In Case You Missed It: Habs News and Blogger Views for January 4, 2010

Still recuperating from the chaos of the holiday season, I came across a few things of interest to peruse through as the Canadiens make their way to Washington.

Habs World Junior Championship Alumni: Props to Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette/HabsInsideOut for tweeting a list Canadiens players, on the current roster, with a WJC medal.

Gold (3): Tomas Plekanec, CZE, 2001; Benoit Pouliot, CAN, 2006; Carey Price, CAN, 2007

Silver (4): Paul Mara, USA, 1997; Andrei Markov, RUS, 1998; Mike Cammalleri, CAN, 2002; Josh Gorges, CAN, 2004

Bronze (2): Andrei Markov, RUS, 1997; Mike Cammalleri, CAN, 2001

In total, 14 players on the Habs roster, have played in 24 World Junior Championships tournaments. Sergei Kostitsyn and Paul Mara have each played in three tournaments.

 

 A Resolution for Tolerance: JT at the “The H Does Not Stand for Habs” has her New Year’s resolution, but may have a list of snags.

 

Lack of Support for Price: I brought this to attention, earlier in the season, on the lack of scoring support by the Canadiens for Carey Price.

Marc-Antoine Godin, of La Presse, divulges into it further, noting the Habs score and average of 3.24 goals-per-game with Jaroslav Halak in net as opposed to 2.19 with Price in goal.

 

 Desjardins honoured by AHL: Cedrick Desjardins, of the Hamilton Bulldogs, has been named the AHL Goaltender of the Month for December.

The goaltender went undefeated (8-0), posting three shutouts, a 1.16 GAA and .949 SvPct.

The 24-year-old prospect  is 14-5-1 in 21 games for Hamilton this season, ranking second in the AHL with a 1.66 goals-against average, third with a .932 save percentage and first with five shutouts.

Habs World has their weekly recap of the Hamilton Bulldogs here.

 

What the Habs are driving, and wearing: Nice piece at All Habs on a visit to team practice, and seeing what the players are driving.

I never saw Travis Moen (pictured) as the Hyundai type, especially as a rental. Hopefully he has snow tires on it. Scott Gomez, in a Mini Cooper, in the Montreal snow?

Habs vs. Nordiques Rivalry Continues: Veterans from the wars of the Battle of Quebec will have a chance to renew their rivalry in March.

The former players will meet in a pair of games, March 13 in Quebec City and March 14 in Montreal.

Tickets can be purchased at GEG.CA for the game at the Bell Centre, or at La Colisée Pepsi

 This Day in Habs History: On January 4, 1975 Guy Lafleur scores his 5th career hat trick and adds three assists as the Canadiens crush the Washington Capitals 10-0.

Lafleur would finish his breakout 1974-75 season with 53 goals, breaking the team record of 50 first set by Maurice Richard and later equaled by Bernie Geoffrion.

When Canada left the IIHF: With Team Canada’s Junior team ready top play for a 6th straight title , and the Olympics just weeks away, here’s a great piece by Joe Pelletier at Greatest Hockey Legends.

Joe looks back 40 years ago, when Team Canada walked away from the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Mr. Tretiak goes to Pittsburgh: The Pittsbugh Tribune caught up with former goaltending great Vladislav Tretiak at a recent Penguins game.

NFB Film Gives an Early Look at the Quebec Nordiques

I came across another interesting short feature from the National Film Board of Canada.

Pierre Letarte's "Just Another Job" looks at the Quebec Nordiques during the team's first season in the WHA.

The story centers on defenceman Jacques Bain who looks to seek a position on the squad.

Much to his enlightenment, Bain receives an offer to play for the Nordiques under it's fisrt coach, Maurice "Rocket" Richard.

There is also some brief footage of the Nordiques first game against the then Alberta Oilers, a game that they won 3-0.




Richard could not find the fire he had, as a player, behind the bench and resigned as coach after just two games.

Prior to the start of the game, the camera focuses on his eyes. Instead of the ferocious glare he gave as a member of the Canadiens, you can see fear and concern

As for Bain, he lasted just the one season in the WHA and spent the rest of his career in the minors.

The 27-minute film is great to enjoy for any Nordiques fans of hockey buffs and has a brief animated intro.

Aug 8, 1992: John Kordic’s death was another for Club 27

On this day in 1992, police were called to the Motel Maxim in L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec.

Upon their arrival, nine police officers found pro hockey player John Kordic, apparently under the influence of cocaine, trashing a room in the motel.

The officers were forced to wrestle the enforcer to the ground to make an arrest.

An ambulance was called in as Kordic lost consciousness.

He subsequently died of heart failure and a collapsed lung due to lack of oxygen.

John Kordic was just 27 years old at the time of his death.

A coroner’s inquest was made due to the police involvement where Dr. Georges Miller found that no excessive force by police or incompetence on the part of the ambulance attendants resulted in his death. There was speculation that the ambulance workers did not administer oxygen soon enough.

Kordic had 0.1 milligrams of cocaine in his system, which according to to Dr. Miller, was the most cocaine he had ever seen in a person's blood in his twenty years of practice.

There was also speculation that Kordic was using steroids in training and that the mix of that along with cocaine and alcohol put him over the final brink.

Kordic’s drug and alcohol problems were no secret to NHL fans, with numerous suspensions and issues with teammates and coaches.

He was also awaiting a preliminary court hearing for an assault charge, filed by his fiancée Nancy Masse, scheduled for August 11.

Hockeydraftcentral.com has this write up on Kordic leading up to his death.

Kordic's coaches and teammates often accused him of being so selfish that he never worried about team concerns, and toward the end of his career, he was sent home from the minor leagues because he was said to be infecting young players with his bad attitude.

Nevertheless, it was a shock and a tragedy when Kordic's addiction finally brought about his death at age 27 in August 1992. In the two weeks before his life ended, Kordic knew he was in danger of drinking himself to death.

In late July 1992, he phoned James Fearing, his Minneapolis based addiction counselor, and asked Fearing to visit him in Quebec City, where he was preparing for a training-camp tryout with Edmonton.

While working out with his friend Tony Twist, Kordic began to worry that he was falling off the wagon, and he told Fearing that despite all of his efforts he did not think he could defeat his addiction.

Fearing agreed to come to Quebec in mid-August 1992, but that would prove to be too late

Kordic always had a reputation as a tough guy in hockey but was a winner in his early career.

After winning a Memorial Cup Championship with the Portland Winter Hawks in 1983, Kordic was drafted in the fourth round my the Montreal Canadiens.

He would contribute to the Sherbrooke Canadiens’ Calder Cup team in 1985 and appear in 18 playoff games for the NHL club during their 1986 Stanley Cup Championship.

Kordic would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the now famous Russ Courtnall deal in November 1988.

Having two seasons in Toronto later, he played just ten games for the Leafs and Washington Capitals in 1990-91 before being signed as a free agent in October 1991 by the Quebec Nordiques.

Kordic vs. Lynden Byers

Though lesser known on a worldwide level, Kordic’s death at age 27 puts him in a group of well known individuals who have lost their lives under bizarre or tragic circumstances.

Most notably are “Club 27” members made up of musicians the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Rolling Stone’s guitarist Brian Jones and blues pioneer Robert Johnson.

Amongst sports stars, ex-NFLer/soldier Pat Tillman is the most recent well known tragedy, followed by MLB pitcher Steve Olin and “own goal” soccer murder victim Andres Escobar.