Cup titles, as well as leading Team
Canada to World Junior Championship
gold. In his rookie season in Vancouver,
he recorded 59 points and finished
second to Brian Leetch for the Calder
Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.
Linden was appointed captain of the
team in only his third NHL season, at
20 years old, making him the youngest
captain in team history.

While Linden never became a super-
scorer, he enjoyed consistent offensive
campaigns and was revered throughout
the city for his remarkable leadership
qualities, his excellent face-off skill,
his tendency to throw bone-crushing
bodychecks, and his dedication to
defense, being one of the team’s top
penalty killers. Linden was also reliable
offensively, scoring 30-plus goals in six
of his first eight seasons and hitting at
least 70 points four times.

Linden was money in the playoffs,
collecting 80 points in 79 career playoff
games with Vancouver in his first time
with the team. However, the real reason
that Trevor Linden is far and away the
most popular player in team history lies
in his commitment to the community
and charity endeavors. In 1997, Linden
won the NHL’s King Clancy Award as
the league’s top humanitarian.

Linden’s best offensive season came
in 1995-96, when he had a career best
80 points, with 33 goals. Linden is
also famous for leading Vancouver to
the 1994 Stanley Cup finals, where he
cemented his reputation as the team’s
heart and soul. He posted 25 points in
24 games, including two goals in the
final game seven against New York.

Linden was traded to the New York
Islanders after clashing with hockey’s
prince of darkness Mike Keenan,
in a deal that was heartbreaking but
beneficial deal for Vancouver. The
Canuck’s obtained Todd Bertuzzi and

 

Bryan McCabe, Bertuzzi being traded
before last season for Roberto Luongo.
Linden became captain on Long Island,
but was soon traded to Montreal, where
he spent two seasons before being
swapped to the Washington Capitals,
before being reacquired by his beloved
Canucks.

Linden is in what will most likely
be his final NHL season, hoping to win
his first Stanley Cup. Cup or no cup,
as soon as he decides to hang up the
blades, Linden’s number 16 will be
adorned from the rafters at GM Place.

   

#1 Pavel Bure

The best player in the Vancouver
Canucks’ history is Pavel Bure, a
breathtaking talent from Moscow,
Russia, who was selected in one

of the most controversial drafts in
NHL history, 1989, the year the Iron
Curtian fell and previously untouched
Europeans from Eastern Bloc countries
made their way over to the NHL. But
then again, nearly everything about

dagger departure from the Russian
national team in the middle of the
night, and the ensuing legal battle over
whether or not he would have to return
to Russia or be permitted to play for
Vancouver.

Nicknamed the Russian Rocket
for his amazing speed and spectacular
moves, Bure was electrifying. He
played seven seasons for Vancouver
before a sour ending ruined his tenure
with the team and he was traded to
Florida in one of the biggest blockbuster
deals in team history. At 5’10, 180
pounds, Bure wasn’t big, but he was
one of the most explosive players in not
only team, but hockey history. He sits
fourth in team goal scoring with 254
goals as a Canuck, and would have had
many more had injuries not derailed his
career. Devastating knee injuries forced
him into premature retirement, but in
his time with Vancouver, he was truly
amazing.

Bure won the Calder Trophy as the
NHL’s top rookie in 1991-92, finishing
that year with 34 goals and 26 assists
to become the first Canuck to win a
major award. The next two seasons he
was even better, setting team records
for goals with 60 in each season and
shattering the team single season
points record by recording 110 and 107
respectively. Those records still stand.
Bure became the first ever Canuck to
eclipse the 50 goal mark. He was no
slouch defensively either, putting up a
plus-35 rating in his sophomore season.
These totals earned him a starter’s
position at that year’s NHL all-star

game.

Bure became a Vancouver legend
during the 1994 playoffs. In 24 games,
he had 16 goals and 31 points at just 23
years old, helping the Canucks to Game
7 of the Cup finals against the New
York Rangers. The most famous goal

of his career, and in Canuck’s history,
was the breakaway, overtime winner
in Game seven against the Calgary
Flames.

After that magical postseason run
though, things would never be the
same. The labor stoppage next season,
along with the beginning of several
serious injuries would hamper Bure’s
explosive game. Serious communication
breakdowns and mud-slinging through
the media on both sides would seal his
fate with the team.

An intensely private individual,
Bure played for Russia in the
Olympics with his brother Valeri,
displaying remarkable offensive force
in leading his team to a silver medal.
He as a legendary junior player in the
Soviet Union, winning World Junior
Championships and Russian club titles
as well. Bure went on to be a force for
the Florida Panthers, while in Florida,
he was the NHL’s leading goal scorer
in 2000 and 2001. He played in 6 NHL
all-star games. After retiring, he became
the GM of Russia’s national team.

However messy his stay with the
Canucks ended, Bure was the most
exciting, and the greatest player in
Vancouver Canuck history.

Well, that’s my list. I hope it was
enjoyable and helped people learn about
some of the older players that helped
make the Canucks what they are today.
Did I leave any of your favorites out?
I’d be happy to hear comments and
suggestions at

Supergarth @hotmail.com

 

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