#16

The Canucks retired Trevor Linden's jersey last night (and beat the Oilers, too) in an emotional ceremony at GM Place. I remember him being drafted 20 years ago, and it's a little weird to have an NHL without him. Linden is regarded by pretty much everyone as a class act both on and off the ice: former head of the players association, lots of chairtable work, and he really cared about and loved the city Vancouver. The Canucks' all-time leader in games played, Linden was an integral part of the team for many, many years, taking them to within a whisper of the Stanley Cup in '94 against the hated Rangers (incidentally, he was also on the heartbreaking '98 Canadian Olympic team, one of the saddest sports memories I have... at least Linden was able to win a couple of Memorial Cups while in Junior hockey). Hats off to him for all he did for the organization and the city. I don't think he has a funny blog, though.