GINO! GINO! GINO! Up to the rafters one last time! Forever a Canuck!
Tribute Gino Odjick has passed away (Sister's Facebook)
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PavelBure10
The Russian Rocket
Loved Gino, he was an absolute fan favorite as a Vancouver Canuck. A total character who would do anything to contribute to his team. So many memories of Odjick, Fighting the entire line of the St Louis Blues, or his classic penalty shot on Mike Vernon, Gino was a beauty. Gino was a great mentor to the Russian Rocket and was a huge reason on why Pavel liked Vancouver. Gino will be forever recognized for his fighting on and off of the ice. The Maniwaki brawler was a warrior RIP.
On a side story,
I once ran into Gino at a local bar/night club in Port Coquitlam. I was out there for my buddy's bachelor party, when I noticed Gino Odjick at the bar drinking by himself. A drunk me with a huge smile, walked up to him, leaned over patted him on the shoulder, while shouting Gino, Gino, Gino into his ear. Mr. Odjick gave me a shit eating grin in approval, As he would of on the ice lol, and I told him thanks for the memories and off I went.
RIP to a Canucks legend. Gino, Gino, Gino
On a side story,
I once ran into Gino at a local bar/night club in Port Coquitlam. I was out there for my buddy's bachelor party, when I noticed Gino Odjick at the bar drinking by himself. A drunk me with a huge smile, walked up to him, leaned over patted him on the shoulder, while shouting Gino, Gino, Gino into his ear. Mr. Odjick gave me a shit eating grin in approval, As he would of on the ice lol, and I told him thanks for the memories and off I went.
RIP to a Canucks legend. Gino, Gino, Gino
The Poacher
Registered User
As a youngster growing up cheering for the Canucks I just loved Gino. He is one of my all time fav players. Rest in peace.
StCaufield
Registered User
- Mar 14, 2022
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So happy as a habs fan that we got to experience what Vancouver experienced with Gino for years. A special man who was a fighter in all aspects in life. RIP
Heartbreaking
Was my favourite player when I was a kid and first started to love hockey and the Canucks. Bure was a close second.
Rest my brother, you've worked too hard till now
Was my favourite player when I was a kid and first started to love hockey and the Canucks. Bure was a close second.
Rest my brother, you've worked too hard till now
VanillaCoke
Registered User
- Oct 30, 2013
- 25,405
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I had no idea why he wore 29, his dads residential school number.
Courageous guy. Didn't think twice about about going with the toughest guys in the League at a time when toughness was essential. Not an easy job and provided something this team sorely needed after years of getting pushed around. RIP.
lawrence
Registered User
- May 19, 2012
- 16,015
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I have a story to share. No joke. I once saw him jay walking and I was like that’s frickin Gino Odjick !
Rip Gino.
Rip Gino.
Mr. Canucklehead
Kitimat Canuck
This hurts. RIP, Gino.
My first ever NHL game, and the game that made me a Canucks’ fan, was the 5-2 win over Calgary where Gino scored on a penalty shot. My Dad had to hold me on his shoulders to see it because everyone was standing up.
Got to meet the man a few years back - he came to Kitimat for a charity road hockey tournament the Haisla Nation put on. As ever, he was so generous and giving with his time. My boys were in awe of him. Literally - my youngest was too scared to talk to him. But he was kind and gracious with both of them, and waved to my youngest from a distance so as not to alarm him.
Rest in Peace. Gone too soon.
My first ever NHL game, and the game that made me a Canucks’ fan, was the 5-2 win over Calgary where Gino scored on a penalty shot. My Dad had to hold me on his shoulders to see it because everyone was standing up.
Got to meet the man a few years back - he came to Kitimat for a charity road hockey tournament the Haisla Nation put on. As ever, he was so generous and giving with his time. My boys were in awe of him. Literally - my youngest was too scared to talk to him. But he was kind and gracious with both of them, and waved to my youngest from a distance so as not to alarm him.
Rest in Peace. Gone too soon.
lawrence
Registered User
- May 19, 2012
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Hit the post
I have your gold medal Zippy!
And you can tell he really valued his friendships he developed with other players - in particular Bure. I remember when both players were playing for different teams & some other player gave a cheapshot to Bure; Odjick merely replied something like: "that's ok, we'll be playing that team eventually where I can return that "receipt"".
oceanchild
Registered User
Gino Odjick, a beloved Canucks enforcer, dies at 52
Gino Odjick, one of the most popular players to ever suit up for the Vancouver Canucks, has died. He was 52.
Chairman Maouth
Retired Staff
Gino had his share of demons, and he wasn't blessed with an overabundance of hockey talent, but he was blessed with an overabundance of kindness, heart, and soul. In spite of the fact that Gino cracked skulls for a living, Gino was a very good man.
Rest in peace, Gino.
Rest in peace, Gino.
Last edited:
Canucks LB
My Favourite, Gone too soon, RIP Luc, We miss you
- Oct 12, 2008
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vadim sharifijanov
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2007
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i always say, the moment i felt most like a part of something as a canucks fan was linden's first game back after he was traded. i was in the building for that one, my buddy randomly had a couple cheapo tickets to the islanders that i think was bought long before the trade in one of those old 7-11 two or three game packs. so gino had just been traded to the islanders the day before, three weeks after the linden trade, and it was in the paper that keenan had it in for him after he stood up for linden in the room one time when keenan was reaming him and messier was just sitting there like a jackass letting it happen.
so anyway, after linden's first shift, we gave him a standing ovation of course. i think you could see him tearing up on the jumbotron from the bench. then ten minutes into the game gino fights jason strudwick, the guy he was traded for. the crowd erupted into the loudest "gino gino" i'd ever heard. you could feel the entire building's frustration with messier and keenan, and it as like gino punching poor strudwick was actually him pounding those two.
so anyway, after linden's first shift, we gave him a standing ovation of course. i think you could see him tearing up on the jumbotron from the bench. then ten minutes into the game gino fights jason strudwick, the guy he was traded for. the crowd erupted into the loudest "gino gino" i'd ever heard. you could feel the entire building's frustration with messier and keenan, and it as like gino punching poor strudwick was actually him pounding those two.
krutovsdonut
eeyore
- Sep 25, 2016
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Really sad news... we had all braced ourselves for this some years ago, and then the next thing you know he makes a recovery with his famed fighting spirit and hangs on for a number of years...
Gino's rookie year is also the same year I started actively following the Canucks... his first game would have been one of the earliest ones I listened to on the radio. Even though I dislike fighting in hockey, it was impossible not to have as soft spot for Gino. Like @Uhmkay, I was in attendance at the famous penalty shot game, and the crowd went wild for him.
I remember the Vancouver Sun doing a feature on him early in his career, talking about what a hero he'd become on his reserve back in the Maniwaki region. The article (which also explored hockey/Indigenous relations generally) mentioned all the kids on the reserve being decked out in Odjick Canuck jerseys, despite being in western Quebec, and I thought that was the coolest, particularly in Hab territory. (Although Maniwaki is closer to Ottawa than Montreal, and unfortunately in these parts you also sometimes see missing children posters displaying kids named Odjick).
His contrasting friendship with Pavel Bure was always one of those adorable stories around the team that was always special. I even remember Sports Illustrated commenting on it, and an amusing excerpt that I remembered even before realizing this article was now online:
One other moment worth remembering – one of Gino's last with the Canucks, I'm quite sure after he had already played his last game. In the throes of the Keenan reign, Gino was called into Keenan's office and stood up to him, basically speaking for us all at that point. (I had heard the story as him saying "Don't you dare pick up that phone" when it rang, although I see iMac has reported it as him actually hanging it up when Keenan began speaking badly of Pat Quinn). Whatever it was, that was a "yeah!" moment when it first got reported.
Gino's rookie year is also the same year I started actively following the Canucks... his first game would have been one of the earliest ones I listened to on the radio. Even though I dislike fighting in hockey, it was impossible not to have as soft spot for Gino. Like @Uhmkay, I was in attendance at the famous penalty shot game, and the crowd went wild for him.
I remember the Vancouver Sun doing a feature on him early in his career, talking about what a hero he'd become on his reserve back in the Maniwaki region. The article (which also explored hockey/Indigenous relations generally) mentioned all the kids on the reserve being decked out in Odjick Canuck jerseys, despite being in western Quebec, and I thought that was the coolest, particularly in Hab territory. (Although Maniwaki is closer to Ottawa than Montreal, and unfortunately in these parts you also sometimes see missing children posters displaying kids named Odjick).
His contrasting friendship with Pavel Bure was always one of those adorable stories around the team that was always special. I even remember Sports Illustrated commenting on it, and an amusing excerpt that I remembered even before realizing this article was now online:
When asked by a reporter if he was drawn to Bure because he empathized with the Russian's plight as a stranger striving for acceptance in a strange land, Odjick thinks for a moment and then says, "What?"
One other moment worth remembering – one of Gino's last with the Canucks, I'm quite sure after he had already played his last game. In the throes of the Keenan reign, Gino was called into Keenan's office and stood up to him, basically speaking for us all at that point. (I had heard the story as him saying "Don't you dare pick up that phone" when it rang, although I see iMac has reported it as him actually hanging it up when Keenan began speaking badly of Pat Quinn). Whatever it was, that was a "yeah!" moment when it first got reported.
