In the 1860s Walt Whitman wrote a poem about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. O Captain My Captain soon became famous. Last night the Vancouver Canucks composed their own piece of work. Poetry on ice involving captains past, present, and future.

Trevor Linden started it all off with a rare pre-game dressing room talk. The old guy has been through it all, and he knows when the team needs a reality check. For the past while the Canucks have looked unsure of themselves and without direction. The captain of the ‘94 Canucks did his part to steer the orca ship back to success. For much of the season he has watched games as a healthy scratch and identified tendencies that have crept up. The chat sparked the team which went on to score three goals in the first period.

The Dallas Stars came storming back though and tied it up 3-3 going into the third period. It was in the final frame that today’s captain Markus Naslund centered the puck which deflected in off of Morrison’s skate. With a goal and two assists, Naslund made the game’s second star on Hockey Night In Canada. But despite his effort, the moment that really stood out in my mind was his dismal penalty shot. He always skates in slow as molasses and the goalie always makes an easy save. He needs to spend more time with the sports psychologist and work out his confidence issues.

With the Canucks up 4-3 in the third, they had to kill a penalty. That’s when Willie Mitchell, the fan frontrunner for future captaincy, took a puck in the face, got up, and then took a puck in the ankle before returning to the bench a blood dripping mess. Afterwards, Don Cherry raved about the warrior heart he displayed. I say give him the “C” right now.

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