SALUTE FOR EX-CAPTAIN
Former Blade fights cancer
Saskatoon Blades alumni are rallying behind former teammate and colleague Bruce Gordon.
The Blades’ extended hockey family will salute Gordon — a former team captain from the early 1980s now battling pancreatic cancer at age 55 — at the Blades’ WHL season-opener Friday night against the Swift Current Broncos at SaskTel Centre.
The Blades will once again don the so-called Pac-man logo on their jerseys this season — the same logo Gordon and others first wore during the 1981-82 season.
Blades president Steve Hogle said the response has been “absolutely amazing,” adding that Gordon epitomizes what the Pac-man Blades jersey is all about.
When it comes to a well-rounded citizen who has accomplished so much, “Bruce is in a class by himself,” said Hogle, whose team has launched a “Be Like Bruce” campaign to raise money for cancer research in conjunction with Friday’s season-opener.
“He offers all of us a lesson in how to live life.”
Former Blades assistant GM Dennis Beyak, now the voice of the Winnipeg Jets, will MC a pre-game program that is expected to attract the likes of two-time Stanley Cup champion Brian Skrudland, former NHLer (Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks) Daryl Stanley, former Edmonton Oiler Todd Strueby as well as Dave Chartier, Roger Kortko, Ron Dreger and others. Former general managers and coaches Jackie McLeod and Daryl Lubiniecki are also expected to attend.
After playing for the Blades in the early 1980s, Gordon went on to a stellar career with the Saskatoon Police Service before returning to university and earning a law degree.
“He’s meeting it (cancer) head on,” said Chartier. “It’s like the way he played (hockey). The cancer is a strong competitor and so is Bruce.
“Bruce isn’t one for the limelight at all. He’d rather just stay at home, but he also sees that there’s a ton of guys from the ’80-’81, ’81-’82 teams that are coming back and that’s all respect for what he did for all of us, the way he played and the person he is.”
It’s expected to be a very emotional evening.
“The emotion comes from respect,” said Chartier, who has remained friends with Gordon since their days with the Blades. “The amount of guys coming in know what kind of person Bruce is and this is all heartfelt.”
Chartier not only played hockey with Gordon; both went to the University of Saskatchewan and they later worked together, as partners, with the Saskatoon police. They trained together and ran Ironman marathons together. They’re also neighbours.
“Anybody taking a look at this jersey — that was the most dangerous jersey ever made for junior and not just because Bruce wore it, but those Cooperalls were crazy,” said Chartier, pointing to Gordon’s old Pac-man style jersey.
Blades assistant coach Jerome Engele said Gordon embodies what it means to be a Blade.
“We strive very hard to teach our young people coming here about integrity, honesty and hard work and, with that, responsibility that comes along with it outside of this arena,” said Engele, who is also a longtime member of the city police force.
“Bruce was a very good example of that. As a police officer, you couldn’t ask for a better person to work with, a harder working person. As a police officer on the ice, he was a hard-nosed hockey player who did his job and worked extremely hard. When he was on the ice, he carried a lot of respect and he also carried a lot of respect from his fellow police officers.”
Pat Nogier, who played hockey with Gordon as WHL defence partners and later worked with Gordon as a police partner, said Gordon displays all the traits the force looks for in an officer, including integrity and hard work, and the ability to tackle responsibilities and situations head on.
“Bruce has all those characteristics,” said Nogier.
There’s a ton of guys from the ’80-’81, ’81-’82 teams that are coming back and that’s all respect for what he did.