Markus Naslund's number 19 to be retired

VANCOUVER - Markus Naslund will have his night after all.

More than two years after playing his final game in a Vancouver Canuck uniform – and being overshadowed by Trevor Linden's farewell performance – the team's greatest goal scorer will be honoured Dec. 11 with a jersey retirement ceremony. Naslund's No. 19 will be raised to the rafters alongside Linden's No. 16 and Stan Smyl's No.12 as part of the Canucks' 40th anniversary celebrations.

“For me, it was a no-brainer,” Canuck GM Mike Gillis told 2,000 season-ticket holders Wednesday at newly named Rogers Arena. “We looked at a number of criteria, contribution to the team and community, all sorts of different things. I know Markus is absolutely thrilled to have his sweater retired in that manner.

“He was very honoured and very excited. He did a lot here and these kind of things are very important to people and very important to their families. It will be a very significant night in the history of this franchise. I think it will be absolutely fantastic.”

The silky Swede played 12 seasons with the Canucks after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Alek Stojanov at the 1996 trade deadline. He appeared in 884 regular-season games and collected 346 goals and 756 points, both franchise records. He was captain from 2000-08, was an NHL first-team all-star at left wing for three seasons and won the Ted Lindsay Trophy in 2003 when it was still called the Pearson award.

In another announcement Wednesday, the Canucks unveiled a new 'Ring of Honour' for alumni players with initial team captain Orland Kurtenbach selected the first inductee. Three other players, to be be named at a later date, will also join the ring. Kurtenbach appeared Wednesday in the Canucks' original 1970-71 sweater, which will be worn on opening night Oct. 9 against the L.A. Kings and on four other occasions.

“It's an honour, as it was to be the first captain,” said Kurtenbach, still looking fit at age 73. “I love the city and I love the hockey club so it's a real honour. This has been in the works and I had some inkling but it didn't come to fruition, really, until tonight.”

New Canucks Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra made an appearance at Wednesday night's event, Hamhuis quipping that the crowd of 2,000 was “sometimes like a home game in the middle of November in Nashville.”

Gillis was bombarded with questions from co-hosts John Shorthouse and Jim Robson as well as a number of season-ticket holders. Occasionally, he was stumped, particularly when asked whether Pavel Bure's No. 10 would also be hung from the rafters at a future date.

“I don't know what to say,” replied Gillis, who represented both Naslund and the Russian Rocket when he was in the agent business. “If Pavel meets the criteria, his sweater will be retired but we have a little ways to go with that.”

Bure was, and remains, the most electrifying player to ever wear a Canuck uniform but he left the franchise after seven seasons as a holdout, refusing to play the final year of his contract to force a trade. (Gillis was his agent at the time.) Bure is more likely a candidate for the Ring of Honour than a full sweater retirement.

“We settled on a set of criteria that is really high and we don't want to be in the sweater retirement business,” Gillis explained. “We want to make sure it's people of the highest character who get bestowed that honour. There are lots of players who don't play their entire career in one city but made a significant contribution and we wanted to be able to honour them as well.”

On the captaincy issue, Gillis said a meeting was planned later this summer with head coach Alain Vigneault, himself and Roberto Luongo to discuss the matter.

ICE CHIPS: Defenceman Shane O'Brien and depth forward Alex Bolduc are now under contract for the 2010-11 season, both agreeing to one-year deals with the Canucks. O'Brien accepted his qualifying offer of $1.6 million and became the ninth blueliner on a one-way contract. Bolduc accepted a two-way contract for the league minimum $500,000. He had no leverage after two serious shoulder injuries last season limited him to 28 games, split between the Canucks and Manitoba.

epap@vancouversun.com