Linden's leadership abilities lauded: [3* Edition]
Beamish, Mike. The Vancouver Sun [Vancouver, B.C] 13 June 1988: F1.
MONTREAL - A week before, Trevor Linden was branding cattle on the family ranch north of Medicine Hat, Alta. Now the Vancouver Canucks have branded him as a potential future captain of the National Hockey League team. Linden, who only turned 18 two months before Saturday's entry draft, is built on the lanky, rawboned lines of a western movie hero. Sort of a teen-aged Gary Cooper. General manager Pat Quinn called him "a proud Western Canadian" when he announced the right winger from the Medicine Hat Tigers as Vancouver's first choice, the second player taken overall, in the draft.
At 6'3", 185 pounds, Trevor would indeed sit tall in the saddle if he decided to ride a horse, but that's not often. He prefers to use a motorcycle at roundup time on the family ranch. So if you get the impression that Linden showed up at the draft in dusty jeans and with cow dung caked to his boots, think again. He's no cowpoke.
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Trevor has a lean, angular build. His teeth are perfect and his complexion unblemished. His grandfather is short and leathery and peppers his speech with the occasional coarse word. Nick Linden, a speed skater in his native country, moved to Alberta from Holland when he was 17 (the family's name has been shortened from Van Der Linden) and is known as somewhat of a character in Medicine Hat. He is 76, but retains the feistiness of his youth. He got involved in a scuffle during the Memorial Cup tournament last month when a Quebec fan pilfered a hat from a young Medicine Hat supporter, sat on it and refused to give it back.
"I was right in there," says the old man, proudly. "One thing about us Lindens - we'll fight for what belongs to us."
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"Trevor is a lot like me," says the grandfather. "He's very determined. When he sets his mind on something, no one can stop him."
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Linden led the Tigers in scoring for most of the season and finished with 46 goals and 64 assists in 67 games. But the most impressive aspect to Linden's game, says Medicine Hat general manager Russ Farwell, is an ability to make his teammates play harder by the force of his own commitment.
"He'll be the captain in Vancouver one day, no doubt," Farwell says. "Mentally, Trevor could play in the NHL right now. He's that mature. If he was a cute player, a smoothie who did everything with his head, he could play there (Vancouver) next year, but physically he needs to develop more, to get stronger.
"There's only one way with Trev - he plays the game head on. He goes right for the puck carrier, or barges to the front of the net. He can get away with that in junior, but in the pros he'd just get knocked down. He has to fill out and get stronger."
If Vancouver fans appreciate the way Stan Smyl plays, Farwell adds, they're going to rave about Linden - a Stanley Steamer with racing tires.
Says Farwell: "He's a top talent who plays hard every night and does whatever he has to do to win - the city is going to love him."
I'm not even sure I could handle the disappointment...
