When I saw him receive the Order of Canada last month I was shocked at how frail he had become. I realized then that he didn't have long but I hoped against hope he had one more season left in him.
At least, I think, he left with the knowledge of how much respect and appreciation there was for him from the hockey community.
The worst part about this was in Phily i had to watch a video on the news of Bob Clarke talk about how they were such good friends when he fired the guy when he came down with cancer. Roger was a unique man who truly was an inovater in the sport of hockey as far as coaching goes. I bet hes riding his bike around in heaven right now.
Over 1450 posts and still never a Wiener of the Day!
Oliva: You are the weakest link! Goodbye!
Stewie: Ahahaha. Oh God, that's funny. That's really funny. You write your own material? Do you? Because that is so fresh. 'You are the weakest link. Goodbye!' You know I've never heard anyone make that joke before. You're the first. I've never heard anyone reference that outside program before. Because that's what she says on the show, right? Hmmm? 'You are the weakest link. Goodbye!' And ye...ye..yet you've taken it and....and used it out of context to insult me in this everyday situation. What a clever, smart girl you must be. To come up with a joke like that all by yourself. Mmmmm...that's so fresh too. Any Titanic jokes you want to throw at me as long as we're hitting these phenomena at the height of their popularity. Mmmm? Cuz i'm here God you're so funny!
Yeah Goon, it was also kind of a shock to me seeing how fast the cancer effected him. A very short time from seeing him coaching Philly and then seeing him with the Sens he looked so frail.
Roger was a class act.
cause there's limits to our liberties. 'Least I hope and pray that there are, cause those liberal freaks go too far.
I'll crush all opposition to me And I'll make Ted Kennedy pay If he fights back, I'll say that he's gay
Truly a great hockey man. More importantly, he seems to have been a great man in his own right: in all of my years of following hockey I've never heard anyone comment adversely on his integrity or intelligence.
My greatest memory of Roger will always be his raising of the white towel in game 2 of the Canucks-'Hawks series in 1982. The team and city rallied around that single act and drove into the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in the club's history. (Of course they were swept 4-0 by the Islanders, then in mid-dynasty, but it was a great time for Canucks fans anyway)
"It takes a whole lotta whiskey to make these nightmares go away" -- Tom Waits, Blue Valentine
Hockey lost a great man, one that will never be replaced.
"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colon. Need I say more?"
The NHL needs a better television deal. The potential Game 7s of both conference finals series, on NBCSN? Really? Penguins in 6; Ducks in 6. Though I'd love to see Ottawa win the Stanley Cup, because Canada's due.