Sitting in the Montreal Forum in June 1988, Pat Quinn looked over the list of National Hockey League prospects available in the amateur draft and saw a player that, in his Irish eyes, could be the cornerstone of a franchise. A rock that could weather storms and plug leaks. A player to build around.
  That player had skill, dedication, and leadership qualities. He was the type of player the Vancouver Canucks - and every other team - would love to add to the roster.
  So when it was the Vancouver President and General Manager's turn to announce his first-round selection, his Irish eyes were smilin'. The tall, lanky forward was still his for the picking. Minnesota, choosing first, went for flashy and sometimes malcontent Mike Modano of the Prince Albert Raiders. So Quinn made his choice, and called the name of Trevor Linden.
  Quinn continued to reap the benefits of that choice, as Linden has fulfilled expectations of management and fans alike. He's one of the league's unsung leaders, quietly playing his trade on the ice surfaces of North America, all the while maintaining the attributes that initially attracted Quinn's interest.
  The cigar-chomping lawyer wanted a player with grit, one who understood the importance of hard work and it's relation to success. The desert-like city of Medicine Hat in the southeast corner of Alberta is where Linden learned those lessons.
  "I grew up working on a farm," says Trevor, who played junior hockey for the Medicine Hat Tigers. "That's where I learned about good values and about a strong work ethic. I've always worked out hard since I was a kid...I understood the importance of it at a young age."
  Those lessons were taught by his parents, Lane and Edna. Lane is a trucking contractor who also works the land, raising cattle and wheat. Edna raised three boys - Trevor (23), Dean (25), and Jamie (21). Dean sells fencing materials, and Jamie is playing hockey for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International League.
  Trevor says Jamie could be signing a contract with the Florida Panthers any day, and he looks forward to the day when they can play against each other.
  "We're very similar in our styles," he says. "He's a late developer."
  Trevor's interest in his brother's success is genuine. The Linden's are a closly knit family, spending the summer months together at Trevor's lakefront property on Blaine Lake in Whitefish, Montana, where the family vacationed when he was a child.
  My closest friends are my brothers," he says, "and the most important people to me are my parents and brothers."
   Unlike parents of some professional hockey players, Trevor's folks didn't push him to succeed. They would've been equally proud if he remained in "The Hat" to work on the farm, a job Trevor would've been happy doing.   
  "My parents knew very little about the game," he says. "They never pushed me...they just supported me. As far as having a great deal of hockey knowledge, they just didn't have it."
  They must have seen the drive in their middle son.
  "From day one, my goal was to play pro," Linden recalls."At five or six, all I wanted to do was become a pro hockey player."
  Russ Farwell, his general manager in Medicine Hat, saw that potential.
  "He sat me down one day and told me I could be a high draft pick," he says."We talked about it."
  It's not surprising that so many NHLers come from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Life can be hard and unforgiving on the Prairies. Long hours of hard work are the way things have to be done, and NHL scouts have witnessed for years the transfer of farming attitudes in Prairie-based players.
  It's hardly surprising, then, that Linden's heroes while he was growing up were Lanny McDonald and Bobby Clarke. Both had storied careers in the NHL and are Hall of Fame inductees. And like Linden, both were captains of their teams.
  Entering his sixth NHL season, Linden will be sporting the "C" full time for the third consecutive season. It's his fourth as captain, co-captain or alternate captain - and he's working as hard now as he did at his first camp. Then, his main objective was to impress the coaching staff. Now, his objectives are to lead the team to another first-place finish, and ultimately, the Stanley Cup. As captain, he leads by example.
  "I enjoy being captain," he says. "It's something I'm proud of. I don't have to work at it - I've been that way since I was 15 or 16 years old."
  He's used to the responsibilities that go with the captaincy, the same role he had in junior.
  "It's nothing really out of the ordinary," he says. "There's no real job you have to do. I just liaise with the coaching staff. And in the locker room...some guys are much more vocal than me."
  One former Canuck captain Trevor has looked up to for guidance is Stan Smyl."Steamer" is another Alberta farm boy whose career flourished thanks to hard work and dedication.
  "Stan's been great with me," Linden explains. "I can go to him and ask for advice in certain situations. He's shown me how I should handle it. If the team's not going well, I might ask Stan:'Do I have a meeting...?'"
  According to Trevor, meetings bring the players into a common focus.
  "It gets us all on the same wavelength," he says. "It gets us going in the same direction."
  And what does he do when the team is winning?
  "I didn't have much to do last year," he chuckles, "with 101 points."
  Though he's played with other captains during his visits to a pair of All-Star games, he hasn't asked for any tips from his brethren.
  "Every captain leads in a different way," he says. "Every one of us handles things differently."
  The captain of one team might rah-rah all day long, but that's not Trevor's style. He's not going to try and tell other players what to do. He'd rather show them.
  "If a young player sees me or Kirk McLean riding a bike or working out hard after practice," he says, "a little light will go on telling them that's what they have to do."
  A little light went on in Pat Quinn's head, telling him that he could have a future captain in Trevor Linden. Six years later, his captain is shining bright.