Canucks Win It On Trevor Linden Night

He does clean up nice, huh?

I’ve only ever seen one of these, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought the ceremony was really great.  A lot of the little things they did made it special, like having most of the 1994 team come out in their sweaters, and the little kids coming out in all the different sweaters Trevor wore throughout his career, and all the current Canucks skating out on the ice in Linden sweaters.  The speeches about Trevor were a good length and didn’t drag.  Trevor’s speech was lovely. He told his story but it was all about thanking other people and making sure they felt good.  His speech was just like him really.  I’m glad I finally got to see a sweater retirement and I’m glad I was able to watch even a very small part of his career.  I did bawl like a baby.

                             This was the tribute video that played at GM Place

If you’re interested the Canucks website has the whole ceremony archived here.

The game was pretty solid.  I thought they worked hard and probably wanted to get the win for Trevor.  Sanford had a solid game and looked confident.  A couple of the Canucks goals were definitely not of the pretty variety, but they all count, right? 

The Sedins look pretty interesting with Jannik Hansen.  That kid just never stops working.  He was laying out some massive hits tonight.  I know it was just an empty netter but he deserved it after all his work in the game.  Danny Sedin is really on a roll now with 14 goals.  Hank Sedin’s giveaway to Dustin Penner was pretty awful, but I later saw him actually hit Pouliot, so that kind of makes up for it.

Kes looked great tonight.  For a few games there, he didn’t look himself.  Maybe he was injured but didn’t tell anyone.  He followed up his shorthanded goal on Sunday with a really nice effort on another goal.  He looks good with Burr and Big Bear.

The defence was pretty solid tonight.  I liked watching Matty Ohlund and Bieksa a lot.  It was unfortunate that Shane O’Brien and Sami Salo left the game with injuries, because then they were down to just 4 defencemen for the 3rd period and it almost let the Oilers back in to the game.  Poor Salo just can’t get a break.  He was back just 3o minutes from his last injury!  The poor dear might have to think about retirement soon.  I adore Salo and he’s so good when he stays in the lineup, but he can never stay for any length of time. 

Wasn’t the prettiest win, but they worked hard and they deserved it.  I’m glad they were able  to cap Trevor Linden night off with a win.  They’re back in first in the division but tied with Calgary.  It’s a shame those Flames keep winning the same nights the Canucks do.