Sam
Roberts
People felt that it would only be a matter of time before Sam Roberts
eclipsed all of Canada’s hockey greats. Gretzky’s
mind,
Lemieux’s physical prowess and Yzerman’s grit and
determination. Nobody spoke about it, even the press kept their sticky
paws off of his story - all in the hopes that a pressure free
environment would help to foster this unique talent. The Great Northern
Hope, or in the tongue of his adoptive Ojibway Indian parents "tekana
witha manitunaga." Unbeknownst to this wizard of the frozen pond and
his legion of supporters, troubled times lay ahead. Yet so did a story
of redemption from a strange and unexpected source.
For a 14 year old Sam , winning the Iron Man triathlon in Hawaii was
par for the course. He’d done it three years running and
considered it good summer training for the grueling schedule of the
Montreal Junior Canadiens. After pleasing the paparazzi with a few
off-colour photo ops involving chewing tobacco and a Hawaiian Tropic
swimsuit model, young Roberts ducked down a back street in what he
later (and most unfortunately found out) was Honolulu’s
toughest
"quartier." Some local heavies took offense to his incursion on their
turf and decided to teach him a little about the Aloha spirit. As Sam
recalled in a later interview "I was ducking and weaving and the last
thing I heard was ‘pound him Vince.’"
During his two month convalescence back in Montreal, it was clear that
injuries to the young legend’s left leg and head were not
life
threatening but they did spell the end to his dreams of leading Canada
back to the top rung of the world’s now-crowded hockey
ladder.
Many tears were shed and it was the old custodian Blind Clint who
taught Sam to channel his sadness into music. He wrote his first ballad
"Keep Your Stick on the Ice" from his hospital bed and the rest was
well… history. You now have before you the latest opus of a
man
destined to be great, but whose fate led him away from Our Game to the
vile bowels of the Rock n’ Roll world. So listen carefully to
Sam
Roberts’ latest chapter, better yet feel it.
