Trevor Linden - Early Life

Early Life

Trevor Linden's grandfather, Nick van der Linden, emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1929. He ran a construction company until his son Lane, Trevor's father, replaced him in 1979. Trevor was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta to Lane and Edna Linden. Linden was a skilled athlete; despite hockey being his top priority, he also participated in baseball, golf, volleyball, basketball, and speed skating. An excellent student in school, he was offered a scholarship to Princeton University to play for their hockey team; instead, Linden chose to stay in Medicine Hat and play with the local major junior team, the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. Linden grew up watching the Tigers and idolized Lanny McDonald, who played in Medicine Hat before he joined the NHL.

After one season playing with the Medicine Hat Midget Tigers of the Alberta Midget Hockey League (AMHL), Linden joined the WHL Tigers for the final five games of the 1985–86 regular season, where he scored two goals; he also appeared in six playoff games, scoring one goal. The next season, at the age of 16, he made the team full-time. In his first full season in the WHL, Linden had 36 points in 72 games, and then had nine points in 20 playoff games, including two goals in the championship game, helping Medicine Hat win their first Memorial Cup as Canadian junior champions. The next year, Linden had 110 points in 67 games, and led the Tigers to their second consecutive Memorial Cup title. During the 1988 WHL playoffs, Linden set a WHL playoff record by scoring the fastest goal from the start of a game, scoring seven seconds into a 6–5 Tigers win over the Saskatoon Blades on April 15, 1988. At the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, the Vancouver Canucks selected Linden second overall, after the Minnesota North Stars selected Mike Modano.