Letters sent from 56 McKay elementary school students to new Vancouver Canucks president Trevor Linden have been described by Canucks front office staff as “raw, humourous, priceless and amazing advice.”
They were so well-written the Canucks published them online at canucks.com for all hockey fans to see. The themes seemed to be consistent: Play hard and with passion, practice lots and stop trading goalies.
“They all came from the heart, all were authentic and represented the way young people view the world. I don’t think I can say which one was the most special, they all were,” said McKay principal Marilyn Turnbull.
Two teachers got their students together from their Grade 5/6 and Grade 1 classes to write the letters a few weeks ago. They were published online on Friday.
The advice seems rather sage.
Joey, from Grade 1, feels discipline is the best advice: “Hi, my name is Joey. I got some really important advice for you. Tell the players don’t go to the penalty box!!!”
David, from Grade 6, was baffled at how the Canucks organization so clearly mismanaged its former goaltenders, Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider: “Dear Mr.Linden, congratulations on becoming president! My advice would be to stop giving away goalies and instead just train goalies, so you’ll have good goalies instead of no goalies.”
Some, like Grade 6 student Aidan, took issue with the old John Tortorella coaching regime: “I think you need to schedule more practices for the team so they can get better.”
Linden, a Canucks legend, was named president after former president Mike Gillis was relieved of his duties. In April, the Canucks missed the playoffs for the first time in Gillis’ six-year tenure. Since his hiring, Linden has hired former Boston Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning as the hockey club’s general manager and has promised a number of changes for next season. On Tuesday Benning placed David Booth on waivers, the first of many expected off-season moves.
@WestcoastWood
