Gino Odjick never backed down from a fight but there are some battles that can't be won, not even by Gino.
The former Vancouver Canucks tough guy sent a letter out to fans on Thursday, revealing that he has been in Vancouver General Hospital for the past two months with a rare terminal disease. The 43-year-old has only months to live at best because AL Amyloidosis is depositing protein in his heart, restricting its ability to work. Not only is there no cure, there isn't even a form of treatment.
It's sadly ironic that a rare heart condition could be the thing that takes away Gino because what made him so beloved to fans and to his fellow Canucks and so feared across the rest of the league was the size of his heart.
Gino - one of only a handful of players in the history of the Canucks known by his first name alone - was a loyal teammate with no tolerance for any opposing players who took runs at his team's best players - the captain Trevor Linden, goalie Kirk McLean and especially his best buddy, Pavel "The Russian Rocket" Bure.
Gino's unlikely rise to the NHL made him an even more lovable figure. He was drafted in the fifth round, 86th overall, by the Canucks in the 1990 draft. He grew up on an Algonquin Indian reserve near the tiny town of Maniwaki, Que., and brought the small-town dedication to hard work with him to the big leagues. He knew how fortunate he was and always seemed to be having a good time on the ice, even when he was throwing down the gloves to straighten somebody out.
To this day, when Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson has a nightmare, it's probably of a shirtless Gino skating at him with blood lust in his eyes during a 1995 playoff game in Vancouver. Anderson provoked a line brawl by poking too long at a puck McLean had covered up. After Gino was done thumping Adam Creighton, he went looked for Anderson, who skated backwards in terror, keeping the linesman between himself and the fearless Canucks warrior.
Gino's love of fighting was matched by his enthusiasm as a role model, which he embraced with humility. Aboriginal kids across Canada looked up to him and he made it his mission, during his playing career and then afterwards, to inspire and motivate them.
"It also means the world to me that I was able to open doors for kids in the aboriginal community," he wrote in his letter to fans. "I was just a little old Indian boy from the Rez. If I could do it, so could they."
And if they couldn't be a professional hockey player like him, he encouraged them to hit the books because "education is freedom."
The first time I saw Gino play was a special night for both of us. November 23, 1992 was my first live NHL game, as the Canucks faced off against the Chicago Black Hawks in the old Pacific Coliseum. No doubt Gino remembers the night, too, because he had two goals and an assist in a 5-2 Canucks victory.
For the entire third period, every time Gino jumped over the boards and onto the ice, the fans started chanting "Gino! Gino! Gino!" If the lights had gone out, it wouldn't have mattered because the grin on his 22-year-old face lit the whole place up. He was having the time of his life.
Bure, who also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists, had six shots on goal during the first two periods but took none in the third. He spent the entire period passing to Gino, trying to set him up for the hat-trick goal.
It wasn't just an unusual night because of Gino's offensive output. For a guy who averaged more than four minutes of penalties per game in his career, Gino's shadow didn't darken the penalty box once that game.
Gino only scored two more times that entire season but in the following season, when the Canucks went all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, Gino played 76 regular-season games and scored 16 goals, by far his best year as a pro.
His heart may be failing him now and it will be the death of him far too early but that same heart was what made him such a wonderful player to root for and those cheers can still be heard.
Gino, Gino, Gino, Gino....
