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Report: Luc Bourdon has Died

by Alanah McGinley on 05/29/08 at 03:54 PM ET
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Reported in French at Corus Sports, translated by Google:

The young defender Vancouver Canucks Luc Bourdon died after a motorcycle accident in north-east of NB nearly Shipagan.

The circumstances of the accident have not yet been revealed.

Oh my goodness. Such awful news. More soon.

Update 10:56am PT: Other Vancouver-based media members are telling me they’ve received the same information and believe the report to be true. 

Update 11:18am PT: There is plenty of confirmation on this story now.  In French at RDS and a small blurb at The Province. And more from the Canadian Press and TSN.

I’m so very, very sorry to Luc’s family and friends. I can’t even put it properly into words. I expect hockey fans everywhere feel the same way.

Update 11:36am PT: via the Globe & Mail—

Bourdon’s sister, Eve Bourdon, confirmed the death but declined further comment when reached at the family’s home in Shippagan.

“Luc was a winner, he was a competitor,” said Kent Hughes, his agent. “There was no quit in him. He persevered through a lot. He was a great guy and a great teammate.”

Update 11:55am PT: Check in with TEAM 1040 at Noon. They’ll be reporting more, from Tommy Larscheid and others.

Update 12:25pm PT: A statement from Canucks GM Mike Gillis—

“We are deeply saddened by today’s news and on behalf of the entire Vancouver Canucks organization, I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to Luc’s family.  Luc was an extremely talented player with a bright future. He brought great passion to the game and was a valued team member on and off the ice. He will be greatly missed.”

Update 1:25pm PT: According to TEAM 1040 reports, Bourdon only acquired the motorcycle two days ago. Predictably, this is sidetracking the conversation from Bourdon to issues of pro-athletes being restricted from motorcycles, etc. (Personally, I think this is a non-issue, today of all days. Besides, accidents happen all the time. He could have died in any number of ‘acceptable’ ways and it would still be the tragedy it is.)

Note: The NHLPA released their own statement, plus some background on Bourdon’s career. Earlier, Gary Bettman also expressed his condolences publicly on the NHL Hour on XM Radio.

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Note: All times noted on this post are in PT. I’d accidentally noted them as ET initially, but now fixed.
Related: “Perspective on a Nice Kid”

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