Along with his brother Jamie, Trevor Linden quietly sat off to one side on the second level of the press box at General Motors Place on October 9. It was opening night for the Vancouver Canucks, but more than that—so much more than that—it was a night to honour Luc Bourdon, Linden’s young teammate who was killed last May when his motorcycle met a semitrailer on a New Brunswick highway.

To the surprise of absolutely no one who knows anything about Linden, he was there that night because he was always there for his teammates during his 19-year National Hockey League career—the bulk and the best of those years (16 in all) spent right here with the Canucks.

And to the best of anyone’s knowledge, opening night at GM Place is the only time so far this hockey season that Linden has been back to the place where he once played so many games. It’s also the place where a unique and special bond with the hockey fans of this city was cemented.

On December 17, Linden will return to GM Place, but not as just a player or a teammate, or as a good guy or fan favourite. On that night, Linden will be honoured for being all of those things throughout his career. On that night, the former captain of the Canucks and a player who still holds a significant number of franchise scoring records will take the largest leap any hockey player can within the organization. The kid who was drafted off his family’s farm in Medicine Hat more than 20 years ago and was, in part, raised by the hockey fans of the West Coast will officially be elevated to legend status when the Vancouver Canucks retire his familiar number 16 jersey and raise it to the rafters of the Garage.

“When [Canucks president] Chris [Zimmerman] contacted me and told me what the club was planning to do, I was truly humbled and grateful and very honoured,” a clearly moved Linden said at the news conference to announce plans for the jersey ceremony. ”As a kid growing up, of course, my dream was to play in the NHL. To have my jersey beside someone who I admired and looked up to-and, as it turned out, I also picked up for games in my beat-up ’65 Mustang 20 years ago-who would have thought that that kid would have the opportunity to have his jersey beside Stan Smyl? For me, it’s extremely special, because Stan embodies what we hope all our professional athletes would bring. He’s certainly taught me a lot and continues to teach me a lot today. To play for this great franchise for as long as I have, I feel very lucky. To play in this province and this city was a real honour.”

Although number 12 hangs from the GM Place rafters and has since the day the new home of the Canucks opened in 1995, Smyl’s jersey was officially retired November 3, 1991, at the Pacific Coliseum. Linden will become the second former Canuck to have his number officially retired by the hockey club, but he’ll be the first to be celebrated in such a manner in the downtown rink.

Although Linden’s many on-ice accomplishments speak for themselves, it was his relationship with the fans and the community at large that made him the local hero he remains today. Video highlights will always document the goals and assists from his playing days, but as often as Linden picked up points on the ice, he made a point of being a down-to-earth guy away from the rink who went out of his way to give back through the many charitable efforts of the hockey club. But it was more than that. There are countless stories of Linden making unannounced hospital visits or trips to Canuck Place, knowing what his presence would mean in the life of a sick or dying child.

“I think I was a player that had a level of talent, but I think I was a player that had to apply himself properly. I had to work extremely hard and learn from the good people who surrounded me and try to figure out how to be as good as I could be with what I was given. That was one of the things I managed to do well,” said Linden, providing a glimpse into why he thinks he was able to win over so many fans. “Overall, I just tried to do the right thing, whatever that was, whether it was in the game or outside of the game. Those are the things you learn from the people around you: the Stan Smyls of the world, your family, your friends. They kind of guide you and direct you.”

They directed Linden well. And as hard as he tried with waves, smiles, and a few blown kisses, Linden knows he wasn’t adequately able to thank the 18,630 fans giving him multiple standing ovations during and after his final NHL game last April. So when the Canucks approached him about the jersey retirement a few months back, Linden refused to look at the night as being all about him. He immediately recognized it as an opportunity to say all of the many things he hadn’t been able to say the night he called it a career.

And although the spotlight will be on Linden on December 17, he’s emphatic that the night will be about the many others—family, friends, coaches, teammates, and ex-teammates—who helped him make it to this point.

“It will be a very special night, and to be able to address the fans formally in that setting, a hockey setting, will be very special,” he said. “It will be a great night, and I’m looking forward to it. And I’m looking forward to having so many people who have meant so much to me there. But the pressure will be on. I’ve got so many great memories. I’ve got to try to figure it all out and say it the way I hope to get it across. It’ll be fun, I’ll be nervous but it’s going to be a great night.”

The 38-year-old Linden, who has managed to keep a low profile since announcing his retirement from hockey, has been busy with a property-development company he owns. And although not ruling out a return to hockey in some off-ice capacity down the road, Linden felt the need to get away from the game in the short term and pursue some of his other passions: travelling, cycling and golf.

But on December 17, he’ll be back where so many in this city feel he belongs—in a blue-and-white Canucks jersey with 16 on the back. That is, of course, until the organization hoists that number to the rafters, making one of Linden’s boyhood dreams come true.

“I’ve always been a big fan of sports, and, certainly, when I first came into the NHL, I’d go into these arenas such as Chicago Stadium or around the league and always look into the rafters to see what’s up there. And 20 years later I was still doing that to check out the banners,” he recalled. “It means, as much as anything to me, that the organization would feel that I belong in the rafters, and it’s very special and kind of unreal. It’s very cool.”

It may be all of those things for Trevor Linden. But it’s also something else: an honour well deserved.

Jeff Paterson is a talk-show host on Vancouver’s all-sports radio, Team 1040. E-mail him at jeff.paterson@team1040.ca.