Class, Class and More Class

For a moment, let’s take a break from your regularly scheduled Eastern Conference blogging to tackle something that’s a bit more Western. Last night the Canucks got trounced in their home finale 7-1 by the Flames but the night did not end with fans leaving in disgust. Trevor Linden, whom you could probably call Mr. Canuck, never directly said that he was going to retire but everyone in British Columbia believed as much heading into Saturday night’s game. After getting the crap knocked out of them the Canucks, Flames and the fans all paid a stirring tribute to Linden. Arguably the classiest moment of the season was Calgary captain Jarome Iginla getting his team to shake Linden’s hand, even pulling players back onto the ice who had already gone to the dressing room. Isn’t it only fitting that such a classy guy goes out in the classiest of ways? That’s the type of stuff legends are made of.

And there one was more bomb to be dropped on a season in Vancouver that has carried on more like a soap opera at times … Captain Markus Naslund hinted at retirement before the game. It’s just one more big blow to an organization that had been fighting tooth and nail for its playoff life the last few weeks, only to come up short.