Luc Bourdon killed

[backstop]

DEFENCEMAN BOURDON KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE CRASH
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=239196&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nhl

Very sad. Wish the potential Bolts trade for him would have gone through and maybe this wouldn't have happened.

[PEIBolt]

WIRE STORY:

SHIPPAGAN, N.B. — Luc Bourdon, a promising defenceman with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, was killed Thursday afternoon when his motorcycle struck a tractor-trailer in his native northern New Brunswick.
Bourdon’s sister, Eve Bourdon, and his stepmother Maryse Godin both confirmed the death but declined further comment when reached at the family’s home in Shippagan.
Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said the organization was “deeply saddened” by the loss and extended his sympathies Bourdon’s family.
“Luc was an extremely talented player with a bright future,” Gillis said in a statement. “He brought great passion to the game and was a valued team member on and off the ice.
“He will be greatly missed.”
Kent Hughes, Bourdon’s agent, described his client as a winner and a competitor.
“There was no quit in him,” said Hughes, who knew Bourdon since the player was 15. “He persevered through a lot. He was a great guy and a great teammate.”
RCMP in Shippagan wouldn’t confirm the identity of the victim but said the driver of a motorcycle was killed at about 12:30 p.m. AT in crash on a road between Shippagan and Lemeque, N.B.
Bourdon, 21, was the first-round pick of the Canucks, 10th overall, in the 2005 NHL draft.
He split time this season with the Canucks and the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. In 27 games with the Canucks, he scored twice but had no assists.
Bourdon was a member of the Canadian team that won gold at the 2006 world junior hockey championship in Vancouver and was named to the tournament all-star team.
He helped Canada win another gold at the 2007 world juniors in Sweden.
Bourdon played for Val d’Or, Moncton and Cape Breton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before turning pro.

[the_narrow_way]

How sad.

Best wishes to his friends and family.

[Sotnos]

Tragic :(

[Matt]

Awful and shocking news. Certainly something I didn't expect to see when checking TSN this afternoon. Looked like he had a good career ahead of him and he's gone just like that. Condolences to his family.

[chad]

Great looking prospect.

Just awful.

[CTLightning26]

Awful, awful story. my prayers for his family..

I apologize ahead of time for anyone i offend with this statement, but: motorcycles are death machines.

[Jester47]

motorcycles are death machines.

Motorcycles are great but when something goes wrong, it goes really wrong...

Best Wishes and prayers to them from the Jester Family....

[PEIBolt]

Bourdon just got his motorcycle licence two weeks ago. Heartbreaking.

[Flycoon]

Lost a dear friend to a motorcycle accident 2/9/2007, my neighbor is disabled as a result of one he had in 2005. A client's daughter was hit by one of those kids on a rice rocket estimated going 138 last month; she was uninjured but is suffering extreme depression. The bike rider was scraped off the side of her car and the road.

Must be the thrill of cheating death every time you arrive alive and uninjured at your destination.

[PEIBolt]

Wonder if this tragic event will affect the series at all:

By Pierre LeBrun
THE CANADIAN PRESS
PITTSBURGH — A few days ago, veteran winger Gary Roberts offered rookie teammate Kris Letang some advice. Don’t buy a motorcycle, Roberts told him. You’re too young for that.
The 21-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman was excited at the idea of getting one following a phone conversation with best friend Luc Bourdon.
“About two or three days ago, I asked him what he was up to and he talked about his new motorcycle,” a visibly shaken Letang said a day after his friend was killed on the bike in New Brunswick.
“We were talking about both of us having one,” Letang added.
Needless to say, Letang has dropped that idea after the crushing loss of his friend, a top prospect with the Vancouver Canucks. The 21-year-old defenceman’s tragic death cast a shadow on the Stanley Cup final Friday as the hockey world mourned the loss of one of its own.
“It makes the Stanley Cup final seem pretty small when a fellow athlete and friend of many passes away like that,” said Penguins defenceman Ryan Whitney.
The NHL will pay tribute to Bourdon with a moment of silence before Saturday’s fourth game of the Cup final.
“The National Hockey League family grieves with the family, friends, and teammates of Luc Bourdon,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “We send heartfelt condolences to the Vancouver Canucks’ organization and the community of Shippagan, N.B.”
Letang played junior with Bourdon at Val D’or in 2004-05 and 2005-06 while also lining up with him on the Canadian junior team in 2006 and 2007.
“We had so much in common, so many things we liked to do together,” said Letang, whose Penguins are down 2-1 in the best-of-seven final series.
Detroit Red Wings rookie forward Darren Helm played with Bourdon at the 2007 world junior tournament.
“He was a great guy,” Helm said Friday. “It’s a big tragedy. It’s shocking to everybody. He was taken away too early. He’ll definitely be missed.”
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, drafted the same year as Bourdon in 2005, met him at various Hockey Canada training camps.
“It’s tough,” said Crosby. “The hockey world is a small community. And I think a lot of guys probably crossed paths with him at some point. Personally, I was drafted with him, I saw him there.
“It’s sad to see someone that young have something happen like that. It certainly makes you realize how valuable life is and how lucky we are. But it’s an unfortunate incident for sure.”
Letang was leaving his apartment Thursday when his agent called with the news. He was crushed.
“I don’t know why, but this morning I had no energy,” said Letang, who didn’t play in Game 3 and won’t suit up Saturday either. “Even if I wanted to skate ... It’s like I lost so much energy when it happened yesterday.”
Letang said the two talked all the time.
“We shared everything together,” said Letang. “We were supposed to go on vacation this summer, and he was coming to Montreal all summer long to train.”
Roberts lost a teammate in May 1999 when Steve Chiasson was killed after wrecking his pickup truck. He was returning home from a Carolina Hurricanes party at Roberts’ home.
“We were all just shocked over it,” recalled Roberts. “We spent a lot of time that summer reflecting over it and wishing things turned out differently We all tried to do the right things the night Steve had his accident. It is a lot to overcome for, number one, the family, and then the teammates and the organization, number two.
“I know that after Steve’s accident, every night we wore his number on our helmets the whole season. It was something I’ll never forget. Nobody forgets those situations. You try to deal with it and move on as best you can.”
The way in which Bourdon died also sent chills down the spines of Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and forward Maxime Talbot. They both owned motorcycles before deciding to get rid of them.
“It’s dangerous,” said Talbot. “My brother had one and he had an accident. Fortunately he was fine, but still, they’re dangerous.”

[CTLightning26]

Steve Chiasson was a good guy. He was more somber the last game for the Whalers than 90 percent of the guys that had been there for years. he had been there a month or so.