Phaneuf is a plug.

[Cor]

Dion Phaneuf Discussion Thread

http://www.thespec.com/sports-story...euf-makes-dying-little-boy-s-dream-come-true/

Jordan Landry played hockey in a league for one season before his health took him off the ice.

Then, he played mini-sticks in the hallways of Toronto's Sick Kids hospital with resident clown A. Leboo.

He played air hockey in the lounge.

He made team logos out of melted beads — his goal was to do all 30 NHL teams but he did his favourite first: the Chicago Blackhawks, an inexplicable choice to his family, who all cheer for different teams.

He invited nurses to come to his room at, say, 2 p.m. for a game. They did and he played all the positions himself.

Jordan was born with a heart abnormality, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, that rendered the left side of his heart underdeveloped. At 9 years old, he'd already gone through three heart surgeries.

Click to read more...

 

[Durrr]

Read this earlier, fooled me into thinking it was a happy story but it ended up being pretty sad. I dislike how the writer waited until the second last line to even hint at the misfortune that took place. My prayers are with the kid and his family.

**I don't know if this really makes his anymore of a captain, but it makes him a good human being; which is ultimately more valuable. I hope everyone in a similar position who has the ability to make the lives of others even just a little better takes every opportunity they can.

 

[JimmyPower]

Really sad story, hope his family can recover after something so tragic. I agree with the above post. Poorly written article. The end of the article almost seemed like the writer rushed it to meet a deadline.

 

[Ed Belfour]

Honestly, captaincy and all that crap aside..Dion seems like a good dude.

 

[Future]

I thought there would have been a good ending. Very sad story, good for Dion though. Fans sometimes forget these guys are human beings and what they do away from the rink.

Hoping for the best for that family. I couldn't even imagine how hard that would be.

 

[ConnorTO]

blackhawks are ****, bunch of bandwagoners

 

[Daisy Jane]

this is mean I was all prepared to come defend Dion, and then I have to read that this little kid died? ugh. heart. broken.

 

[Banic]

Glad to hear he's involved, it's great to see and such a good cause to be involved in. Though I agree it doesn't have anything to do with leadership as most players (especially high profile) are involved in such community efforts. Schenn, Lupul, Clarkson and Kessel have all done similar efforts off the top of my head. Indeed it is part of the fabric of being a Maple Leaf. That being said, he's using his position to accomplish something great, and that speaks volumes.

 

[Hurt]

Copyright laws. Can't post the full article.

 

[DD03]

I really don't like the ending..

"And the family cheers for the Blackhawks"

Pretty poor conclusion considering what this article was really about..

 

[Swervin81]

Tragic story. Good to see Dion reaching out and making a kid's day during his final days. Really sad to see it end the way it did.

Horribly written article though. "So here is a lot of great stuff that Phaneuf did for a sick kid and Phaneuf's philanthropy is extremely heartwarming and puts a smile on your face... oh, by the way, the kid died". Like, seriously? Even Cox couldn't have worse writing style than that.

 

[leafsfuture]

Glad to hear he's involved, it's great to see and such a good cause to be involved in. Though I agree it doesn't have anything to do with leadership as most players (especially high profile) are involved in such community efforts. Schenn, Lupul, Clarkson and Kessel have all done similar efforts off the top of my head. Indeed it is part of the fabric of being a Maple Leaf. That being said, he's using his position to accomplish something great, and that speaks volumes.

Brian Burke played a major role in this. I remember when he joined the team he made it clear, "you will give back in the community".

Of course, a guy like Schenn had already started Luke's Troops, so its not just the effect of Brian Burke, but we all know that Schenn was a type of character that Burke wanted on the Leafs anyways.

As for Phaneuf, great dead, anyone who thinks he is a bad leader / person obviously is bias against him. I cant speak too much to his character, but the way you hear him on the ice, after goals scored and also on 24/7 really show him to be a guy who cares about the team

 

[Hurt]

I really don't like the ending..

"And the family cheers for the Blackhawks"

Pretty poor conclusion considering what this article was really about..

That the family put apart their team favouring differences to cheer for the team of the little boy who died? It's a way of preserving his memory, I think. I don't know, made sense to me.

 

[Diatomic]

I really don't like the ending..

"And the family cheers for the Blackhawks"

Pretty poor conclusion considering what this article was really about..

What a ridiculous ending.

 

[Baarle*]

That the family put apart their team favouring differences to cheer for the team of the little boy who died? It's a way of preserving his memory, I think. I don't know, made sense to me.

I saw it the same way. The kid was never a leaf fan, the only reason Dion became involved is because his family live in the Ronald McDonald house (in Toronto).

 

[HockeyThoughts]

Sad story and very noble of Dion Phaneuf to make the extra effort for a young along fan..

However, that was just a poorly written article all around. The conclusion in particular was very weak and far too abrupt.

A real shame too.. It's not to often the media can make a positive comment about a Toronto Maple Leaf player without a negative to qualify it.

 

[DD03]

That the family put apart their team favouring differences to cheer for the team of the little boy who died? It's a way of preserving his memory, I think. I don't know, made sense to me.

I don't think what team the family cheers for has anything to do with anything..

 

[achtungbaby]

Sad story. This has little to do with Dion being captain material so the point of thread is just lost.

 

[Cor]

Sad story. This has little to do with Dion being captain material so the point of thread is just lost.

Disagree. Dion goes out of the way to do stuff like this. It sets an example. Just like he goes out of his way to invite new guys to his cottage in Nova Scotia during the summer to get to know them.

This alone doesn't make him a good captain, but it certainly helps the case. Heck, if you watched 24/7, you should know Dion is the leader in that room

 

[AllHeartNoSkill]

This alone doesn't make him a good captain, but it certainly helps the case. Heck, if you watched 24/7, you should know Dion is the leader in that room

If you are talking about the pep talk he gives before one of the games, that sounded so inorganic, it was clearly done because the cameras were there. You can look around the room at the reactions of his teammates and you can see they're fighting back laughter and making eye contact with each other. That was hard to watch it was so blatantly staged.

He may very well be a leader, but it definitely doesn't come in the form of that scripted pep talk or a spirited game of ping pong.

 

[gtforepro]

As for Phaneuf, great dead,

That's an unfortunate typo. Wished I'd read everyone's comments before the putting a damper on the morning. Contrary to most of you, I thought that was great writing. The ending got the intended effect. I've always kinda liked the Blackhawks a little bit...

 

[Hurt]

I don't think what team the family cheers for has anything to do with anything..

You're not getting it. It's to honour the child's memory. He was a huge Blackhawks fan so every time they watch and cheer for the Hawks, the memory of the child lives on.

 

[ACC1224]

If you are talking about the pep talk he gives before one of the games, that sounded so inorganic, it was clearly done because the cameras were there. You can look around the room at the reactions of his teammates and you can see they're fighting back laughter and making eye contact with each other. That was hard to watch it was so blatantly staged.

He may very well be a leader, but it definitely doesn't come in the form of that scripted pep talk or a spirited game of ping pong.

Have you seen him going up and down the bench during TV timeouts?
Nothing scripted there.

 

[Gallagbi]

Brian Burke played a major role in this. I remember when he joined the team he made it clear, "you will give back in the community".

Of course, a guy like Schenn had already started Luke's Troops, so its not just the effect of Brian Burke, but we all know that Schenn was a type of character that Burke wanted on the Leafs anyways.

As for Phaneuf, great dead, anyone who thinks he is a bad leader / person obviously is bias against him. I cant speak too much to his character, but the way you hear him on the ice, after goals scored and also on 24/7 really show him to be a guy who cares about the team

Schenn started the program a few months after Burke was hired.

 

[TheThrill81*]

If you are talking about the pep talk he gives before one of the games, that sounded so inorganic, it was clearly done because the cameras were there. You can look around the room at the reactions of his teammates and you can see they're fighting back laughter and making eye contact with each other. That was hard to watch it was so blatantly staged.

He may very well be a leader, but it definitely doesn't come in the form of that scripted pep talk or a spirited game of ping pong.

Yeah, Phaneuf went out of his way to give a pretend pep-talk to his teammates just because the 24/7 cameras were pointed at him. All so he could appease naysayers like yourself. That definitely sounds plausible.