Tony Gallagher on Ohlund

Here's a great one from Tony Gallagher from March 18..:

VANCOUVER- There was a certain poetry in the fact the Vancouver Canucks set a franchise record for consecutive victories at home on a night when Mattias Ohlund enjoyed one of the most deserved standing ovations in the 38-year history of this NHL team.

This most consistent of understated hard rock defencemen has been through thick and thin in his years with this franchise. It started when Vancouver had the right to match a Toronto offer when former GM Pat Quinn was trying to beat Ohlund for a few thousand dollars on his rookie contract. Quinn finally had to spend the money when Leaf GM Bill Watters at the time forced the issue with an attempt to poach the promising star.

Ohlund's been nothing but gold since he arrived and it's as though he's being somewhat rewarded for all his hard work with this team. Where it all ends up this season remains to be seen - as does his future in this league given he'll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the campaign - but for his years here the best way to describe him is with two words: captain material. He's never been named captain of course but you certainly get the feeling he received strong consideration at the outset of this season and had fellow Swede Markus Naslund not been the proceeding holder of the position, he might well have had a C on his jersey when he stood at the Vancouver bench Tuesday night acknowledging the fans' heart felt salute.

In his 11 years on the West Coast there's never been a night when he didn't give absolutely everything he had, and what he had was a whole lot of talent which had so many manifestations it's hard to pick what he's done best. Was it the great intimidation he provided with open ice hits? Was it his ability to move the puck, clear the front of the net, handle the other team's top forward or lead the franchise in points for a defenceman?

He's done it all and he's still doing it and if by some chance the dollars can be worked out at the end of the season, GM Mike Gillis would like nothing more for him to keep doing it for the foreseeable future. And so would his teammates.

``We've played together all of about three shifts in our three years together as teammates because they like to keep us apart but he's been a great teammate, composed, quiet and he's led the team in goals and points as well,'' says fellow defenceman Willie Mitchell. ``I don't think he knew exactly what was going to happen but we knew they'd do something so we were all kidding him before the game. I don't think he's too comfortable taking credit like that.''

Indeed he was not.

``It was really nice that it came on a night when the team is playing so well and we're having a lot of fun,'' said Ohlund of the salute for becoming the club's all-time leading scorer as a defender. ``We feel good about our team but we've felt good about it before and not had the kind of playoff success we'd hoped for. Obviously we're hoping this year will be different.''

Ohlund's 62-year old father Kenneth, who used to coach him as a youngster as he came up through the Swedish club system, would have been proud watching on the satellite at four in the morning back home.

``They get about 30-35 games a year live and he's up for all of them,'' says Ohlund of his dad

Ohlund has been through all kinds of injuries over the years yet shown remarkable durability through all the hurts a physical defenceman will suffer over so many years, not the least of which were the serious eye problems early in his career which could well have kept him out of the hearts of Vancouver fans.

Yet he persevered, maybe took a little less money to stay with the Canucks in a couple of his deals to help bring this team to where it is this season. He'd like to see it go a lot further of course, but that chapter hasn't yet been written. What he's done to date however will almost certainly guarantee more standing ovations from these fans in the future, whether he's wearing a Canuck uniform or returning some day in a suit after his retirement.