I was going to do a post on how happy I was that Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins finally broke through and scored some goals ... and won a game! OMGZ

Instead, there was a big bomb dropped on the hockey world with the shocking announcement of the death of Canucks prospect Luc Bourdon.

(thanks to my girlfriend to pitching in on this post)

Canucks fans know Bourdon as a young rookie, who although had a slow start, was by all reports shaping up to be a promising defenseman. Bourdon was the Canucks' first-round draft choice in 2005, and split his 2007-2008 season with the Manitoba Moose and the Vancouver Canucks. Only a short while ago, Hockey News ranked Bourdon 20th overall amongst NHL prospects.

He`ll never get the chance to show his promise.

At 12:30 local time, he was in a motorcycle accident near Shippagan, New Brunswick. He did not survive. No other details of the accident are available yet.

Story link: Canada.com

I sincerely hope this isn`t a case of a young kid being reckless with a too-fast bike.
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As if life as a Canucks fan wasn’t crappy enough, our top prospect goes and dies :(

I never knew the guy, so I can't really express deep sympathies (something I don't like faking).

Instead, I'll talk about my favourite memory of the Canucks prospect.

A few years back, I covered the World Junior Hockey Championships for eurohockey.net, as they were being held in Vancouver. The Canadians were heavily favoured, and Bourdon was one of the big stars on the team.

I can remember how dominant he was in that tournament, and I was always surprised that he could never translate that into success at the pro level.

During that WJC, Bourdon was a machine... he was hitting, scoring, and scaring goalies poopless with his big slap shot. Basically, he looked like a great all-around defensemanin the making.

The crowd definitely appreciated the effort, and greeting the kid with many loud shouts of 'LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUC'. Very few Canucks players have ever gotten such love, so it was definitely fun to hear that.

*sigh*

Luc's NHL Totals

36GP 2G 0A 2PTS 24PIM

R.I.P.

Labels: Luc Bourdon, player deaths