Being a Vancouverite today is a special day. The Canucks will officially be retiring the number 16 in honour of Trevor Linden. Right now I’m listening to the Team 1040 where Rick Ball is recounting his best Linden moment. I’m going to steal his idea and do the same for today’s post.

linden 213x300 Tribute to 16

Anyone remember Topps hockey cards?

I was just starting 8th grade – bowl haircut and all – and our guidance counselors sent the entire grade to BCIT to visit the college campus in hopes of inspiring us to avoid drugs and stolen cars. Anyways, it was as lame as it sounds; we had to watch people read text books and fall asleep in lecture halls. But then we went into the keynote, which featured none other than Trevor Linden. He was TERRIBLE!!!!!! He was nervous, he stuttered, and it was hard to actually make out what exactly he was saying. I’m sure he was reading something inspiring, but we were just in awe. I sat there in the back row breaking down how bad of a public speaker this guy is when he stopped in his tracks, stepped right up to the mic and said something to the effect of, “Wow, I’m really bad at this aren’t I?” We laughed, it broke some ice and he was much better after that. The best part was when he lifted up his arms and presented his enormous pit stains and explained to us that public speaking never gets easier, you just find better ways to deal with it.

Here’s to you Mr. Linden – You’re a philanthropist we should all be looking up to.