Athletes and stories made '06 memorable
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back at 2006 and some of the people and stories that were memorable for me:
Saku Koivu: When I first saw Saku Koivu at the 1994 winter Olympics in Lillehammer, the one thing that impressed me was his toughness. While he had the obvious skills that prompted the Canadiens to make him a first-round draft choice, he also showed a willingness to mix it up with bigger players. I remember writing that Montreal fans were going to love him.
In retrospect, that was an understatement. Over the past dozen years, we’ve watched Koivu battle not only opposing players, but a variety of ailments including a life-threatening cancer. On each occasion, he has persevered, and it was no different this year when he suffered a serious eye injury in the playoffs.
When Koivu reported to training camp, he admitted his vision wasn’t 100 per cent and he expressed concern about how well he would be able to play. He said he would have to make adjustments to compensate for his limited peripheral vision.
As we approach the midway point in the season, I’m happy to report that Koivu is enjoying a career season, averaging a point a game. He has scored 15 goals and should easily surpass his career high of 21.
Bob Gainey: It has been a year of triumph and tragedy for the Canadiens general manager.
Gainey stepped down from the front-office to coach the Canadiens last January. He guided the team into the playoffs and had the Canadiens on track to beat the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, when Koivu was injured.
Gainey returned to the front office, but left the team in good hands with the appointment of Guy Carbonneau as the head coach.
But Gainey, who lost his wife to cancer, had to deal with another tragedy at year’s end when his daughter, Laura, was swept off the bow of a tall ship in the Atlantic Ocean and was lost at sea.
Don Matthews: It’s difficult to believe that one of the best coaches in Canadian Football League history will be unemployed when the 2007 season starts.
We’ll never be sure whether Matthews was sick or someone else was sick of him, but he and the Alouettes parted company late in the season.
Players loved Matthews and he was a winner. He had a tempestuous relationship with the media, but even his harshest critics will admit that life around The Don was never dull.
The Impact: The city’s professional soccer team had another great regular season followed by a playoff collapse. But the city’s longterm soccer prospects might have been affected by developments outside the city.
The folks who own the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Raptors are going into the soccer business with an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer. MLS rules require the team to have a mostly Canadian roster. Toronto FC and the Canadian Soccer Association are hoping that the majority of players on Canada’s national team will end up in Toronto.
That means the new team will be raiding the Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps for talent. The Impact has already lost all-star goalkeeper Greg Sutton.
Aleksandra Wozniak and Frank Dancevic: For the first time in five years, Canada has tennis players in the top 100 in the ATP Tour and WTA rankings. That means Canadian tennis fans will be able to root for some homegrown talent at the 2007 Grand Slam events.
Rogers disconnected: Speaking of tennis, the Rogers Cup is supposed to be one of the major stops on the WTA Tour, but it received no respect from the top female players in the world.
This year’s event was marked by no-shows and a series of real and imaginary injuries, most of which were miraculously healed in time for the U.S. Open a couple of weeks later.
The WTA says it is looking at a number of reforms including a shorter schedule and increased fines for players who skip major events. The plan was supposed to be implemented in 2010, but has been moved ahead to 2009. That means the ladies will have one more chance to screw the local fans in 2008.
Clara Hughes: Cindy Klassen deserved all the athlete-of-the-year honours she received for her speed-skating heroics at the Turin Olympics, but Hughes was my favourite story from Italy.
Hughes, who’s practically a neighbour of mine in the Eastern Townships, became the first Canadian athlete to win medals in the summer and winter Olympics. But she became my hero because of her fundraising efforts – including a large personal donation – on behalf of Right to Play, the athlete-driven charity that brings sporting opportunities to children in war-torn and underdeveloped areas of the world.
