Trevor Linden speaks on Canucks captaincy and life after hockey

[Canuck You]

 

Quote

 

TrevorLinden.com

 

After a 20-year pro hockey career and four years serving as the Vancouver Canucks’ president of hockey operations, Trevor Linden is happy just being a family guy now.

 

Though he’s proud of his thriving business (Club16 Trevor Linden Fitness is opening its 17th facility in Chilliwack next month), the Canucks legend really starts beaming when he talks about his five-year-old son, Roman.

“It’s been awesome. I’ve been retired for 15 years now. It’s been five years since I left the club in the president’s role,” Linden explained in an interview with Daily Hive.

“I’m spending a lot of time on the business and the business has been solid through the pandemic. We’re really seeing people get back to the gym for their social and their mental health.”

“I’m loving being a dad. Roman’s going to be six this summer, and my wife and I, who are older parents if you will, we’re loving parenting and just watching him groStart the conversation

 

Have your say Leave a comment below and let us know what you think

Be the First to Comment Linden, 53, played 1,382 games during his NHL career, but he’s not forcing his love of the game onto his son.

“I actually honestly do not care if he plays hockey. I prefer him not to actually, but he can do what he wants. So I put him in learn-to-skate when he was three and four years old, and he liked that.”

 

Trevor’s wife Cristina and son Roman (@trevor_linden/Instagram)

But when he tried hockey?

“He didn’t love it. One of his comments was, ‘You know, Dad, I don’t like pups hockey. That coach is so bossy… Dad, I really don’t want to play pups hockey. I just want to ski and mountain bike and play baseball.’ I said, ‘Well that’s perfect for me.'”

 

“So I’m not sure where that goes. Things change daily and weekly, but he’s a pretty cool kid. It’s been fun to grow with him. I just want him to find his passion, whatever that is.”

Raising awareness for concussions from intimate partner violence

Linden recently lent his voice to the YWCA in an effort to raise awareness around the astonishing number of concussions women suffer each year from intimate partner violence in Canada.

In a video released this week, Linden is seen telling a story about an apparent concussion and the after-effects.

“I was hit in the side of the head,” Linden says in the video. “I remember being confused; my ears were ringing. It’s hard to talk about. I still experience pain, mood swings, the headaches are debilitating.”

 

It’s a story we’ve come to expect to hear from an ex-hockey player. Except Linden says he’s never suffered a concussion before.

Linden was instead telling the story of a woman who suffered a concussion from an intimate partner.

 

“I’m very interested in women’s equality and rights, and my wife and I talked a lot about it. We want our son to be aware. I think it’s an important message for his dad to be involved in that,” Linden said. “Obviously we see the incredibly tragic things happening in Iran or Afghanistan, and we think, ‘Oh, that’s over there.’ But then you realize that some of that is happening in our backyard. I just thought it was a really powerful cause, and meaningful.”

 

“The numbers are staggering… for every concussion in the National Hockey League, there’s 7,000 concussions across our country that women suffer at the hands of intimate partner violence. It’s a pretty powerful concept, and I was really proud to stand along [with the] YWCA, they do such amazing work with women and their families right across our country.”

Linden on the responsibility of being a captain in Vancouver

One hot topic for the Canucks this summer surrounds the team’s vacant captaincy and who will be next to wear the C.

Linden had a hand in drafting both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes before he left the organization in the summer of 2018. Most believe that one of those two players will be the next Canucks captain — something Linden did in Vancouver for seven years.

“We drafted Elias and Quinn, and I knew these guys when they were young, and certainly they’ve just matured into really great players and solid people… I think either would be a good choice. They’re competitive kids. But, having said that, it’s a lot of responsibility. They’ve got several years under their belts, so both of them are probably ready for it.”

 

While the former captain wasn’t prepared to make a recommendation for who should wear the C, he did offer insight into the challenge it poses.

 

“When I think about great captains, I think about Henrik. When I think about great leaders, I think about Daniel and Henrik. The challenge of being a captain in Vancouver? It’s a hockey-first town. You are on the spot every day after practice, after pre-game skate, certainly after games. There’s a heavy toll there and there’s a big responsibility.

“I loved how Daniel and Henrik handled themselves. Whether they had a great game or a bad game or they won or they lost, they were there to answer the bell and that’s tough. That’s hard. It’s a great market to play in, playing in Canada is the best. Fans are passionate, they care. The downside of that is, they care. And when they care, they get really happy when you win and really unhappy when you lose.

 

“But, as a player, you wouldn’t want it any other way. But I mean, there can be a burden there and you’ve got to understand what that looks like. These guys have gotten some experience in this market, but you’ve got to accept that and you can’t push back on it. I say the more you resist, it will persist. You gotta accept it and dig in, and be there through good times and bad.”

 

One of my fav Canucks ever, Thought I would share.

[Ghostsof1915]

So much for Roman being a Canuck. But do what you love kid. You've got two great parents.

 

Thanks Trev.

[Coconuts]

Nice to read about what he's been up to, he sounds happy and that's fantastic.

 

I particularly love the bits about Henrik and Daniel at the end, when he thinks about great captains he thinks about Henrik, those who shit on the job he did as captain can go shove their face into a cow patty, respectfully. 

[MeanSeanBean]

I was incredibly fortunate a number of years back to work with Trevor, and can confirm that he was an absolutely wonderful person. Made me really happy to meet my favorite hockey player and for them to be such an awesome human away from hockey. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

Never gets old ...

 

[kloubek]

Linden remains one of my fav Canucks of all time. Many have been more skilled, but few both combined a complete package, and were as a dedicated, heart and soul guy.

[grandmaster]

I’ll probably get flamed for this but I always thought of Linden as the most over rated player (based on all the fandom on this site).
 

I won’t dispute his charitable work, but on the ice, he was not a great as folks remember him to be. 
 

He just barely makes my top 10:

 

1) Bure

2) Hank

3) Dank

4) Lui

5) Nassy

6) Petey

7) Hughes 

8) Bert

9) Kesler

10) Linden

[Boudrias]

1 hour ago, grandmaster said:

I’ll probably get flamed for this but I always thought of Linden as the most over rated player (based on all the fandom on this site).
 

I won’t dispute his charitable work, but on the ice, he was not a great as folks remember him to be. 
 

He just barely makes my top 10:

 

1) Bure

2) Hank

3) Dank

4) Lui

5) Nassy

6) Petey

7) Hughes 

8) Bert

9) Kesler

10) Linden

You must be 16 or something? Watch the '94 Cup run in it's entirety. If you do you might change your opinion. In my books Linden is still hand down the best Canuck of all time. 

[grandmaster]

10 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

You must be 16 or something? Watch the '94 Cup run in it's entirety. If you do you might change your opinion. In my books Linden is still hand down the best Canuck of all time. 

No I’m almost 50 and yes I did watch that. I won’t dismiss some of his big games back then but my opinion still remains the same.

[Boudrias]

14 minutes ago, grandmaster said:

No I’m almost 50 and yes I did watch that. I won’t dismiss some of his big games back then but my opinion still remains the same.

Fair enough. To each his own. All great Canucks. 

[shiznak]

Linden is the heart and soul of this franchise. He might not be the most skilled or most exciting to ever lace it up for us, but he exemplifies what a Canuck is.

 

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, grandmaster said:

I’ll probably get flamed for this but I always thought of Linden as the most over rated player (based on all the fandom on this site).
 

I won’t dispute his charitable work, but on the ice, he was not a great as folks remember him to be. 
 

He just barely makes my top 10:

 

1) Bure

2) Hank

3) Dank

4) Lui

5) Nassy

6) Petey

7) Hughes 

8) Bert

9) Kesler

10) Linden

I’m not far off your thinking here. Trevor was a very good player. But he’s not better than the HHOF guys. And Kessler won a Selke and was a tremendous shutdown centre. 

[erkayloomeh]

19 minutes ago, Alflives said:

I’m not far off your thinking here. Trevor was a very good player. But he’s not better than the HHOF guys. And Kessler won a Selke and was a tremendous shutdown centre. 

The real leader of the 2011 Era Vancouver canucks. Ryan Kesler. 

[Canuck You]

31 minutes ago, Alflives said:

I’m not far off your thinking here. Trevor was a very good player. But he’s not better than the HHOF guys. And Kessler won a Selke and was a tremendous shutdown centre. 

Alfies drunk early in the morning, Can't even spell Kesler's name right!

[-DLC-]

2 hours ago, grandmaster said:

I’ll probably get flamed for this but I always thought of Linden as the most over rated player (based on all the fandom on this site).
 

I won’t dispute his charitable work, but on the ice, he was not a great as folks remember him to be. 
 

He just barely makes my top 10:

 

1) Bure

2) Hank

3) Dank

4) Lui

5) Nassy

6) Petey

7) Hughes 

8) Bert

9) Kesler

10) Linden

WTH's a "Nassy"?

 

"Nazzy"

 

Dissing Linden gets my hackles up. Don't even go there...reduce it to "charitable work". Right.

 

 

[-DLC-]

54 minutes ago, Alflives said:

I’m not far off your thinking here. Trevor was a very good player. But he’s not better than the HHOF guys. And Kessler won a Selke and was a tremendous shutdown centre. 

Yeah but you're a Leafs fan Alf so your opinion is questionable. 

[Ghostsof1915]

30 minutes ago, -DLC- said:

Yeah but you're a Leafs fan Alf so your opinion is questionable. 

I think the mods should change his name to AlfLeafs.

[Baratheon]

3 hours ago, grandmaster said:

I’ll probably get flamed for this but I always thought of Linden as the most over rated player (based on all the fandom on this site).
 

I won’t dispute his charitable work, but on the ice, he was not a great as folks remember him to be. 
 

He just barely makes my top 10:

 

1) Bure

2) Hank

3) Dank

4) Lui

5) Nassy

6) Petey

7) Hughes 

8) Bert

9) Kesler

10) Linden

“On the ice” Linden outproduced everyone on your list come playoff time.  Higher totals than any of them.  Although Bure Petey and Hughes have higher PPG (in the playoffs), Linden is on par with both Petey and Hughes if you look at the same ages.  Linden didn’t get his points in the bubble though.

 

Playoffs are where it matters most and Trev was every bit as good as people remember him.

[chon derry]

4 hours ago, grandmaster said:

I’ll probably get flamed for this but I always thought of Linden as the most over rated player (based on all the fandom on this site).
 

I won’t dispute his charitable work, but on the ice, he was not a great as folks remember him to be. 
 

He just barely makes my top 10:

 

1) Bure

2) Hank

3) Dank

4) Lui

5) Nassy

6) Petey

7) Hughes 

8) Bert

9) Kesler

10) Linden

Kirk McLean well before lui. 1 defense man from the most recent era? Lumme babych Hedican  Diduck And no tony tanti ? Or Thomas gradin. Your lack of opinion with the players in the era these players played in coupled with you saying your almost 50. Would have made you around 10 years old at the time, so the lack of opinion is understandable. The 94 series both teams were stacked. And arguably both were tougher teams than the 2011 series. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by chon derry

[grandmaster]

33 minutes ago, chon derry said:

Kirk McLean well before lui. 1 defense man from the most recent era? Lumme babych Hedican  Diduck And no tony tanti ? Or Thomas gradin. Your lack of opinion with the players in the era these players played in coupled with you saying your almost 50. Would have made you around 10 years old at the time, so the lack of opinion is understandable. The 94 series both teams were stacked. And arguably both were tougher teams than the 2011 series. 

Nope. Not sorry either. Lui was the greatest goalie we EVER had and earned every record he broke. 
 

Never saw Tanti or Gradin play. Before my time I became a Canucks fan (began in the early 90’s).

 

Sadly, imo, QH is the only defender I recognize in the top 10.