“Playing with Brendan and Todd as a line was great, and any time we made a run in the playoffs was exciting.” “I think there have been a lot of different moments which have meant something to me for different reasons,” Naslund recounts with a nostalgic smile. While discussing his favourite moments with the team, Naslund’s demeanour continues to change from gentle contemplation to enduring optimism: It means so much more now when I see the team approaching 200 sell-outs in a row, or seeing the passion for the team today.” But it’s really turned around, and it was actually a good thing to go through, because I appreciate everything so much more now. I thought that was a difficult time to play here, because the interest in hockey was so low, and the team was struggling for a number of reasons. “There was also a stretch when I first came here when we as a team played really poorly, and had 11,000 or 12,000 people at each game.
“I think we all wanted to get back to playing so badly, but we just couldn’t control it. “The lockout was difficult, definitely,” a candidly sincere Naslund responds after a long pause.
When asked about those very ups and downs, the Canucks’ leader lets out an introspective sigh, taking his time to answer thoughtfully. With over ten years of his life spent wearing a Canucks uniform, Naslund has traversed the ups and downs that undoubtedly occur when playing in the NHL. Because to me it means more when the players vote for it.” “That year, I was up for both the Hart and the Pearson, and I remember being asked which one I would have wanted to win, and I said the Pearson. “That’s probably been the biggest honour for me throughout my career: winning something that was voted by my peers,” Naslund said of the Pearson award. Granted to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, the award capped off a banner year for Naslund, where the sensational Swede scored 48 goals and 56 assists for a total of 104 points. Three years after donning the “C,” Naslund took on another honour: the recipient of the 2003 Lester B. “It’s just such an honour and privilege to be a Captain of an NHL team, and I feel very lucky to have been a captain for so long, and with the guys I’ve played with.” “Yeah, there are times when it’s been tough, but I think that’s part of what comes with wearing the ‘C.’,” the winger divulges.
This past season, Naslund has tied fellow Canucks legend Stan Smyl for longest reign as team Captain, and for Naslund, just like all NHL leaders, the Captaincy has been something to be proud of, while concurrently a continuous source of pressure. “And I think that’s a great honour when you have teammates that believe in you and see you as someone that can lead the team, and do so successfully.” “Well, there was obviously a big void after Mess left the team, and management had talks with a lot of the players, and they said to me before training camp that the group wanted me as the Captain,” Naslund recounts. + Click for larger photo THE MARK OF HONOURįour years after arriving in Vancouver, in a press conference held at the Canucks’ training camp in Stockholm, Sweden on September 15, 2000, Naslund was appointed team Captain.
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