Gino Odjick

Gino Odjick
Born September 7, 1970
Maniwaki, QC, CAN
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Vancouver Canucks
New York Islanders
Philadelphia Flyers
Montreal Canadiens
NHL Draft 86th overall, 1990
Vancouver Canucks
Playing career 1990–2002

Wayne Gino Odjick (born September 7, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1990–91 to 2001–02 for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens.

Early life

Odjick was born in an Algonquin Native Reserve named Kitigan Zibi just outside the town of Maniwaki, Quebec. His father, Joe, was born in 1939 at Rapid Lake to Basil, a trapper and fishing guide who would be killed in France in 1945 during the Second World War, and Marie-Antoinette Marchand, who was part-French.[1] At the age of nine Joe was sent to a residential school in Spanish, Ontario.[2] The registration number he was given at the school, 29, was later used by Odjick during his playing career.[3] Odjick was the fourth child and only son of six children for Joe and Giselle, after Debbie, Shelley, Judy and ahead of Janique and Dina; there were also several foster children raised by the Odjicks, at least 32.[4] Originally named Wayne, Odjick was soon given a new name, Gino, as the family found out there was another Wayne on the reserve.[5]

From an early age Odjick played hockey, but it was not until he was 11 that he joined an organized team, which would be managed by Joe.[6] Until he was 15 Odjick stayed with local teams that mainly played other teams from reserves, often coached by his father.[7] At that age, considering quitting hockey to pursue other activities, Odjick accepted a try-out for the Hawkesbury Hawks, a Tier II junior team from Ontario; though he had been a defensive defenceman until that point, Odjick soon realised that his skills were not good enough, and instead became an enforcer.[8] It was while in Hawkesbury that Odjick was first given the nickname "the Algonquin Assassin," a reference to his heritage and skills as a fighter.[9]

He credited his sense of defending his team and fighting skills in part due to racial tensions between natives of the reserve and nearby townspeople.[10]

Playing career

Gino Odjick was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the fifth round (86th overall) in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. His primary role with the Canucks was as an enforcer. For part of his time in Vancouver, he played on a line with the high scoring Pavel Bure. For the 1993–94 NHL season, Odjick had a career high of 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points. He played in a total of 8 seasons for the Canucks from 1990–91 to 1997–98. During six of those seasons, he had over 200 penalty minutes and twice he had over 300. His sixth season (1997–98) with over 200 penalty minutes was split between the Canucks (181 penalty minutes in 35 games) and New York Islanders (31 in 13 games).

In the 1997–98 season, Odjick was traded to the New York Islanders and played there until 1999–2000 when he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He left Philadelphia during the 2000–01 for the Montreal Canadiens. His last NHL season was with Montreal in 2001–02. He missed most of the 2002–03 season due to concussion from a puck hitting him in the back of the head during pre-season practice, and was subsequently suspended in February 2003 by the Canadiens for failure to report to the minor-league AHL team in Utah.[11] He retired from professional hockey thereafter, his last known organized hockey coming in 2005, when he played on the Horse Lake Thunder team featuring several hired ringers, including ex-NHLers Theo Fleury, Sasha Lakovic and Dody Wood, which made it to the semi-finals of the 2005 Allan Cup.[12]

After retirement

In 2003, Odjick moved back to Vancouver and partnered with the Musqueam First Nation to manage the Musqueam Golf & Learning Academy.[13] As of 2013 Gino still resides in Vancouver.

Odjick starred in the 2014 Canadian short film Ronny Nomad and the Legendary Napkins of Wood written and produced by Adrian Patterson. [14]

On June 26, 2014, Odjick revealed that he was diagnosed with the rare terminal disease AL amyloidosis.[15]

On July 19th, 2014, Odjick's hometown of Maniwaki, QC honoured him by renaming the local arena Centre Sportif Gino-Odjick (Gino Odjick Sports Centre). The renaming ceremony was attended by fans, members of the First Nations community, and Odjick himself. [16]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988–89 Laval Titan QMJHL 50 9 15 24 278 16 0 9 9 129
1989–90 Laval Titan QMJHL 51 12 26 38 280 13 6 5 11 110
1990–91 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 17 7 3 10 102 — — — — —
1990–91 Vancouver Canucks NHL 45 7 1 8 296 6 0 0 0 18
1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 65 4 6 10 348 4 0 0 0 6
1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 75 4 13 17 370 1 0 0 0 0
1993–94 Vancouver Canucks NHL 76 16 13 29 271 10 0 0 0 18
1994–95 Vancouver Canucks NHL 23 4 5 9 109 5 0 0 0 47
1995–96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 55 4 3 7 181 6 3 1 4 6
1996–97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 70 5 8 13 371 — — — — —
1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 35 3 2 5 181 — — — — —
1997–98 New York Islanders NHL 13 0 0 0 31 — — — — —
1998–99 New York Islanders NHL 23 4 3 7 133 — — — — —
1999–00 New York Islanders NHL 46 5 10 15 90 — — — — —
1999–00 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 13 3 1 4 10 — — — — —
2000–01 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 17 1 3 4 28 — — — — —
2000–01 Montreal Canadiens NHL 13 1 0 1 44 — — — — —
2001–02 Quebec Citadelles AHL 13 2 1 3 40 — — — — —
2001–02 Montreal Canadiens NHL 36 4 4 8 104 12 1 0 1 47
NHL totals 605 64 73 137 2567 44 4 1 5 142

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 224
  2. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 225
  3. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 225
  4. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 229–30
  5. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 230
  6. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 231
  7. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 232–34
  8. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 234–35
  9. ↑ MacGregor 1995, p. 240
  10. ↑ "The Ultimate Teammate". Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Shoots and Scores!. Raincoast Books. 2005. p. 259-260. ISBN 1551928493.
  11. ↑ "Profile - Gino Odjick". LegendsOfHockey.net. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sound of Thunder: Fleury, Lakovic come unglued," Robert Tychkowski, Edmonton Sun,
  13. ↑ Gino Odjick Looks To Golf As A New Career, First Nations Drum, Spring 2004
  14. ↑ "Ronny Nomad and the Legendary Napkins of Wood, IMDb.com
  15. ↑ home Letter from Gino Odjick,
  16. ↑ "Gino Odjick makes surprise appearance at ceremony to rename arena in his honor," Tim Fontaine, "APTN National News",

References

  • MacGregor, Roy (1995), The Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey, Toronto: Penguin Canada, ISBN 978-0-14-305336-1

External links