Markus Naslund reminisces on his time as Canucks captain: Career highlight

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Cooper Godin
September 15, 2024 (12:46)

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Former Vancouver forward Markus Naslund says being Canucks captain was a career highlight for him.

24 years ago, the Vancouver Canucks headed over to Sweden for a pair of preseason games against MoDo and Djurgarden IF and it was a special moment for forward Markus Naslund, being able to play in his home country and face one of his former teams

After Vancouver's 2-1 overtime win over Djurgarden IF on September 15th, exactly 24 years ago today, the Canucks decided to name Markus Naslund as their new captain. In doing so, Naslund became the first non-Canadian and first European captain of the Vancouver Canucks.

In a recent interview with Joey Kenward of Sportsnet 650, Naslund said that being named captain was one of the highlights of his NHL career.

"The @canucksalumni legend joined #Canucks Connected on @Sportsnet650 and said he still considers it one of the highlights of his career in Vancouver." Joey Kenward said.

Naslund mentioned that it felt good to be trusted by the Canucks' management group and coaching staff with such a big honour and added that he was surprised a bit that he was given the 'C' because there were plenty of strong candidates on the roster.

"We had good candidates and a lot of the North American guys as well. So I was surprised, but honoured to be handed the 'C' for sure and I felt that Brian [Burke] and Dave [Nonis] trusted me and thought that I could get the job done, as well as the coaching staff with Marc [Crawford] and Mike Johnston. I felt that not only did I have the players behind it, but the organization as well. That helped a lot because it was a learning experience for them, being the spokesperson for the team whether that be interviews after the game or public events. It took some adjustment for me, but it also pushed me as a player to perform and lead by example." Naslund said.

Naslund would go on to spend seven seasons as captain of the Vancouver Canucks before signing with the New York Rangers as a free agent in 2008. After the first year of his two-year deal, Naslund decided to retire from professional hockey, which didn't last long as just a few months later, he signed with his hometown team in Sweden, MoDo, where he spent the final campaign of his career.