Vancouver's Greatest Hockey Legend: Cyclone Taylor

Who is Vancouver's greatest hockey legend? Trevor Linden would be a most popular choice. Pavel Bure, Kirk McLean, King Richard Brodeur. Tiger Williams would all get mentioned.

But when discussing the greatest hockey player to ever play in Vancouver you have to go way back, all the way back to 1915. You know, back when Vancouver last won the Stanley Cup.

Kent Spencer of the Vancouver Province recently celebrated the legend of Cyclone Taylor, through the eyes of his grandson, former NHL Mark Taylor.

Fred Taylor was dubbed Cyclone by Gov.-Gen. Earl Grey for his whirling, perpetual-motion style of play.

Legend has it that Cyc (pronounced Sike) once scored a goal after skating backwards through an entire team.

Cyc’s grandson, Mark Taylor, who is co-owner of the Cyclone Taylor sporting goods chain in Metro Vancouver, believes the story is more tale than truth.

But he has few doubts that Cyc was capable of scoring a goal in reverse.

“I knew he was amazing, but I didn’t know how good he was,” says Taylor, who spent four seasons in the NHL in the 1980s and shared numerous roast beef dinners with his grandfather.

Here's the full story.