Vancouver Canucks fan favourite Gino Odjick dead at 52 | CBC Sports

Former Vancouver Canucks enforcer and fan favourite Gino Odjick has died at the age of 52.

The death was confirmed by the team and his sister Dina on Sunday.

“Our hearts are broken. My brother Gino Odjick has left us for the spirit world,” she wrote on Facebook.

Odjick played from 1990-2002 in the NHL, including eight years in Vancouver and two in Montreal.

He also played for the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers, recording 64 goals, 73 assists and 2,567 penalty minutes in 605 regular season games.

Odjick played 44 playoff games with Vancouver and Montreal, scoring four goals and an assist and often elicited the chant of “Gino, Gino” from fans who he endeared with his fierce style of play.

Nine years ago, Odjick from Maniwaki, Que., announced he had a rare terminal illness affecting his heart, AL (Primary) amyloidosis. Doctors said he may have had as little as a few weeks to live. 

However, he rallied from the disease after returning to the Ottawa area where doctors started an experimental treatment for Odjick’s disease.

Odjick was drafted by the Canucks in the fifth round, 86th overall, of the 1990 NHL draft.

More to come.