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sj-roc
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Fomer NHL journeyman defenceman Steve Montador, who was part of the Calgary Flames' run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, has been found dead at his home at the age of 35. No foul play is suspected but he had concussion and depression issues and there will be an autopsy.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/15 ... auga-home/
Former National Hockey League defenceman Steve Montador was found dead at his suburban Toronto home early Sunday morning, according to Peel Regional Police.

Montator, 35, was found by a female friend around 2 a.m. in his Mississauga home. Police say there is no foul play suspected in his death.

“It’s believed to be natural causes,” said Const. Fiona Thivierge, a spokesperson with Peel police. “There’s an autopsy being done only because of his age, but there’s no criminality believed to be associated with the death.”

Const. Thivierge also said his family is asking for privacy.

“We’ve spoken to his family and his family is obviously devastated by the loss and they are asking for privacy,” she said.

Originally from Vancouver, Montador was a defenceman who appeared in 571 regular season NHL games. He began his career in 2001-02 with the Calgary Flames, and was a member of the 2004 team that made a run to the Stanley Cup final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Montador played six seasons with the Flames.

“It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the passing of Steve Montador,” the Flames organization said in a statement. “Steve will always be remembered to us as a member of the Flames family. We are very proud that he wore the Calgary uniform over six seasons and also of his important contributions during that period both on and off the ice. We would like to express our sincere condolences to the Montador family. This is a terrible loss of a wonderful young man; a great teammate known for his big heart and character. He will be missed by all who had the pleasure to have known and worked with him.”

Craig Conroy, his former Flames teammate and current assistant general manager of the club, said he “loved” playing with Montador and remembered him as an integral part of their ’04 Stanley Cup run.

“He was the ultimate team guy and great person,” Conroy said in a statement released by the Flames. “The type of person willing to do anything for his teammates and friends. I remember Steve as playing such an important part of our 2004 Stanley Cup Finals team. He had the ability to bring everyone together and was so enjoyable to be around; he would light up a room with his presence. I’m so sad today to hear the news that we have lost an important member of both the Flames and hockey family. We will all miss you dearly Monty.”

Montador also played for the Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks. He scored 33 goals, 131 points and 807 penalty minutes over the course of his NHL career.

Most recently Montador played 11 games in the KHL with Zagreb Medvescak in 2013-14.

In a statement, NHL Players’ Association Executive Director Don Fehr said they are “deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death of Steve Montador.”

“Steve was a great person who quickly became a friend of everyone he came to know in the game; teammates, NHL club staff, the media and fans. Over the course of his career, he was an active member of the NHLPA and someone who I and our entire staff, enjoyed working closely with. He dedicated a lot of his time to advancing the interests of his fellow players. On behalf of the players and staff, we send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s family and his many friends. He will be greatly missed.”

The Chicago Blackhawks organization also offered their condolences to Montador’s family.

“With deep sadness we mourn the unfortunate loss of former Blackhawk Steve Montador. We join the many others throughout the NHL in keeping Steve’s family and friends in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” the club said in a statement.

Montador spoke candidly about concussions — and their lingering complications — in a December interview with The Peterborough Examiner. He told the paper he suspected he suffered as many as a dozen concussions in the final three years of his playing career.

“You’re putting someone into a depressive situation and I can understand why some of these former athletes talk about depression,” he told the Examiner. “It’s no surprise, unfortunately, given the dire and full-on effects that there are people who end up committing suicide. It’s the far end of the spectrum they’re willing to go given they don’t know the answers to what is happening.

“It was really challenging for me because I found for a good while I didn’t feel right and I couldn’t explain it. It was a pretty sad situation and I didn’t know what to do about it.”


He told the paper that, despite his age, he had no further plans to play.

“I love the game but I have no desire to play and don’t miss the game at all,” he told the paper. “Now I’m moving back to Toronto, Mississauga actually, to start chapter two.”

On social media, many former and current NHL players reacted to his death.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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sj-roc
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This is the Peterborough Examiner article referenced in my last post:

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ ... -challenge
NHL veteran Steve Montador looking for a new challenge

By Mike Davies, Peterborough Examiner

Thursday, December 18, 2014 11:08:32 EST PM


Steve Montador is ready to begin the next chapter in his life – whatever that may be.

The former Peterborough Petes defenceman and Young's Point resident retired from a 14-year pro hockey career last season.

Although never drafted, Montador played 571 NHL games for Calgary, Florida, Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo and Chicago. The rugged rearguard registered 33 goals, 131 points, +31 rating and 807 penalty minutes. He played in 43 additional playoff games.

He also involved himself through the NHLPA in charity work, including travelling to Africa with Right To Play, and was part of the union's negotiating committee during the 2012-13 NHL lockout.

“I'm very proud of my career. I have mixed emotions that it's over but I feel I accomplished what I set out to do as a kid growing up in Canada. I felt very blessed,” he said.

“I don't know exactly what is in store for me next but I feel like the gift and connections and challenges, everything it took for me to have the success and the time in the NHL I did, will lead me to do whatever I do post-career. One is part of the other and sort of a stepping stone to whatever that is.”

Concussions cut Montador's career short as he missed 30 games with Chicago in 2010-11 and almost all of 2011-12. He estimates he had eight to 12 head hits between the last three years of his career. He found it difficult not being able to do much as the best treatment for concussions is rest and avoiding stimulation such as physical activity, no television, phone, internet.

“You're putting someone into a depressive situation and I can understand why some of these former athletes talk about depression,” he said. “It's no surprise, unfortunately, given the dire and full-on effects that there are people who end up committing suicide. It's the far end of the spectrum they're willing to go given they don't know the answers to what is happening.

“It was really challenging for me because I found for a good while I didn't feel right and I couldn't explain it. It was a pretty sad situation and I didn't know what to do about it.”

Unable to find an NHL team willing to take a chance on him once he recovered, Montador joined Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League last season and played just 11 games before packing it in.

“I went into it thinking I didn't want to leave having any regrets of not playing. I went there and I got injured a couple of times and I just wasn't feeling it. I wasn't comfortable. I didn't feel like I was helping,” he said.

“I took a couple of head shots and by no means did it relapse me back to where I'd been with the previous concussions but I thought, 'It's not worth it.'”

He spent the past year living in Southern California on a self-imposed sabbatical clearing hockey out of his system.

“I don't want to play anymore,” he said. “I love the game but I have no desire to play and don't miss the game at all. Now I'm moving back to Toronto, Mississauga actually, to start chapter two.”

Montador is partner with Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Clarkson and fitness trainer Andy O'Brien in a gym in the GTA he intends to dedicate more time to.

“We train professional hockey players and a few young kids,” Montador said. “I'd like to expand that business and that's going to be the first thing I do. I'm hoping we can help mould some young men.”

Dedication to strength and conditioning helped Montador reach the NHL.

“I always felt it was something I had to do to give me an advantage. I felt that it did.”

Montador was hoping to be in Peterborough for the Griswold Cup at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at the Memorial Centre, a charity game for Kawartha Food Share run by friends who were former pro and junior players. He played last year but it's unlikely he'll be back from a trip to Florida in time.

“I'm happy to be a part of something where I can support the Peterborough guys,” Montador said.

“There is a three-on-three tournament we do every year in honour of Kirk Gaskell and other events, too, that we're looking to build. It's one of those things where we don't know how big we're going to get or how far we're going to go. It's just some local guys looking to do some good things for the local community.”
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
TheLionKing
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So tragic at such a young age.
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sj-roc
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Anyone else tuned into the Sharks/Kings Stadium Series game from the new 49ers stadium (Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara)?

Image
Kings uniforms: UGLY. Too much white (even the pants?!?) and then where there's no white: boring grey. :sleep:

This is quite likely the first uniform in all of professional sports that could be faithfully reproduced on black and white television. Only thing I like is the HUGE fan-friendly player numbers on the sleeves, almost as large as on the back.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
TheLionKing
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I agree. Those are awful uniforms. Wonder how much the Kings paid a designer to come up with that ?
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Toppy Vann
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TheLionKing wrote:I agree. Those are awful uniforms. Wonder how much the Kings paid a designer to come up with that ?
That one makes the Canucks Halloween suits look good. Yikes.

I was shocked that Montador is dead at 35. Sad but I guess an autopsy will say what took place - if it gets revealed publicly.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
TheLionKing
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Poor Leaf fans. More ridicule

TheLionKing
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Season to forget continues for Leaf fans. Nazem Khadri suspended for two more games.
TheLionKing
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How bad is it in Leaf Nation ? Even their mascot wants out of TO

http://www.intrepidreporter.ca/sports// ... -be-traded
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WestCoastJoe
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The Leafs have been terrible, seemingly forever. And it seems to me that they are worse now than ever.

Team leaders: Kadri? Kessel?

Dunno what happened to Dion Phaneuf. At one point, with Calgary, he seemed like the next dominant defenceman in the league.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/201 ... rthur.html

I don't like the Leafs. But they are in the news a lot.

To me, they deserve Kadri and Kessel. Those guys epitomize what the Leafs are all about. Not team motivated. Not hard workers. Not fit. Not great character guys, willing to bust a gut to win. Talented guys for sure, but you need more than that.

Ron Wilson might be right. Blow the team up. Start from scratch. LOL

Just IMO ...
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
TheLionKing
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Ron Wilson is right, they are indeed Uncoachables.
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Toppy Vann
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TheLionKing wrote:Ron Wilson is right, they are indeed Uncoachables.
The problem in the NHL is that they can't blow up their team and start anew.

But they should do more than they have to get players in who want to play hard and win.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
TheLionKing
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Edmonton Oilers failed to make the playoffs for the 9th consecutive year. So much for the City of Champions.
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WestCoastJoe
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... as the Leafs blow in the wind ...

Kessel: "We're giving full effort."
“We’re giving full effort,” said Phil Kessel a day after the Leafs were chased off the ice by the San Jose Sharks. “Obviously, it hasn’t been great, but no one’s not trying, so if you’re saying that, you’re lost.”
Directly contrasting Kessel’s views just a few hours earlier, Horachek described the effort he saw against the Sharks as “like a pro team playing a non-pro team." (That sentiment was echoed by Jonathan Bernier, who said the Leafs looked like a “junior team”.)
Horachek:

“We understand that we’re not in the playoffs,” he said after the loss on Thursday night. “We understand that, but it doesn’t change your work ethic. One thing you have is an attitude all the time. One thing you can give to your teammates and to the fans is your attitude and your approach to the game, your work ethic, that does never have to change.”

His appeal hadn’t softened a day later.

“We want to be a hungry team and that’s what I’m asking for us to be is a hungry team,” Horachek said. “You can’t tell what’s in every single person’s mind, but what I’m asking for is in their heart.”
“I think every job has its obstacles or difficult times, but that does not mean that you don’t come to work and continue to be professional,” Dion Phaneuf added on the subject. “We’ve got 10 games left. You have to play for the guys in the room. You have to play for each other. You’ve got to play for your coaching staff and the organization. So no there’s no excuses about motivation.”
“The Coles Notes version of it is that we’ve got to more to give and he expects more,” said Phaneuf. “And we expect more of ourselves because the effort that we have been showing has not been acceptable. The outcomes of the games have been evident of that effort.”
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
TheLionKing
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Phil Weasel is grossly overpaid. Leads the team in scoring with 54 points, also leads the team in plus minus with a -35. You're never going to win without playing defence.
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