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“I thought I’d call on the luck of the Irish, but I’m not Irish,” Linden cracks. “I’m just hoping to steal a bit of it.”

But there’s more to all of this than a one-liner.

“He drafted me,” Linden continues. “He was a mentor for me throughout my life and hockey career. The impact and the culture Pat created is very much a part of this team. His fingerprints are still all over this franchise.”

“I get goosebumps when I think about it,” Kalli Quinn says from her home in Prince George. “Dad was very fond of Trevor, and Trevor really grew up under him. We always knew (Linden) would be successful, but to see where he is now, I’m so proud of that.

“My dad always had a great respect for Trevor — his work ethic, his values — even when he was 18. I think Trevor had a lot of the same qualities my dad had.”

That’s, at least, where it started. But it doesn’t end there.

The cosmic forces at play in this story are enough to shake deep space. Quinn was 45 when he drafted Linden in 1988. Linden will be 46 when the Canucks make their pick in Buffalo in late June. Linden was a franchise-changing pick for the Canucks. This year, Linden hopes to make a franchise-changing pick for Quinn’s team.

As for the talisman Linden will carry to Toronto, that came from the year the Canucks lost the first overall pick and Hall of Fame centre Gilbert Perreault on the spin of a wheel.

You might say karma owes the Canucks one.

There’s also something irresistible about the idea of Quinn, who passed away in November 2014, reaching down and helping the Canucks one more time. But whether the Canucks draft first or sixth, this story is about something different. It’s about the connective tissue which runs from Quinn to Linden. It’s about the man who shaped the franchise and the man who’s been entrusted with its future. It’s also about their shared history and their shared beliefs.