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Debate the legacy of Markus Naslund and the hockey populace becomes polarized.

For every observer who lauds the former Vancouver Canucks captain's ability to accumulate a franchise-leading 756 points — and set the single-season standard of goals (48), assists (56) and points (104) by a left-winger — another will suggest the lack of postseason success and an uneasiness in a fishbowl existence eventually reduced the Swede to a shadow of his former self.

Which brings up the Great Debate.

Should Naslund's No. 19 jersey join Stan Smyl's No. 12 and Trevor Linden's No. 16 in the rafters at GM Place?

Should a player who chose to end his career in New York be better remembered for the good he accomplished in Vancouver by helping transition the franchise from pretender to contender? Should general manager Mike Gillis lead the charge to recognize his former client in the most-honourable fashion?

The topic was broached a year ago and has been rekindled with Naslund's return from NHL retirement to aid struggling MoDo of the Swedish Elite League.

Naslund and Peter Forsberg are playing for free and if a loophole can be found in International Olympic Committee rules to allow the pair to perform in Vancouver — they weren't on the original

60-player orientation roster — then Naslund could be recognized after the Olympics. Or next season.

"I've talked to Markus about different things, but I'm not going to answer that [jersey retirement] question," said Gillis. "I'm going to wait and see how Markus feels about everything. We've been talking about doing something."

Maybe it was Naslund's calm demeanour or the way his scoring numbers tailed off that rubbed some the wrong way.

He wasn't a blood-and-guts leader, but was recognized by his peers as the game's most-prolific player when he won the Lester B. Pearson Award in 2003.

But when his goal totals dwindled from a career-high 48 in 2002-03 to 35, 32, 24 and 25, the captain became the lightning rod for everything that was wrong. Few wanted to focus on everything he had done right.

"The thing is, we didn't win anything when he was here, but to take the team from bystander status to the brink of doing something great, that should be remembered," said countryman and former linemate Henrik Sedin.

"I don't know why he was misunderstood, but I know the players in here were extremely happy with him."

If suiting up for his hometown Ornskoldsvik team can have a ripple effect across the Atlantic, then maybe his MoDo mission can help cast Naslund in a different light with his critics.

"People say it's only Sweden, but in our hometown there's a lot of pressure," added Sedin. "You play in front of your relatives and you hear about it every day. It's all they talk about."

Gillis will tell you that Naslund is even a better person than a player and that his devotion to family and teammates also warrant our admiration. But you could also argue that Naslund's free-agent exit to the Rangers last season spoke loudly of his dissatisfaction with the franchise — especially in the failure to get the winger a dominant centre. Or maybe it was just time for a change.

Regardless, Naslund still managed 25 goals in 2007-08 on a defensive-minded Canucks team that lacked offensive talent. However, following a humiliating 7-1 loss to Calgary in the season finale, the focus was on Linden's final game in a Canucks jersey. Naslund was a sideshow.

Maybe not any longer.

bkuzma@theprovince.com

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 2:20 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.