My Trevor Linden Article

Everyone knows that Linden as a two way, power forward but many don't know as how much he meant to the organization to the Vancouver Canucks. He never won a cup with the Vancouver Canucks but he won the hearts of many canucks fans with his amazing community work outside of hockey. As many of us hockey fans do know is that many players don't have a formal education beyond their high school years like Linden but he is one of the most articulate and thoughtful players in the NHL. He has demonstrated on his amazing leadership skills for these amazing 19 years.

Linden has been recognized as a respected leader on and off the ice. At 21 years of age, he was named captain of the Canucks at the age of 21, making him one of the youngest captains in league history. In 1998 he was elected President of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), a position he held for eight years. As President, he played an instrumental role in the 2004-05 NHL lockout, including taking a direct role in negotiations with league owners. But now his amazing leadership skills will be used somewhere else. I don't know particularly where he'll use them but someone will see Linden the way we did during the 19 years of his career.

Linden was the face of the franchise - and its heart and conscience - for most of the last two decades. There will be better players, but possibly not a better person. And no athlete here will be able to match the enduring strength and personal nature of Linden's bond to this city and its fans, which is why his retirement announcement today will be as poignant as it is expected. Twenty years to the day after he was drafted second over-all, Linden is leaving the National Hockey League at age 38. There will not be another like him, at least for the Canucks.

And yet, it's his contributions off the ice that may be of greater significance: his devotion to Canuck Place - the children's hospice that is former owner Arthur Griffiths' greatest legacy - and other charities and his genuine embrace of his adopted hometown. Linden hardly fits the greedy athlete profile. In 2003 he received the Order of British Columbia for his humanitarian work in Vancouver. He's a frequent visitor to the Vancouver's Ronald McDonald House, B.C.'s Children's hospital and Canuck Place, a hospice for terminally ill children. Off the ice, Linden has taken an active role in charities, and was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership on the ice and humanitarian contributions off the ice in1997 s well as the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2008.

Now on after 19 seasons in the NHL, Linden will announce his retirement at a news conference in Vancouver on June 11, 2008. After he retires, Linden is expected to take a break from the game that has dominated his life. As savvy in business as he was on the ice, Linden helped develop a real-estate project last year in West Point Grey and is working on another one now in Victoria. Regardless of what he does for a living, it's hard to imagine Linden quitting his community.

16 - Years as a Canuck
19-Years in the NHL
861 - Career Points