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"You're a boring old man"
To steer the discussion towards people I have studied and really admire even if some were before my time:
Syl Apps
-It's harder to find in depth analysis of the true quality players/men once you start getting into the pre-O6 era but Apps has a good deal written about his character as a person. Just one tidbit I've found:
Gordie Howe
-Seriously, is there any dirt on Howe? For as rough as he was as a player, he seemingly was a genuinely great man off it. Superstar, known coast to coast, all I've ever seen written about Howe in terms of his class away from the game was positive.
Jean Beliveau
-The gold standard.
Bobby Orr
-Another guy that was nothing but class off the ice.
Ray Bourque
-Superstar on and off the ice. Humble, reserved and a quality human being.
Nicklas Lidstrom
-Maybe the quietest and unassuming superstar of all time. You'll never find anyone having a bad thing to say about the player or man.
Ron Francis
Joe Sakic
Shane Doan
Sidney Crosby
Syl Apps
-It's harder to find in depth analysis of the true quality players/men once you start getting into the pre-O6 era but Apps has a good deal written about his character as a person. Just one tidbit I've found:
"Apps had more to do with the image the Leafs in the 1940s as Canada's team - the good guys, the very good guys - than any other player," author Jack Batten wrote in his book "The Leafs in Autumn." "He looked so dashing on the ice, all that speed and skill. And off the ice, he was the last word in pure vessels, a teetotaler, a non-smoker, a Baptist steeped in moral propriety, the model team captain."
Gordie Howe
-Seriously, is there any dirt on Howe? For as rough as he was as a player, he seemingly was a genuinely great man off it. Superstar, known coast to coast, all I've ever seen written about Howe in terms of his class away from the game was positive.
Jean Beliveau
-The gold standard.
Bobby Orr
-Another guy that was nothing but class off the ice.
Orr has been known to be fiercely loyal to former Bruin personnel and teammates. When Derek Sanderson had alcohol and prescription drug-abuse problems and wound up penniless, Orr spent his own money to ensure that Sanderson successfully completed rehab. Decades later, Orr and Sanderson went into business together managing finances for hockey players. Orr also helped out Bruins trainer John (Frosty) Forristall, his roommate during his first years with the Bruins, who had just been fired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for alcoholism in 1994. Forristall's drinking put him on bad terms with his brother John, so he returned to Boston jobless and soon afterwards was diagnosed with brain cancer. Orr took Forristall into his home for a year until he died at the age of 51. Orr was a pallbearer at his funeral.[135]
Orr is also well known for his charitable works, although he kept mention of them out of the press. Former Eagle-Tribune writer Russ Conway noted of one occasion when Orr and Conway visited Boston Children's Hospital, with a box of programs, pennants, pucks, pictures and Boston memorabilia: "We went from room to room, Orr popping in, unannounced to visit the kids. Some couldn't believe their eyes; sick as they were, they laughed in astonishment and delight. Bobby Orr! He talked and joked with every one of them, asking names, rubbing heads, giving everybody a little present from the box, leaving a stick, autographing everything in sight." Orr made Conway promise to not print a word in the newspaper. Orr was involved in numerous charity fund raisers.[136] In 1980, Orr was awarded the Multiple Sclerosis Silver Hope Chest Award by the Multiple Sclerosis Society for his "numerous and unselfish contributions to society".[137]
Ray Bourque
-Superstar on and off the ice. Humble, reserved and a quality human being.
Nicklas Lidstrom
-Maybe the quietest and unassuming superstar of all time. You'll never find anyone having a bad thing to say about the player or man.
Ron Francis
Joe Sakic
Shane Doan
Sidney Crosby