Crosby holds a heavy heart with the passing of his mentor.
The Penguins organization has gone through a significant change over the past number of weeks with the firing of Brian Burke and former Flyers general manager Ron Hextall. The Penguins have now turned the page and have hired former general manager Kyle Dubas of the Toronto Maple Leafs to take over the reins as president of hockey operations.
Before Dubas was hired Kyle went to visit Sidney Crosby to get an understanding of the organization better to help make his decision. Though this should be a time to be happy with a new leadership group forming with the Penguins, Crosby held a heavy heart as one of his mentors had passed away.
During his time, with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, he was friended and acquired a mentor in Doris Labonte. After a tireless battle with cancer, Labonte passed away at the age of 69.
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Crosby was in Montreal, where he spoke to a Montreal paper called La Journal de Montreal and gave his insight on his mentor and what he helped him with over the years.
Labonte cemented his record as Head Coach of the Oceanic during his tenure. As a result of winning 48 regular season games in 2000, the team also won the Jean Rougeau Trophy, which is awarded to teams with the most points in the regular season.
That edition of the Oceanic went to the Memorial Cup where Labonte and his team won the entire tournament. He won Coach Of The Year that year as well.
Our hearts go out to the Labonte family. We thank him for his contributions to junior hockey and wish Mr. Labonte a peaceful rest.
| POLL | ||
3 JUIN | 1400 ANSWERS Crosby holds a heavy heart with the passing of his mentor. Are you a fan of Sidney Crosby? | ||
| Yes | 1207 | 86.2 % |
| No | 193 | 13.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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