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Friday, October 15, 1999
Chiasson's death remembered by Hurricanes
It honours a friend, a teammate. It's also a reminder of a life cut short and the consequences of a bad decision.
Wesley spent two years as defensive partner with Steve Chiasson, who was killed May 3 in a car accident the night the Carolina Hurricanes were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the Boston Bruins.
"It's not something any hockey team or any family would want to face," Wesley said prior to the Hurricanes game against the Vancouver Canucks Friday night.
"It's part of reality that all of us have to face. Unfortunately Steve paid the ultimate consequence."
During Carolina's training camp nobody touched Chiasson's old locker. There were times when you would almost forget he was gone.
"There's been a number of points over training camp, and at the start of the year, where you'd get a flash and realize he's not there," said coach Paul Maurice.
"He should be there. Things you see and remember."
Chiasson was only 32 when he died, maybe old for a hockey player but still a very young man in the real world of life.
His wife Sue is taking counselling to deal with her grief. She's still trying to explain to her children Michael, 8, Ryan, 5, and Stephanie, 3, why daddy isn't there to play with them any more.
Some athletes, when they are young and handsome, their bodies strong and muscled, begin to think they are almost invincible. They live by different rules than the rest of society. Nothing can harm them.
The night Chiasson died, he had gathered with several other Hurricanes at teammate Gary Roberts's house in Raleigh, N.C., after the flight back from Boston. Later, instead of waiting for Kevin Dineen to give him a lift home, Chiasson jumped in his truck to drive the short distance to his house.
He died when his truck overturned. An accident report said his blood alcohol was three times the legal limit. He was speeding. He wasn't wearing a seat belt.
"That's the tragedy about it," said Wesley, wincing at the memory. "It really puts things in perspective for everybody on the hockey club. He had a wife and three kids and a whole life to live."
The Hurricanes remember Chiasson by wearing his No. 3 on their helmets and a patch on their uniforms. Carolina's media guide contains a two-page tribute to his memory. There's a Steve Chiasson Memorial Fund. There will be a Steve Chiasson night when the Calgary Flames, one of his former teams, comes to town.
In some ways life has returned to normal for the Hurricanes. Rookie defenceman David Tanabe now uses Chiasson's old locker.
"We don't want to get this to the point that every day you come to the rink we're having a service," said Maurice. "It's happened. We have to deal with it.
"We're getting to the point now where the memories aren't of the accident and the death, but of all the good things he brought to our room, the good memories each of us have of him."
Wesley thinks of Chiasson every time he sees the patch on the back of his helmet.
"It's one of those things you deal with every day. We face it and we have to move on with it," he said.
"We can't sit here and pretend it didn't happen because it did happen."
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