By now vast amounts of electricity and trees will be sacrificed eulogizing on the Web and in print over the death of the Canuck prospect Luc Bourdon as well as plenty of handwringing over athletes riding motorcycles.
Let's just move on and honor a young man whose life was cut short far too soon. The best way to do that might be to rename the QMJHL's Best Defenceman Trophy after Bourdon? This may sound premature but there is a precedent for it in the Q. That league's MVP trophy was renamed in 1972 after Q grad Michel Briere, who had just completed a very successful rookie season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, died at the age of 21 in 1971 from a brain injury received in a car crash during the NHL's off-season. (If the camera pans up to the rafters on Saturday night during Game 4 at the Igloo see if you can spot number 21 among the Pens' retired number banners. That was Michel Briere's number.)
Currently, the Q's Best Defenceman trophy is named after Habs' great tough guy Émile "Butch" Bouchard. Pierre Bouchard's dad actually did not even play in the QMJHL as it did not technically exist back in Butchy Boy's day. He played in the old QJHL which was the former moniker for the Q.
That's another thought. Although Bourdon only played 36 games all tolled in the NHL, why not retire either his number 4 or 28 (since he wore both over bits of two seasons as well as number 40 at his first camp for you statheads) here? It would make up also for the bad publicity of quietly unretiring Wayne Maki's number 11 so the Messiah could wear it well as he cashed all those nice cheques here in Vancouver. Admittedly Maki was no angel as Ted Green can attest, but to unretire any player's number is bad karma.
Time to reverse that bad karma and retire Bourdon's number, too.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Penguins Don't Take Flight
So, time to haul out the record books with the Wings and Chris Osgood's second shutout in two games in this so-called "dream" matchup in the Stanley Cup Final.
In 2003, a Final (noted mainly by the Scott Stevens hit on Paul Kariya) one saw the deadly dull Devils and Martin Brodeur shut out Anaheim two games in a row but it still went seven thanks to the Michelin Man Giguere in the Ducks' net. Satan's minions still won the Cup though, of course, with a shutout in Game 7.
Have faith Pens fans, the 1945 Final had the Leafs and Frank McCool shutting out Detroit in the first three games before the Almost Dead Things stormed back to tie the series with two of their three wins being shutouts also...then losing Game 7 to the Leafs.
We have to go back to the 1926 Final to find that the Montreal (in the words of Bugs Bunny: "What a Bunch of") Maroons shut out the Victoria Cougars of the old pro Western Hockey League in Games 1 and 2 of a sweep to win the Cup. The Maroons even threw a shutout in game 4 making it a hat trick of whitewashing for Hannibal Lechter lookalike Clint Benedict in the Final.
So, there is hope of making this a series, if the Pens can get the puck off the Wings for enough time to actually pressure Ozzie.
In 2003, a Final (noted mainly by the Scott Stevens hit on Paul Kariya) one saw the deadly dull Devils and Martin Brodeur shut out Anaheim two games in a row but it still went seven thanks to the Michelin Man Giguere in the Ducks' net. Satan's minions still won the Cup though, of course, with a shutout in Game 7.
Have faith Pens fans, the 1945 Final had the Leafs and Frank McCool shutting out Detroit in the first three games before the Almost Dead Things stormed back to tie the series with two of their three wins being shutouts also...then losing Game 7 to the Leafs.
We have to go back to the 1926 Final to find that the Montreal (in the words of Bugs Bunny: "What a Bunch of") Maroons shut out the Victoria Cougars of the old pro Western Hockey League in Games 1 and 2 of a sweep to win the Cup. The Maroons even threw a shutout in game 4 making it a hat trick of whitewashing for Hannibal Lechter lookalike Clint Benedict in the Final.
So, there is hope of making this a series, if the Pens can get the puck off the Wings for enough time to actually pressure Ozzie.
Monday, May 19, 2008
BC Place to Go Topless
So our fine Metrodome copy stadium is not going to get the right field Baggie but is going to go topless thanks to German Frankfurter technology (and The News of the World for this aerial shot of Frankfurt's Commerzbank Arena )! Break out the beer steins and lederhosen!
So besides now being able to enjoy the fights and drunks at BC Lions games out in the fresh air, the Vancouver "yeah we're still around" Whitecaps of the immortal USL (Useless Soccer League) are moving back into BC Place. Could this mean the glory days of the NASL are not far behind? So the $200 million earmarked is to be spent on said roof and for a new Vancouver Art Gallery at the Plaza of Nations location. Why not get that whole soccer/art crossover really rockin' and construct a Willie Johnston statue by the corner flag with Wee Willie quaffing a pint as he takes the corner kick (although that actually happened in an away game in San Jose but...artistic license, eh)? Och aye, Willie'd be intae it given his love of Vancouver and fashion/art.
So besides now being able to enjoy the fights and drunks at BC Lions games out in the fresh air, the Vancouver "yeah we're still around" Whitecaps of the immortal USL (Useless Soccer League) are moving back into BC Place. Could this mean the glory days of the NASL are not far behind? So the $200 million earmarked is to be spent on said roof and for a new Vancouver Art Gallery at the Plaza of Nations location. Why not get that whole soccer/art crossover really rockin' and construct a Willie Johnston statue by the corner flag with Wee Willie quaffing a pint as he takes the corner kick (although that actually happened in an away game in San Jose but...artistic license, eh)? Och aye, Willie'd be intae it given his love of Vancouver and fashion/art.
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