Music: {allcanada} Former Canucks enforcer Gino Odjick in psychiatric hospital, friends blame concussions

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

{allcanada} Former Canucks enforcer Gino Odjick in psychiatric hospital, friends blame concussions

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National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Friends and business associates of former Vancouver Canuck Gino Odjick say they were worried about his mental health in the days leading up to Pavel Bure's jersey retirement ceremony on Nov. 2 at Rogers Arena.

Odjick, who has spent the past five days in a psychiatric unit at a Gatineau, Que., hospital, was not in a good state prior to Bure's ceremony, his business manager Kumi Kimura said Tuesday.

Odjick and close friends blame his health problems on concussions suffered while playing hockey and serving as an enforcer who frequently got involved in on-ice fights.

"He was way gone at Pavel's thing," Kimura said. "We were walking on eggshells."

Odjick was admitted to the psychiatric unit at UBC Hospital in early September, but was released after only a few days.

"We wanted him in the hospital until two or three days before Pavel's event so he would be calm, be rested and get on the regular meds that control his brain," Kimura said. "Our goal was to get him to Pavel's retirement. He got there, but he walked out in sneakers and a hat when he should be wearing a suit. He knows better. That just wasn't him."

Odjick had travelled to Quebec following the death on Nov. 25 of his father, Joe Odjick.

Le Journal de Montreal reported Tuesday that an "agitated" Odjick had been admitted to the psychiatric ward of Pierre Janet Hospital Centre late last week.

Reporter Marc de Foy said Odjick told him two years ago that he was struggling with post-traumatic symptoms and has cognitive difficulties.

"When you get hit in the head a lot, it's hard for the brain," de Foy quoted Odjick as saying.

Odjick also told de Foy: "I'm here for my concussions. Since I retired in 2002, I have spent 32 months at the hospital."

Just last week, 10 former NHL players, including two former Canucks, filed a class-action lawsuit claiming that the league has not done enough to protect players from concussions.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, seeks damages and court-approved, NHL-sponsored medical monitoring for the players' brain trauma and/or injuries, which they blame on their hockey careers.

Kimura, who also manages the Musqueam Golf Centre that Odjick part owns, did not want to go into details about Odjick's recent health struggles, but acknowledged his father's passing hit him hard.

"It was a huge blow to him, as it would be for anybody, so take that into consideration and times it by 5,000 because his brain isn't working correctly," she said.

Odjick was Bure's closest friend when they played together on the Canucks. A few days after Bure's jersey retirement ceremony, Odjick decided to drive to Quebec to help clear his head.

He made a stop in Calgary, where he spoke with Flames coach Bob Hartley. He then travelled to Saskatchewan where he hoped to see a medicine man for treatment of his condition. But when got word of his father's death, Odjick headed immediately for his home town of Maniwaki, Que.

"We can't have a funeral or make arrangements for Papa Joe because we have to get a handle on Gino," Kimura said. "That's where we are at right now."

Odjick, 43, played 444 of his 605 NHL games with the Canucks. He recorded 137 points and 2,567 penalty minutes in his career, which ended with the Montreal Canadiens after the 2001-02 season.

He has been a part owner of the Musqueam Golf Centre in southwest Vancouver for many years.

"He owns the place and he lets us run it," Kimura said. "He comes to play men's night, he comes to play golf. He is here a lot, but he doesn't do too much hands-on."

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation