Trevor Linden

Throughout his career, Linden was recognized as a respected leader on and off the ice. He was named captain of the Canucks at age 21, making him one of the youngest captains in league history. In that capacity, Linden was nicknamed "Captain Canuck" and led the team to back-to-back Smythe Division titles in 1992 and 1993, followed by a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994, where they lost in seven games. 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 negotiations with league owners. 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 in 1997, as well as the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2008. Linden retired on June 11, 2008, 20 years to the day after he was drafted into the NHL. Linden\'s jersey number 16 was retired by the Canucks on December 17, 2008, the second number retired by the team.\n', ' On April 9, 2014, Linden was named president of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks, a position he held until July 2018.\n', ' Trevor Linden\'s grandfather, Nick van der Linden, emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1929. He ran a construction company until his son Lane (Trevor\'s father) replaced him in 1979. Trevor was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, to Lane and Edna Linden. Linden was a skilled athlete; despite hockey being his top priority, he also participated in baseball, golf, volleyball, basketball and speed skating. An excellent student in school, he was offered a scholarship to Princeton University to play for their hockey team. Instead, Linden chose to stay in Medicine Hat and play with the local major junior team, the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Linden grew up watching the Tigers and idolized Lanny McDonald, who played in Medicine Hat before he joined the NHL.\n', '