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Wednesday, 12 August, 1998
Class act leaves much too soon
One, the goalie. The other, the goal-scoring hero, after 128 minutes and 47 seconds of hockey.
It ended at around 2 a.m., local time.
Kelly Hrudey remembers. How could he possibly forget?
"I saw Pat spin," he says, "shoot ... and all I could think at that moment was 'Thank Gawd!' The relief ... it's almost indescribable.
"That was a long time ago. But people still talk about that game, that goal.
"The drama. A playoff Game 7 that seemed to go on forever. It was a watershed moment for a lot of people. Myself and Pat included."
They were with the New York Islanders then, embarking on careers that would make both wealthy and famous.
And now, both are gone, but for entirely different reasons. Hrudey, at 37, retired by choice from San Jose earlier this summer.
And now, prematurely, La-Fontaine, exiting yesterday at an emotional news conference at Madison Square Garden, out of necessity. A series of concussions has forced one of the game's brightest lights and finest gentlemen out into the real world.
"It was my time to leave," says Hrudey. "But, obviously, Pat's time hadn't come yet."
LaFontaine undoubtedly feels cheated. And so should we. But no one wants to see Pat LaFon-taine's thought processes re-duced to a test pattern.
"My first reaction? It's a shame," replies Hrudey, who now makes his year-round home in Calgary. "Not only for Pat, but for hockey. What an exciting player! People would pay money to watch Pat LaFontaine. The game can't afford to lose that type of person, not before his time should be up.
"For four or five years, he was one of the top two or three players in the game. It was obvious from the moment he came into the league, Pat was special."
Hrudey last saw LaFontaine a year ago, when the Sharks and Rangers met. "I told him it was great to see him back on the ice, but I also told him to be careful."
No amount of care, though, could repair the damage done by those concussions.
In an athletic era dominated by tattoos and hair dye-jobs, self-absorption and clinical insanity, LaFontaine was a throwback; a reminder of simpler times. This guy was so clean, he squeaked; kind of a Donny Osmond with a face shield. Nary did the taint of scandal darken his doorstep. No bar bust-ups. No Betty Ford clinics. No drug raps or mug shots or arrogant brush-offs of autograph seekers.
Yet -- and this is the real trick -- he seemed modern and cool.
With LaFontaine, as Huey Lewis used to sing, it was hip to be square.
"With Pat," says Hrudey, "what you see is what he is. And that's another reason to be sad about this. Hockeys need more articles about players like Pat LaFontaine, not some of the other guys.
"He's respectful of people, straight up with you guys in the press and never phony with anyone."
Work in this business long enough and it's all too obvious that many athletes act a part in front of the cameras. They're genuine alright ... genuine fakes. Complete athletes, work-in-progress people.
Pat LaFontaine, happily, was complete in both areas.
Hrudey doesn't plan on phoning his ex-teammate to offer his encouragement.
"I'm not that kind of guy. But I'll bump into him. Our community, the hockey community, is a small one. And when I do, I'll tell him it's a shame he had to leave but that he did the right thing for himself and his family.
"Pat LaFontaine was a great player, a great ambassador and, most importantly, a great person.
"He has no reason to feel he left anything unfinished."
Proof, then, that nice guys can finish first.
Even if not on their own terms.
