Remembering the Rocket and other post-playoffs Habs notes

Ten Years Ago Today, we bid adieu to Maurice “Rocket” Richard.

Below is a clip from CBC’s “The Magazine’s” coverage of Richard’s State Funeral, held four days later, with some retrospective on Richard from Jean Beliveau, Gerry McNeil and Elmer Lach.

It’s followed by a clip that really needs no introduction.

 

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The Montreal Canadiens season may be over playing-wise, but there’s still lots of talk on the team as well as tidbits on and from other former players.

A signing already?: No it’s not Halak, Price or Plekanec. The Habs signed defenseman Kyle Klubertanz to a one-year deal.

Price’s lesson learned: Marc-Antoine Godin had a great piece in today’s  La Presse on Carey’ Price’s learning experience sitting on the bench. Robert Lefebvre offers an english translation on his site.

More on Carey: Dennis Kane submits his thoughts on keeping Carey Price and/or Jaroslav Halak at Hockey54. His choice is…

The Flower weighs in: Guy Lafleur spoke to the Montreal Gazette’s Arpon Basu about the Canadiens season after an awards ceremony in his name at the Bell Centre. You’d be surprised to hear what he had so say.

Habs make playoff profit, but tickets going up: Canadiens owner Geoff Molson spoke to the Montreal board of trade on Wednesday. Despite profits from the playoffs, ticket prices for next season will rise approximately 3% on most seats.

A video retrospective:  A collection of video highlights of the Habs 2009-10 season,including the one below, has been compiled by Shauna Denis at canadiens.com

Russ Courtnall figure skater:  Former Habs forward Russ Courtnall and Calgary Flames star Theoren Fleury are the first two hockey players confirmed to compete in season two of the popular CBC program “Battle of the Blades”. The news came as part of the CBC’s fall lineup release. The remaining competitors have yet to be announced.

I am Iron Man: Ok I’m not, but Kyle Roussell has a great piece assigning superheroes to the Habs roster. Kyle actually has a good choice for Iron Man.

Habs Sale this weekend: The Canadiens are having an end-of-season and game-used equipment sale this weekend at the Bell Centre. I was at one of the game-used equipment sales in November, and saw some great deals not just for collectors but even for the beer-league hockey player all under $100. Well worth the trip if you’re in town.

If that’s not enough for you to spend: Classic Auctions has it’s latest up for grabs through June 22. The highlight is the jersey worn by Paul Henderson when he scored the winning goal in the ‘72 Summit Series.  Dennis Kane weighs in on this as well.

Unless the LottoMax kicks in, I won’t be bidding, but I’ll be perusing through the under $200 stuff, and still dreaming.

More Habs signings: Again, not Price, Halak or Pleks. A trio of former Cup-winning Habs from the ‘50s and ‘60s will be at an autograph signing in Toronto on Saturday. Ab McDonald, Albert Langlois and John McCormack will be signing from 12pm onward at AJSportsworld.

Ab McDonald has an interesting tie in to this season’s Stanley Cup Final. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks after the 1959-60 season, and went on to score the Cup-winning goal for Chicago the following year.

The Great One’s dad meets my dad: My dad has his brush with hockey greatness this afternoon, when he ran into Walter Gretzky at a Cambridge, ON bank promotion. He reports he had a lengthy and  memorable chat with the “World’s Number One Hockey Dad” and was really impressed with how gracious a man he is.

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.