VANCOUVER — It turns out that Roberto Luongo wasn’t the only guy being stalked by television cameras throughout the day and night Thursday at Rogers Arena.
Canucks president Trevor Linden was going through the same exercise, albeit in a much more controlled environment.
‘A Day in the Life of Trevor Linden’ began — where else? — at the downtown location of his Club 16 Fitness Centre at 6:20 a.m. when Canucks’ production staffers Rory McGarry and Derek Jory wired their boss with a microphone in front of the Fairmont Waterfront. The 16-hour shoot for Canucks.com and a future Canucks This Week episode on Sportsnet began with Linden walking into the gym and hitting the weights.
From there it was back to his home for a CBC Radio telephone interview on the Rick Cluff Show, a quick coffee, change of clothes and off to Rogers Arena for his daily 8:30 a.m. meeting with general manager Jim Benning.
Next up would be monitoring the pre-game skate at 10:30 a.m., mingling with scouts and media, then lunch in the players’ lounge with his coaching and training staffs. The afternoon would include several internal front office meetings before an early board room dinner, then a tour of the arena with season ticket groups before hosting a 5:15 p.m. pre-game town hall gathering of selected season ticket holders with Benning at his side.
An hour before puck-drop Linden would visit corporate VIP suites and during intermissions there’d be stops at suites occupied by dedicated charity volunteers.
At game’s end, with the arena lights dimmed and only the cleanup crew left on the premises, Linden would huddle with head coach Willie Desjardins to review the team’s 3-1 loss to Florida.
Through it all — morning, noon and night — Linden’s every move had been recorded on video. But unlike Luongo, it didn’t end with taking bows to a standing ovation. Those moments are in Linden’s playing past. Now ‘A Day in the Life of Trevor Linden’ has everything to do with the future, 16 hours at a time.
SHORT HOPS: Having put the final bookkeeping touches to his successful assignment as general manager of the 102nd Grey Cup Festival, Jamie Pitblado settled into his new office Monday at the B.C. Lions complex in Surrey in a senior management capacity. After 19 years in marketing, promotions and community relations for Pacific Newspaper Group, his first official act with the Leos will be escorting a marketing team to the Jan. 21 CFL Congress in Winnipeg. Pitblado’s presence can only help the team in its quest to regain the once untouchable reputation it shared with season ticket holders and the corporate community.
END ZONE: Jeff Palmer of Victoria’s Olympic View Golf Club narrowly edged Shaughnessy’s Ashley Zibrik for top honours in the PGA of BC Professional Development Program for 2014. Involvement in education, fundraising programs and volunteer efforts all contribute to the annual award.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Trailing+Trevor+faint+heart/10716950/story.html#ixzz3OXiLsbZc
