Untimely Death

Very sad to hear this morning of the death of Brad McCrimmon in a plane crash in Russia. Brad was an allstar defenceman with the Brandon WheatKings back in 1976 - 1979 when I did the Wheat Kings play by play for CKX Radio. Even back then you could tell that Brad was a special talent and not only on the ice. He was very mature, a natural leader and did a very articulate interview which is not always the case with junior hockey players. I think I remember him most for those interviews that we did over the years. Always willing to chat and as I said before so articulate. I think of Brad and former New Westminster Bruin Barry Beck as the two best junior players I ever interviewed, and of course being with the Wheat Kings there were many more opportunities to interview Brad. Those great Wheat Kings teams of the late 1970''s also included players like Bill Derlago, Brian Propp, Ray Allison, Lauire Boschman and more. Brad also was a head coach with the Saskatoon Blades before becoming an assistant coach in the NHL. This has been a tough few weeks for Saskatchewan born and bred former NHL players.
First Derek Boogaard died and then shortly there after another former Blade Wade Belak passed away.

Excellent article from the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 7
2011


Dream dies with McCrimmon in Russia
Brad McCrimmon was simply chasing a dream.

It was a dream that died minutes after takeoff Wednesday when his Russian club’s charter flight crashed into a riverbank, killing all but one member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team he had only recently taken over as coach.

“He went to Russia to earn his stripes and show he was serious about becoming a head coach in the NHL,” said his former Calgary Flames teammate Joe Nieuwendyk, voice cracking.

“And then this happens … It’s just devastating news.”

Some called him ‘Beast.’ Others called him ‘Sarge.’

Most who played with McCrimmon or were coached by him, called him friend — as reliable and loyal as the farm dogs he grew up around.

But what the old-school purveyor of fine hockey stories from Plenty, Sask., wanted to be called most was coach.

“I talked to him early on in the summer when we were going through our coaching search, and he was very interested in a head coaching job dating back years earlier when he left Atlanta,” said Nieuwendyk, the Dallas Stars GM who hoisted the Stanley Cup alongside McCrimmon with the Flames in 1989.

“We had discussed it, and he knew from talking to me and others that there’s a strong belief you have to be a bench boss first before you get a shot at a head coaching job in the NHL. He told me he was going to Russia. I talked to him just before he left, and he was excited about the coaching staff he had and the players he was bringing in.”

Pausing to collect himself, Nieuwendyk added quietly.

“I can’t believe we’re dealing with another tragedy.”

Indeed, it’s been a tough summer for the NHL, having lost Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak before their time. While it puts Sidney Crosby’s concussion in perspective, it adds a sombre tone to training camps opening next week.

McCrimmon was 52, leaving behind a wife and two kids.

Having played over 1,200 games for six teams before coaching four other teams as an assistant, there aren’t many NHL regulars who haven’t been touched by the bruising defenceman the last three decades — good and bad.

“He played hard and was not fun to play against, but when he was with us in Calgary, he and Gary Suter were such a force (on the blueline together) — they were a big reason we won,” Nieuwendyk said.

“Sarge was such an appropriate nickname because he spoke to us like an army sargeant, but it was always in fun. If we were in the hot tub, he’d say ‘don’t stay in there too long you kids.’ With Sarge, everything was black and white, right or wrong. But he was always upbeat and always made you feel good.”

McCrimmon’s lack of social graces made Beast the perfect handle, said Mark Howe, who paired up with McCrimmon in the 1985-86 NHL season, when McCrimmon was a remarkable plus-83. All told, he was plus-444, making him the perfect assistant in Calgary from 2000-03, when he mentored Robyn Regehr and Denis Gauthier among others.

“As a player he was the best partner I ever had,” said Howe, a recent Hall of Fame inductee.

“We lived, ate and drank together for three years and just had a certain chemistry on the ice, and that carried over off the ice. If you wanted someone to tell you lies and talk behind your back, you had the wrong guy. If you needed someone in a dire situation, he was always there. I consider him one of my best friends, and that had nothing to do with hockey.”

Jamie Macoun said not only could you count on Beast as a defenceman but also as a banker.

“You could go on the road way back when, and any time you’d need a few bucks, he’d always have a thousand bucks on him — he was a farm boy, and he’d say, ‘Never trust the bank and carry your money with ya.’ It’s the boy scout in him — always be prepared.”

“He was a salt-of-the-Earth, solid farm boy,” added a quiet Lanny McDonald.

“He’d swear like a trooper, but he’d be smiling while he did it. If he didn’t agree with something, he wasn’t going to let it pass — he was going to speak his mind whether you liked it or not. What you saw with Brad is what you got. Nothing held back.”

He died while chasing a dream, which unfortunately doesn’t make any of this easy to swallow.

eric.francis@sunmedia.ca

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