Canucks honor Odjick with pregame ceremony

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks honored the life and memory of Gino Odjick with a pregame ceremony as part of their First Nation Celebration night against the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

Odjick, who played the first eight of his 12 NHL seasons in Vancouver, passed away on January 15 at age 52 after battling AL (Primary) Amyloidosis, a rare terminal illness that affected his heart, since 2014.
Canucks players wore warmup jerseys designed by Jay Odjick, an Algonquin artist and Gino Odjick's cousin, that featured a Thunderbird crest in Algonquin design representing the strong and powerful protector Odjick was, with a lightning bolt at its heart to symbolize his passion, and wings in a Coastal Salish design.

"The Thunderbird represents strength power and is a protector to the people and I think there's no better thing that symbolizes the heart of Gino Odjick and who he was," Jay Odjick told the Canucks website. "The Thunderbird also has meaning to the people on the west coast who took Gino in, adopted him and truly made him one of their own."
The jersey also featured a Medicine Wheel shoulder patch to represent the interconnectedness and balance of all elements of life, with eight feathers for Odjick's eight seasons in Vancouver. The patch also featured his number 29, which Odjick wore as a tribute to his father's assigned number at residential school.

The pregame ceremony featured a video tribute to Odjick, sparking chants of "Gino, Gino" that were familiar throughout his career, and whenever he was introduced at games after retiring in 2002. Odjick had 64 goals, 73 assists and 2,567 penalty minutes in 605 NHL games with the Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.
"Growing up I remember vividly the first time we became aware of how popular Gino was in Vancouver when we saw the crowd chanting 'Gino, Gino, Gino' and being like 'wow, this I real,'" Jay said to the Canucks website. "To have the opportunity to create something to capture his spirit and give that to people in the midst of what is such a dark time, hopefully this gives people something to smile about."
Odjick also played 44 playoff games, all with Vancouver, scoring four goals and an assist, but his impact went beyond his role as a fierce, physical forward who stuck up for teammates on the ice. Born and raised outside of Maniwaki, Quebec, the largest Algonquin Nation in Canada, Odjick was also a role model for First Nations and Indigenous hockey players everywhere.
To celebrate that impact, the Canucks for Kids Fund donated $1.5 million, split evenly between Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations to support youth programming reinforcing the positive power of sport and education.
"This year's game marks a particularly special occasion as we also honour the life of Gino Odjick, who was not only one of the greatest First Nations players in NHL history, but also one of the most impactful players the Vancouver Canucks have ever seen on and off the ice," Michael Doyle, president of Canucks business operations, said in a release.