Fan In Van

#19 To The Rafters?

This was published by Ben Kuzma in today’s National Post:

Ask the former player agent about Markus Naslund’s legacy as an often misunderstood former Vancouver Canucks captain, and Gillis defends the left-winger the way a father would protect his son.

“He’s one of the best left-wingers in Canucks history and his legacy is that of a great captain who was fantastic in the community,” the Vancouver general manager said of his former client. “He’s an incredibly proud person with tremendous integrity, and he took so much pride in his game and how he was looked upon as a player.”

As the franchise leader in career points (756) and single-season leader in goals (48), assists (56) and points (104) by a left-winger (2002-03), you could argue that Naslund’s No. 19 should be raised to the rafters.

“Well, that’s a discussion that we’ve begun to broach in some ways,” added Gillis. “It’s not up to me because I’m pretty biased, but it would involve the hockey department and ownership.”

There’s a strong case for and against raising Markus Naslund’s #19 to the rafters to be immortalized in Canuck history. One could argue that Naslund’s twelve seasons as a Canuck, eight as captain and his dominance in the early 2000s as one of the best players in the NHL should be enough to warrant consideration, but many critics look towards his last four seasons in Vancouver as reason to not retire his number.

Naslund was hotter than the iPod in the early part of the 21st century. Three seasons of 41, 40 and 48 goals had elevated him to elite status, but the lockout changed everything. The Markus Naslund that stormed through team defences and scored clutch goals never seemed to come back at all. His post-lockout campaign of 35 goals was still superb, but 13 fewer than his career year in 2003. From there, his numbers tailed off, generating fewer offence as the years went by, plummeting from 104 points in 2003 to just 55 in 2008.

What’s more, many critics argue that Naslund’s lack of success in the postseason should prevent him from being raised to the rafters. Look at Stan Smyl and Trevor Linden, who will be hanging from the rafters in December. Both were captains, and both were willing to sacrifice their arm to bring their team success, and they both brought their squads to Stanley Cup finals in 1982 and 1994. Naslund as captain, on the other hand, won a grand total of two playoff rounds, one against St. Louis in 2003 and one against Dallas in 2007. In 39 postseason games, Naslund scored 12 goals and 31 points, hardly exceptional.

But back to the case for retiring his jersey. Let’s not forget that it was only five years ago Naslund mania was in full force in Vancouver. He won the Lester B. Pearson award, was a Hart trophy finalist, a First-Team All Star and is still the Canucks’  franchise record holder for most goals, most points, most hat tricks and most points by a left winger in one season.  Those alone should warrant a lengthy discussion as to whether or not he deserves a place in the rafters.

Perhaps to best describe Naslund’s tenure with the Canucks would be the word “almost”. What separates Naslund from #12 and #16 was that he was always so close to achieving success, but could never climb the final rung to pull it within his grasp. His growing dissatisfaction with the franchise may bring sour grapes to the naysayers, but don’t forget that Markus was a big reason why the Canucks emerged from obscurity in the late 1990s.

In the end, it seems as though the discussion about whether or not #19 should be retired will be one which will be carefully scrutinized for years to come.