Canucks to Retire Markus Naslund's #19
The Vancouver Canucks have made plans to retire former star Markus Naslund’s number 19 next season. The Swedish born Naslund played 12 of his 16 professional seasons with the club and holds the franchise record for goals with 346, and points with 756. The Canucks plan to raise Naslund’s jersey on December 11th. He will join Trevor Linden and Stan Smyl as the only two other Canuck players to have their numbers retired.
Markus Naslund
Naslund was born in Ornskoldsvik Sweden in 1973, the same town in which Peter Forsberg and current Canuck stars Daniel and Henrick Sedin were born. Naslund went on to win a Swedish junior championship at age 14 playing with Forsberg. Naslund and Forsberg would go on to play together throughout high school, their junior careers, and with Swedish Elite League side Modo. Naslund joined Modo for the 1990-91 season and scored 19 points as a 17 year old, a record which stood for 12 years.
That off-season, Naslund was drafted 16th overall by the Pittsburg Penguins in the 1991 National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft. After the draft Naslund was sent back to Sweden to play for Modo, where he played two years recording back-to-back 39-point seasons to lead his squad. Naslund finally joined the Penguins for the 1993-94 season.
Over the next three years Naslund showed promise but was never able to put it together in game situations. In 1996 with his contract expiring he was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks.
In 1998-99 the Canucks went through a re-building year, moving Naslund to the top of the depth chart. He repaid the Canucks by leading the team in scoring with 66 points. He was rewarded with a 3-year $7.2 million contract.
In the 2000-01 season Naslund was named the first European-born captain of the Vancouver Canucks. That season, despite an injury that kept him out for the last 10 games, he recorded 41 goals and 76 points. Naslund came back from his injury and continued with last season success by recording a career-high 90 points featuring another 40 goals out put.
That season Naslund was joined by big man Todd Bertuzzi on the wing and centre man Brendan Morrison. The three were electric from the start and were given the nickname ‘The West Coast Express’. With the ‘Express’ in tact for the full season Naslund finished second overall in league scoring, recording a career-high 104 points, which included 48 goals and 56 assists.
That same year Naslund was the winner of the Lester B. Pearson Award for the league's most valuable player, as voted by the players. The following season Naslund led the Canucks in scoring for an astonishing 6th straight season, managing 84 points despite battling a groin injury. Naslund signed another 3 year contract with the Canucks in 2005.
Over the next three years Naslund’s game began to slow down and on July 3, 2008 he signed an $8 million deal with the New York Rangers. Naslund remained in New York for only one season. Sensing his game was fading he retired from hockey on May 4th 2009.
Naslund’s Canuck Legacy
Naslund left the Canucks holding the club record for the all-time largest number of points and goals by a player. He was a five-time all-star, Lester B. Pearson Award winner and runner-up for the Hart Trophy as the leagues most valuable player. Although he never won the Stanley Cup, Naslund led the Canucks to numerous play-off appearances. He was also a strong influence in the Vancouver community.
Current Canuck general manager (GM) Mike Gillis had this to say about the decision to retire Naslund’s number: “We looked at a number of criteria. Contribution to the team, the community, all sorts of different things…we found that Markus was in the higher categories for all of them.”
Markus Naslund will certainly go down as a Canuck legend, and retiring his jersey is a fitting end to a 12-year career with the storied franchise.
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