average Joe for the rest of his years, but at the risk of how people will start seeing him as such.

You do realize that the only member from his playing days here that attended his jersey retirement was Gino, right? 
 

Why do people rag on Linden for missing Bure’s jersey retirement, but ignore that Bure also never attended Linden’ jersey retirement? 

[BlackRedYellow]

Anyone stating that we could have won game seven in 94, if Linden didn´t play (due to the injury) has never watched the game itself. 
 

He was our best player in that game, not only for scoring the two goals, but for carrying the team with his heart and soul! A true captain through and through!

 

PS the game is probably still available on YouTube, so just go watch it instead of racking up a ridiculous claim that we would be better of without him!
 

 

[Gurn]

On 12/7/2021 at 9:50 AM, Primal Optimist said:

he may have cost us a cup by playing so hurt,

Congrats; I've been here 11 years and this bit you typed is the strangest thing I've seen posted.

 

[Primal Optimist]

1 minute ago, gurn said:

Congrats; I've been here 11 years and this bit you typed is the strangest thing I've seen posted.

 

winning! lol...I totally admit I am in a major minority with my opinion. Never was a Linden fan and I often wonder if a healthy 20 guys were on the bench that day: what could have been. And yeah i know...he scored the goals..I am not saying the exact game with a different player being LInden, I am saying a totally different game would have occurred. Shrug. Is what it is. Happy to at least win the swirly award, lol

[Primal Optimist]

15 minutes ago, BlackRedYellow said:

Anyone stating that we could have won game seven in 94, if Linden didn´t play (due to the injury) has never watched the game itself. 
 

He was our best player in that game, not only for scoring the two goals, but for carrying the team with his heart and soul! A true captain through and through!

 

PS the game is probably still available on YouTube, so just go watch it instead of racking up a ridiculous claim that we would be better of without him!
 

 

your right 330, I couldn't possibly have seen the game the day it was played

sincerely

12300

[4petesake]

11 minutes ago, Primal Optimist said:

winning! lol...I totally admit I am in a major minority with my opinion. Never was a Linden fan and I often wonder if a healthy 20 guys were on the bench that day: what could have been. And yeah i know...he scored the goals..I am not saying the exact game with a different player being LInden, I am saying a totally different game would have occurred. Shrug. Is what it is. Happy to at least win the swirly award, lol

Suppose for a minute that TL didn’t play game 7 (or score a short-handed goal in the 2nd period) out of curiosity who would you have dresssed? As far as I can see these are your choices on RW & C:

- Dane Jackson

- Dan Kesa

- Neil Eisenhut

 

[BlackRedYellow]

22 hours ago, Primal Optimist said:

your right 330, I couldn't possibly have seen the game the day it was played

sincerely

12300

Perhaps you should before forming an opinion!?

 

[Primal Optimist]

I really don't give a rat guys. It is an opinion, we all have them, read and move on. lol. Sorry but it is ridiculous to argue about something that happened one day in a sports teams history a generation ago. I am free to not like Linden, you are free to honour him and love what he did for the team. I regret adding content to this thread. The thing about that is i am less likely to add content to future threads now, and the whole board loses. If you want an echo chamber of agreement, try chatting with your mom. 

[alt kilgore]

1 hour ago, Primal Optimist said:

I really don't give a rat guys. It is an opinion, we all have them, read and move on. lol. Sorry but it is ridiculous to argue about something that happened one day in a sports teams history a generation ago. I am free to not like Linden, you are free to honour him and love what he did for the team. I regret adding content to this thread. The thing about that is i am less likely to add content to future threads now, and the whole board loses. If you want an echo chamber of agreement, try chatting with your mom. 

 

Oh well. We'll try to carry on.

 

First off, what Linden did or didn't do in game seven in '94, (which for me he was an important and irreplaceable piece)  has nothing do with his work around the team after he retired.  ie....you don't judge how well Boudreau does as a coach based on his success during his up and down NHL career.  Focus.

 

My take is that ultimately Linden can do what Linden wants to do.  As someone said upthread, He'd probably be much better suited now as POHO than when he was appointed which with hindsight, was most likely more a PR move to get fans back paying money for seats.  A position he soon learned had no teeth.  In real life, behind the scenes, it was still a huddle with Benning, Weisbrod and Aquilini with each one scrambling over the other one on just how much shorter of a time frame the Canucks could be contending for the Cup.  Linden dared to speak up to them, add some realism, and they didn't appreciate him bursting the bubble they had created and lived in.

 

As long as Aquilinis are the owners, and if they haven't ever reached back out to him, then he has....sad though it is....no reason, or avenue even, to seek to re-enter the organization. We have to accept that. No matter how hard that is to do.

 

What I am reading between the lines is that yes.....it sucks that Linden is not a part of the team anymore.  What does the OP suggest he do to "still be a part of the big moments with this organization"?   The only thing possible is to speak out from a position outside of the organization in a critical way to the local news or sports media. To start a war of words, a huge scandal in the local media, who would be absolutely thrilled with that, but it wouldn't do much for the team itself. In fact the distraction would be the last thing this team needs now.

 

My ideal world would be that Trevor and Francesco do mend that bridge some day, and he regains a place within the organization again.  Never say never. Did I fantasize about Linden kicking the door down a few seasons ago already, and busting in, with "enough is enough!"?  Make a splash in the local media, and embarrass the $%&@ out the Aquilini's and JB?  Dam rights. But now we are well past that, especially now that we are past the JB era.  Too late for that. We have a deep strong leadership in our management now, and I think, if Trevor really does care about how this franchise does going forward, which I have no doubt he does, he will quietly be pleased with the latest moves, whether he gets to swoop in and be a direct part of it or not.

 

 

[Primal Optimist]

26 minutes ago, kilgore said:

 

Oh well. We'll try to carry on.

I understand what your rolling your eyes about. I didn't mean my content was awesome: i meant that just shouting down opinions that are not your own only leads to folks leaving or posting less in general, and we miss out on perspectives from a great many folks who may not like the shield wall warfare version of discussing our favorite team. Not everyone enjoys the 'lawyered up chat' adversarial approach to discussions. I meant this, but i said that dumb short thing instead. Anyways, enjoy your day everyone. 

[alt kilgore]

48 minutes ago, Primal Optimist said:

I understand what your rolling your eyes about. I didn't mean my content was awesome: i meant that just shouting down opinions that are not your own only leads to folks leaving or posting less in general, and we miss out on perspectives from a great many folks who may not like the shield wall warfare version of discussing our favorite team. Not everyone enjoys the 'lawyered up chat' adversarial approach to discussions. I meant this, but i said that dumb short thing instead. Anyways, enjoy your day everyone. 

 

Hey, I get it, believe me.  My anti-Benning ruminations were not taken very well in here a couple of seasons ago, when I and few others, first raised them.  Sorry about the eye roll. I actually love hearing opinions that are against the grain. There is usually a seed of truth in those ones at the very least.  Keep posting! Like I can find some very understandable reasons Trevor isn't here, on the front lines, as I put down in my post above.  But then again I understand the frustration....why hasn't he fought harder to get back to having some kind of voice? Why the utter silence? Makes one tempted to think things like...maybe he is not tough enough to enter the circus again, or worse, doesn't care enough. Maybe its him that's holding the grudge. etc etc..... But those are just speculations as much as the opposite.  That he'd love to get back in, but the Aquilinis don't want him or willing to lose face by re-hiring him.  Who knows?

 

Bottom line is its not his decision when it comes down to it. And frankly, to maybe support your leeriness to some degree, I don't really want Linden as POHO.  It was a ceremonial appointment in the first place. He was never qualified.  His appointment was another indication that this ownership was never interested (until now hopefully) of actually running this team in a professional and realistic manner.  Linden was on the right track about rebuilding more deeply, but didn't have the chutzpah which comes from experience in managing an NHL franchise, to be heard.  But I'd like to see him back in the fold in some role eventually.  So much bad blood stirred up here through the decades. Be nice to repair one or two of them.

 

 

[Ballisticsports.]

7 hours ago, kilgore said:

 

 

My ideal world would be that Trevor and Francesco do mend that bridge some day, and he regains a place within the organization again.  Never say never. Did I fantasize about Linden kicking the door down a few seasons ago already, and busting in, with "enough is enough!"?  Make a splash in the local media, and embarrass the $%&@ out the Aquilini's and JB?  Dam rights. But now we are well past that, especially now that we are past the JB era.  Too late for that. We have a deep strong leadership in our management now, and I think, if Trevor really does care about how this franchise does going forward, which I have no doubt he does, he will quietly be pleased with the latest moves, whether he gets to swoop in and be a direct part of it or not.

 

 

Lol that was quite the fantasy  (Trevor as Rambo)

No way Trevor would do that, anymore than Aqua would do that to Trevor's business

 

Maybe have a Former Canuck Captain Appreciation night, where  the emcee,  for drama omits Trevor's name, then Aqua steps up and warmly introduces him

Get more good vibes happening

Edited December 13, 2021 by ba;;isticsports

[Dazzle]

Unpopular opinion, maybe Linden didn't fit well in here, in more ways than just his 'beef' with Aquilini. He was as new as the Sedins. The only difference is that the Sedins were just simply advisors and were learning on the job. I think Linden was simply not suited as President on his first go.

[Patel Bure]

On 12/7/2021 at 7:39 AM, Slegr said:

I used to have the most respect for Trevor Linden. He was untouchable to me, and perhaps the greatest Canuck of all time. 

But the fallout from his Presidency position and his wiping his hands of anything to do with the Canucks now has given me different feelings about him.

It feels like even Pavel Bure is more willing to talk Canucks these days. 

I get that there was a fallout between Linden and ownership. but to me, while Linden may think he's being admirable by keeping his mouth shut on it all and simply walking away, it doesn't come across as the leader who many folks believe he is. The Canucks team transcends any ownership. Aquaman said it himself the other night, referring to himself as a steward rather than owner of the team. 

Linden should get over himself and be willing to still be a part of the big moments with this organization. Stan Smyl is here. The Sedins are here. Can it really be such a bad place with them here? Others such as Naslund don't shy away from the opportunity to speak about the Canucks players or the organization. 

Quite frankly, the more Linden keeps himself hidden from it all, the less respect I have for him as a true leader.

I still respect Linden but I do admit that I lost a bit of respect for him during the 1996 playoffs when Claude Lemieux was rag dolling him while taking opportunities to fart on his head.

[Primal Optimist]

9 hours ago, BlackRedYellow said:

Perhaps you should before forming an opinion!?

 

that was just sarcasm, sorry I was being snarky. I have seem almost every game since 1978..easily 75% of them and very much literally EVERY playoff game. I just never liked and continue to dislike TL

[MaxVerstappen33]

On 12/10/2021 at 8:54 AM, Me_ said:

Linden is a babyman. Always has been. He was exposed when Messier came into town and he walked all over him. Like him or hate him, Messier is one of the most winning athletes in the sport. Linden couldn’t hold his ground. Then he had a thing against Bure; one of the most dynamic Canucks all time. And then clashed with management on the management of the team.

 

Linden is better on the sidelines.

Messeir was a cocaine snorting giga douche when he came here. What exactly was Linden supposed to do ? I think he played it right. He sat by and let Messier and his act burn itself out. And it did.

 

Linden was fired by the guy he hired. Benning undermined him so he could be the dictator. And Aqualini was fine with this.