Champion dads

Trevor Linden

Trevor Linden was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta in 1970. Trevor played twenty seasons in the NHL from 1988 to 2008, sixteen of those with the Vancouver Canucks, earning him the nickname “Captain Canuck.” Trevor was president of hockey operations for the Canucks from 2014 to 2018. He also has business ventures in Vancouver: Club16 Trevor Linden Fitness and Orangetheory Fitness. Trevor is married to Cristina and they have a son, Roman, born on July 12, 2017.

Words from Trevor:

Fatherhood has changed since I was born in the 1970s. Fathers didn’t put so much into fatherhood, and they didn’t get so much out. Dad supported us 100 percent, but he wasn’t an athletic guy, not a sports fan, or into hockey. The nice thing about that was because he didn’t know a lot about the game, he didn’t push me one way or the other. He didn’t tell me what to do or how to do it, there was no pressure which contrasts sharply with some of the over-the-top hockey parenting of today. 

We are all broken people because of the places we come from. Our imperfections create the environment for our own children. If you don’t address those imperfections, you take them into your own parenting. I go to a therapist once a week; I’ve done so for a long time, and it’s been invaluable for me. What’s not to love about being able to talk about where I am at, why something is going on for me and where my feelings are coming from? It’s helped me to be able to understand myself a whole lot better.

I was so scared about having a baby and disrupting what seemed to be a perfect life. I had heard some stories about dads who couldn’t cope with babies, and I was afraid I’d be one of them. I froze when someone put a baby in my arms. Holy shit, I was thinking. What have I got myself into? To make matters worse, we’d have people actually say things to us like, “Forget about having fun,” and “Your life is over!” But it was just like magic from the day Roman was born, how comfortable I was with him. I guess I was a natural at forty-seven years of age! Roman is bringing out the kid in me and I want him to view me as a fun dad. I never have imagined I could be sitting on the floor singing songs in a music class with my child, five moms and their babies. Never thought I’d be that guy-but I am. I feel incredibly lucky and happy to have this time in my life, to be a dad.

Excerpted from “Forty Fathers: Men Talk About Parenting”, with permission from Douglas & McIntyre, 2022.