Trevor Linden played centre and right wing with four different teams: the Vancouver Canucks (in two stints), New York Islanders, Montreal Canadians, and Washington Capitals. Before joining the NHL in 1988, Linden helped the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) win consecutive Memorial Cup championships. In addition to appearing in two NHL all-star games, Linden was a member of the 1998 Canadian Olympic team and participated in the 1996 World Cup of hockey.

Throughout his career, Linden has been recognized as a respected leader on and off the ice. He was named captain of the Canucks at the age of 21, making him one of the youngest captains in league history. While captaining the Canucks, Linden led the team to within a game of winning the Stanley Cup in 1994. It was during this time that he began to be called Captain Canuck.

In 1998 he was elected President of the Nation 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 directly negotiating 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, after 19 seasons in the NHL, Linden retired on June 11, 2008, twenty 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.

Trevor Linden starred for his hometown Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL where he won consecutive Memorial Cups in 1987 and 1988. In 1987-88, he scored 110 points, he helped Canada win the gold medal at the world junior championships, and was chosen second overall by the Vancouver Canucks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, he was also named to the WHL East Second All-Star team in his final season.

The 6’4” winger scored 30 goals as a rookie in 1988-89 and was runner-up to Brian Leetch in the Calder Trophy voting. Linden was also named to the league’s All-rookie team and seemed destined to be one of the top power forwards in the game. He went on to hit the 30-goal mark five more times and represented Canada at the 1991 World Championships. In 1994, he scored 25 points in 24 games while helping Vancouver come within a game of winning the Stanley Cup.

By the late 1990s, the Canucks began retooling their roster and traded Linden to the NY Islanders in February 1998 after the 1998-99 season was traded to the Montreal Canadians and prior to the March deadline as acquired by the Washington Capitals to add experience to their playoff drive Linden spent parts of three seasons in Washington before returning to the Vancouver Canucks early in the 2001-02 season. Since his return to Vancouver, Linden went on to surpass the 1,100 games played and during the 2003-04 season became the Canucks All-Time leading scorer.

Over the next three seasons in Vancouver, Linden would continue to establish new Canucks all-time records, in 2005-06 suited up for his 1,000 games as a Canuck, the first to do so, 2006-07 became the first Canuck to score 300 goals and returning the club back into the playoffs.