Canuck dies in motorcycle crash.

• Stanley Cup Finals overshadowed by tragic loss as NHL loses a five star player and five star person

A sick feeling crept into my gut as i took a glimpse at the top story on tsn.ca....what i expected was the 9,871st story about crosby and malkin going for their cup dream, another boring little excerpt about how the blue jays blew yet another lead...or the announcement that attendance numbers were down in the nhl and that they were losing money

the nhl however lost something, someone far more important today....

Luc Bourdon....promising young d-man already seemed set for the primetime....one of many young hockey mad french canadians looking to make it to the big show....his path to stardom seemed like destiny....his first class performance at the 2007 World Junior Championships left scouts drooling...wondering how this kid got to the #10 pick. It didnt stop there...he was then traded that same season to the Moncton Wildcats where in showing his born leadership qualities led them to the greatest acheivment in junior hockey, winning the memorial cup. It only got better .... Bourdon signed a 3 year contract with the Canucks...appearing in a 9 game stint before being sent back.

The dream was within arms reach.

Bourdon appeared in 43 games with the canucks in 2007-2008 further proving that he was NHL ready, primed for the 2009 season his promising career was set to take off.

Fast forward to May 29th 2008

Two days after purchasing his very own motorcycle..."Lucky" Luc got behind the wheel with a stiff wind in tow and road off. At around 12:30 p.m. coming in with too much speed...likely due to the stiff wind...A Semi came head on with Bourdon....he never had a chance...it was the one break in life he didn't get...

i am not going to exclaim at how many goals assists and points were lost in this one tragic accident, how the canucks possibly lost a few years of proper development in losing a future star, or how good he could have been...at the end of the day, the stardom, the draft, world juniors, memorial cup and 3 year contract just explained mean absolutely nothing...the possibility of being a great hockey player means nothing...what he could have been means nothing...

i feel no sadness over what was lost as a hockey player...he already accomplished in a few short years in hockey what most players won't ever achieve. He had very few games to show his stuff in the NHL but he had 21 years to show, off the ice what a great person he was...and that he did.


The NHL today lost one great hockey player.
The World lost one great person.

Luc Bourdon #28
1987-2008

BleacherBuff