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Naslund's legacy was
good, but not great

By Eric Wilkins,
Staff Writer

Max Naslund’s
number shouldn’t
be in the rafters. There, I
said it. The unspeakable
words an overwhelm-
ingly large number of
Canucks fans would boo
and hiss at. But if you
think about it, was Nazzy
really that great? He was
a good player for the
Canucks, but there’s a
huge difference between
“good” and “great.”

A milestone for Markus
Naslund

By Josh Martin,
Sports Editor

he Vancouver

Canucks have always
been an underdog team.
Right from the begin-
ning when they were
introduced to the league,
the Canucks never really
established themselves
as a designation for
the best players in the
NHL. When you take
a look at the New York
Rangers and the Detroit
Red Wings, they seem to
always have great players
every single year—with
a legitimate chance at
winning the Stanley Cup,
which only attracts even
greater players to come
and join them. But with
Vancouver, the players
that have come and gone
through the organization
that were considered
to be all-star players
were all drafted within
the system or acquired
from another team for
20

There’s no denying
that Naslund was an
offensive powerhouse.
His wrister was arguably
the best in the league
when he was in his
prime and that glorious
West Coast Express
line with Morrison and
Bertuzzi was pure magic.
Practically a guarantee
to get you up on your
feet at least a few dozen
times a game. He took
home the Lester one
year, and made multiple
all-star games. He was
one smooth Swede. That,
however, at the risk of
coming off as too Don
Cherry-ish, was one of
my problems with him.
While he was a maestro
on offense, he was invis-
ible on defense. Fans
have tried to glorify
every aspect of his game
since retirement, but
anyone who ever actually
watched Nazzy knows

peanuts. It seems that
the Canucks have gotten
themselves into a habit
of having a solid group
of players for only a few
years, and once they
get older or lose their
“skill,” the cycle repeats.
One can argue that
the current era of the
Canucks has been the
best in franchise his-
tory. The shiny pieces
that attract attention

6G

around the league are
the Sedin twins, the
goaltending tandem of
Roberto Luongo and
Cory Schneider, and
the impressive winning
record of Coach Alain
Vigneault. However,
what will happen in
a few years when the
Sedin’s get older? Or
Vigneault gets fired?
Or Schneider joins the
goalie graveyard list?
It’s almost an
identical situation to the

otherwise. Take out that
one spectacular diving
effort all those years ago,
and it’s difficult to come
up with any case for his
defensive “capabilities.”
The guy couldn’t play
“d,” which isn’t a huge
knock on him since a
lot of stars can’t, but a
knock nonetheless.
Naslund was captain
of the Canucks when I
started to seriously watch
hockey, and even then, as
nothing but an armpit-
farting tyke, I knew he
wasn’t quite cut out for
the role. Captains don’t
have to be vocal leaders,
but if they’re going to
play the strong and silent
type, they’d better be
oozing with confidence.
I never got that feeling
from Naslund. When
he wasn’t contributing
offensively, he disap-
peared, and since he
wasn’t a physical player

Canucks team in the early
‘90s. They had shiny
pieces for several years
through the system with
Trevor Linden, Pavel
Bure, Kirk McLean, Alex
Mogilny, etc, and almost
won. a Stanley Cup in
the ’94 series against

the Rangers. But shortly
after that, the team fell
apart. Everyone left and
in return a new crop of
players came in, and

amongst them was future
captain, Markus Naslund.

Naslund, who was
essentially traded for
peanuts, came into
this organization and
brought it hope.

The start of a new era.
One that would have to
follow the Bure/ Linden
days and compete among
the best teams in the
NHL. After two seasons
of being a part of the
Canucks, Naslund gave
Vancouver something to

or a defensive player,
that’s about all he could
do. As for speaking to
the press, he was cer-
tainly nothing to write
home about. Neither
eloquent nor opinion-
ated, Naslund always
seemed to stumble and
bumble his way through
the press’ queries.

The final point about
Nazzy is that he didn’t
show up in the playoffs.
As he so perfectly put
it after one miserable
playoff walk (though he
was speaking on behalf
of the whole team) they /
he “choked.” There is
a saying that statistics
never lie, but Naslund
does well to disprove
this. Looking at his stats,
he has 36 points in 52
playoff games. Not bad,
right? Wrong. Most of
Naslund’s points came
in bunches, and thus, the
points-per-game figure

be excited about. Finally
a player that reminded
fans of the raw talent in
the NHL—something
Vancouver was des-
perately yearning for.

It is proven that
great players make those
around them great as
well. Gretzky is the best
example here, as he
did wonders with the
Edmonton Oilers in their
golden years—with Jari

/mnot saying that Naslund is on the same calibre as Gretzky,
but he did do a similar thing with Vancouver. He made the
others around him better than they actually were...

Kurri, Paul Coffey, Mark
Messier, and so forth with
four Stanley Cup wins to
boot. Now, I’m not saying
that Naslund is on the
same calibre as Gretzky,
but he did do a similar
thing with Vancouver.

He made the others
around him better than
they actually were—with
Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan
Morrison, the Sedin
twins (at the time), Ed
Jovanovski, etc. He

gave the Canucks an

doesn’t really tell the
story. I remember sitting
there screaming at the
TV many nights in the
hopes that somehow it
would wake up our dear
captain, but to no avail.
He just couldn’t keep up
with the physical style
of the post-season.

I don’t hate Naslund,
but Ijust don’t hold him
in as high regard as the
majority of the Canuck
fan base. Regular season
statistics only count
for half the battle, and
perhaps not even that
much. Nobody goes
into the season play-
ing for the Presidents’
Trophy. You can’t trade
in the Lester for a Conn
Smythe. Nazzy was
good, but he wasn’t even
the best Swede during
his time with the team.
That honour belongs to
Matthias Ohlund. Now
there was a solid player.

opportunity to win
with his teammates.

To Vancouver,
Naslund was a true cap-
tain. He led the charge in
transition from the post-
Bure days and brought
Vancouver a winning
team. The Canucks may
have never of won a
Stanley Cup with him,
but neither did they win
with Stan Smyl, Linden,
and haven't yet with the
Sedins. He represented
anew era of hope for
the fans of Vancouver
which brought them out
of their depression of
not winning a Stanley
Cup. Smyl and Linden
both had their jerseys
retired because of what
they represented to the
team as great players to
the franchise in their eras
and when Naslund had
his number 19 retired
into the rafters, it was no
different. He was, and
still is, one of the greatest
Canucks of all time.