The Vancouver Canucks just lost one of the biggest icons in franchise history.

He wasn’t a player, but there was arguably no one more synonymous with the Canucks than Jim Robson, who passed away at the age of 91 on Tuesday.

Shortly after his passing, many in the Canucks community, including former colleagues, players, managers, and even celebrities, offered their thoughts on the legend.

“I always felt that Jim possessed more gears in his engine than any other play-by-play guy I’ve ever heard,” John Shorthouse said when talking to Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance on Sportsnet’s Canucks Talk.

Shorthouse took over from Robson as the radio voice of the Canucks after Robson stepped away in the 1990s.

And, as Shorthouse alludes to, Robson was a major influence on him as a broadcaster.

“I could turn on the radio midway through a game, and I could tell immediately, is it a good game, is it a close game, are the canucks winning, are the canucks playing well, is it exciting?

“His cadence was unmatched.”

Shorthouse then got choked up when talking about the pain of Robson’s passing.

“I love talking about him, I really do,” he said. “And I’m heartbroken.”

“I’m heartbroken that he’s gone, but I’m heartbroken for him…He never saw them get to the precipice or the peak.

“He wanted to see the Canucks lift the Stanley Cup.”

That quote resonates with all of us who’ve mourned the passing of a hardcore Canucks fan.

However, there may never be anyone who deserved to witness the Canucks win a Cup more than Robson.

He was the voice of the Canucks for nearly 30 years. More, if you count his days covering the WHL Vancouver Canucks, dating back to the 1950s.

Not only that, but when the Canucks entered the NHL, he called games without a colour commentator for seven years before Tom Larscheid joined him in the booth.

“Jim really taught me the ropes,” Larscheid said during an appearance on Donnie and Dhali.

Larschied admitted that he and Robson got off to a bit of a rocky start, largely because he was primarily a football broadcaster before covering the Canucks.

“Hockey, I’m a football guy!” he said. “I don’t know that much about hockey.”

“He inherited someone that wasn’t his choice, but he really taught me. Over the years, we were able to develop some pretty darn good chemistry.”

“He taught me everything about how to do a broadcast.”

Larscheid wasn’t the only colour commentator to offer condolences to Robson.

“Had the privilege of getting to know Jim Robson when I played and then as a broadcaster, John Garrett wrote on Instagram. “A true legend.”

Robson also mentored Jim Hughson, who was the voice for Canucks fans for an entertaining period in team history, spanning both the West Coast Express Era and the rise of the Sedin Twins.

“I didn’t replace Jim Robson; I took over from him,” Hughson said on Donnie and Dhali.

“Nobody replaces Jim Robson.”

Hughson also talked about what made Robson such an incredible broadcaster.

“He had such a high standard,” Hughson said. “What I really, truly loved about the way he called the games was that it was really true to the sport, not just the team.”

“There were two teams in every game that Jim Robson called. I always appreciated that and always tried to emulate that.”

Others gave their love to Robson for an incredible career.

“Growing up, we rarely saw Canucks’ games on television,” Don Taylor posted on X.

“It was radio for us,” he wrote. “No pictures, just a voice. But I never felt I was missing out on anything because that voice belonged to Jim Robson.”

“No one painted a hockey picture like Jim. He was better than anything on TV.”

Former Canucks captain Trevor Linden gave his thoughts on the broadcasting legend.

For me, I grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta, in the ’70s, there was no [Edmonton] Oilers, there was no [Calgary] Flames, so it was Jim Robson on Saturday night calling Canucks game. He was the one who really brought the game to my house,” Linden said on Sportsnet’s Canucks Talk.

Linden also talked about being the player behind one of Robson’s most famous calls.

“The great, Hall of Famer, Jim Robson, one of his most famous calls, I was in it, and that’s an honour for me,” Linden said.

Canucks general manager Brian Burke, who brought Linden back to Vancouver back in 2001, also weighed in on Robson’s passing.

“Another giant lost in Jim Robson,” Burke posted on X. “Wonderful man, kind, a true gentleman, and the gold standard behind the mic. A huge part of Canucks (and NHL) history. RIP, Jim.”

Even local celebrity Michael Buble weighed in with some thoughts on Robson.

“I lost one of my heroes,” Buble said on Instagram. “He was the epitome of class and a gentleman.”