This is the final part of a six-part feature that will run through the duration of the competition. Thanks for keeping up!
What is a “mancrush”? Glad you asked. For the uninitiated, a mancrush is a product of “bromance”, when a man possesses a feeling for another man whereby he strongly desires to BE that man. He may not necessarily WANT said man, but when watching the other man play sports, he is moved in some fashion.
When watching hockey and the Canucks in particular, you will no doubt cheer for every member of the team to succeed(except that one guy you just can’t stand, even if he is wearing your team’s colours), but there’s always those few guys that make you just that little bit more excited when they make a nice play, dole out a nice hit, or say that exact right thing in an interview to make you feel like, “hey...that guy could be my bro.”
The criteria for a hockey player, you ask? Well, the player must look dashing(note: ‘dashing’ is different than ‘good-looking) when skating up the ice, which means the equipment choices, from a straight-cut visor to a flashy stick, are incredibly important. Second, he must have excellent skills on the puck. I love me a sniper. Third, he must be unafraid to mix it up when necessary. There won’t be any sissies on my mancrush team. To sum, physical looks are not the most important characteristic, but I’m not going to have the ginger twins’ chinstraps or Todd Bertuzzi’s tobacco-stained mouth ruining my list, no matter how great they’ve been for the squad over time.
Each day, I will cover the first and second All-Time Canucks Mancrush Teams, featuring players from each position over the years. On this fine Saturday, we will be taking a look at the centers.
Second Team All-Time Canucks Mancrush Center
Ryan Kesler
Age: 27(In his 7th season as a Canuck, 2005-Present)
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 202 lb.
Hometown: Livonia, Michigan
Could you imagine if Ryan Kesler played for the Flyers? Bobby Clarke infamously offered Kesler $1.9m a season coming out of his entry-level contract, and it was a bit contentious among Canucks fans as to whether or not they should match it. 4 years and 244 points later, it’s clear that Kesler could end up being a player forever associated with the Canucks, and the organization is all the better for it.
Kesler is the type of player you “go to war” with, the second-line centre who flawlessly combines speed, skill, and sandpaper(I’m surprised Don Cherry hasn’t trademarked this set of words as the 3 S’s and made a video series about it) into a dynamite package. He’s a player that few teams in the NHL are lucky enough to carry, and it’s almost always the most successful ones who do.
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| Not sure what's better: the butt grab, or the matching sleeveless and shorts. |
And sure, he’s got that boyish flip haircut and that smile, and he has that clothing line that manages to distort the letters “R” and “K” and the number “17” into a logo that's barely distinguishable, but what really cemented Ryan Kesler as a mancrush was his playoffs a season ago. He notched 19 points in 25 games while amassing 47 PIM, he scored some beauteous goals(especially this one against Nashville), but what really got my attention was his hard work and effort.
It was incredibly telling that the only guy left on the ice trying when the Canucks were down 4-0 to the Bruins was Kesler. I can remember watching the game with 5 minutes to go(probably right around the time the first car was being tipped over), and there was Kesler, steaming into the Boston zone, not caring that his teammates had given up, not caring that Boston had 2 defensemen who were more than capable of standing him up at the blue line, and not caring his team was down. There was not a more poignant on-ice image in the aftermath than Kesler being wracked by sobs post-game, being forced to watch the Boston players steal his dream away from him. Some might call that weak, but I call that 100% heart, baby.
First Team All-Time Canucks Mancrush Center
Trevor Linden
Age: 41(Canuck for 17 years, 1988-1998, 2001-2008)
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 220 lb.
Hometown: Medicine Hat, Alberta
DUH.
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