Venerable members of this group:

mauler@+, BrooksMarlin, Davidian, briglass, borgo, lovejoyman, hashbrownie, PTBee, baritalia, LiarXAgerate, RMSzero, gpb
This group of 12 members is led by mauler@+

Curtly Ambrose (person) by darl Wed Aug 15 2001 at 1:02:39
linked by briglass
Curtly Ambrose was the greatest bowler of the 1990s, without any question. He took over 400 wickets. He reduced England to a smoking ruin on countless occasions, including one classic where England were all out for 46. Yes, 46.

When Ambrose was on the pitch, all 6'8" of him, England, or any other team for that matter, were never safe . When he jumped up to bowl, arm out-stretched and then hurled it down the wicket, the ball left his hand at an estimated height of 10ft. He and his opening partner and captain Courtney Walsh toke 888 wickets between them. I can't begin to describe the terror he inspired. Consitent line and length and pace- always around 90 mph -ground down batsmen until they got out because the skill of the bowler was too great, or because something deeper, like self-preservation had taken over. When he hit the stumps, the bails went for four. Dammit, he broke the stumps. This guy's just a raging bull, he's.. untouchable.

Update 13/6/02:

Here are the full cricketing statistics for his interantional career: 

                     Mat  Runs  HS   BatAv 100  50   W    BB  BowlAv 5w  Ct St

overall               98  1439  53   12.40   0   1 405  8/45   20.99 22  18  0

v Australia           27   385  53   10.69   0   1 128  7/25   21.23  8   5  0
v England             34   509  44   13.05   0   0 164  8/45   18.79  8   7  0
v India                9   179  37   22.37   0   0  15  5/87   38.26  1   2  0
v New Zealand          4    68  33   22.66   0   0  13  5/68   21.30  1   1  0
v Pakistan            14   159  30    8.83   0   0  42  5/35   27.85  1   1  0
v South Africa         5    68  19    9.71   0   0  21  6/34   18.57  2   1  0
v Sri Lanka            3    56  31   28.00   0   0  14  5/37   13.57  1   0  0
v Zimbabwe             2    15   7    5.00   0   0   8  4/42   12.50  0   1  0

in Australia          14   192  44   10.10   0   0  78  7/25   19.79  6   4  0
in England            20   284  43   12.90   0   0  88  6/52   20.77  3   3  0
in New Zealand         2    33  33   33.00   0   0   5  3/57   22.60  0   1  0
in Pakistan            5    58  30    7.25   0   0  15  5/35   25.20  1   0  0
in South Africa        4    56  19    9.33   0   0  13  6/51   23.76  1   0  0
in Sri Lanka           1     7   7*    -     0   0   3  3/14    9.00  0   0  0
in West Indies        52   809  53   13.48   0   1 203  8/45   21.19 11  10  0

in Africa              4    56  19    9.33   0   0  13  6/51   23.76  1   0  0
in Americas           52   809  53   13.48   0   1 203  8/45   21.19 11  10  0
in Asia                6    65  30    8.12   0   0  18  5/35   22.50  1   0  0
in Europe             20   284  43   12.90   0   0  88  6/52   20.77  3   3  0
in Oceania            16   225  44   11.25   0   0  83  7/25   19.96  6   5  0

home                  52   809  53   13.48   0   1 203  8/45   21.19 11  10  0
away                  46   630  44   11.25   0   0 202  7/25   20.78 11   8  0

1988 (age: 24y 102d)  11   213  44   17.75   0   0  49  5/72   23.20  1   2  0
1989 (25y 102d)        6    68  16    9.71   0   0  11  3/66   45.81  0   2  0
1990 (26y 102d)        6    68  20*   7.55   0   0  34  8/45   16.05  2   1  0
1991 (27y 102d)       10   152  53   11.69   0   1  46  6/52   22.89  2   1  0
1992 (28y 102d)        3    33   7    8.25   0   0  20  6/34   16.35  2   1  0
1993 (29y 102d)        7    55  16    9.16   0   0  33  7/25   16.09  2   2  0
1994 (30y 102d)        5    91  44   15.16   0   0  26  6/24   19.96  2   1  0
1995 (31y 102d)       11   135  33   15.00   0   0  39  5/45   22.48  2   3  0
1996 (32y 102d)        5    59  21*   8.42   0   0  20  5/55   25.75  2   0  0
1997 (33y 102d)       10   231  37   23.10   0   0  29  5/37   24.00  3   1  0
1998 (34y 102d)        9   116  31    9.66   0   0  42  6/51   16.38  3   2  0
1999 (35y 102d)        5    76  28*  10.85   0   0  20  5/94   23.60  1   0  0
2000 (36y 102d)       10   142  36*  10.14   0   0  36  4/30   17.66  0   2  0

season 1987/88         3    47  25*  11.75   0   0   7  2/64   52.14  0   0  0
season 1988            5    75  43   18.75   0   0  22  4/53   20.22  0   0  0
season 1988/89         9   159  44   14.45   0   0  31  5/72   26.80  1   4  0
season 1989/90         3    51  20*  12.75   0   0  20  8/45   15.35  1   1  0
season 1990/91         8   132  53   12.00   0   1  32  5/35   22.87  1   1  0
season 1991            5    37  17    5.28   0   0  28  6/52   20.00  2   0  0
season 1991/92         1    12   6*  12.00   0   0   8  6/34   10.12  1   1  0
season 1992/93         8    69  16    7.66   0   0  42  7/25   17.85  3   2  0
season 1993/94         6    98  44   16.33   0   0  29  6/24   18.82  2   1  0
season 1994/95         6    58  33    9.66   0   0  18  5/45   20.61  1   1  0
season 1995            5    77  23*  25.66   0   0  21  5/96   24.09  1   2  0
season 1995/96         2    35  21*  17.50   0   0   8  5/68   20.50  1   0  0
season 1996/97        11   214  37   17.83   0   0  40  5/37   22.70  4   1  0
season 1997/98         8   124  31   12.40   0   0  31  5/25   18.29  2   2  0
season 1998/99         8   109  28*   9.08   0   0  32  6/51   22.87  2   0  0
season 1999/00         5    47  22    7.83   0   0  19  4/42   16.78  0   1  0
season 2000            5    95  36*  11.87   0   0  17  4/30   18.64  0   1  0

toss won              47   677  53   11.67   0   1 176  6/24   22.30  9   9  0
toss lost             51   762  44   13.13   0   0 229  8/45   19.98 13   9  0

toss won & batted     24   306  36*   9.87   0   0  80  6/24   22.92  5   5  0
toss won & fielded    23   371  53   13.74   0   1  96  6/51   21.78  4   4  0
toss lost & sent in   18   368  44   14.15   0   0  83  8/45   17.48  5   4  0
toss lost & fielded   33   394  43   12.31   0   0 146  7/25   21.40  8   5  0

matches batting 1st   42   674  44   11.82   0   0 163  8/45   20.15 10   9  0
matches fielding 1st  56   765  53   12.96   0   1 242  7/25   21.55 12   9  0

1st team innings      98  1050  53   14.58   0   1 243  7/25   21.79 15  10  0
2nd team innings      93   389  36*   8.84   0   0 162  8/45   19.77  7   8  0

1st match innings     98   434  44   14.46   0   0 140  7/25   21.22  8   5  0
2nd match innings     97   616  53   14.66   0   1 103  6/74   22.57  7   5  0
3rd match innings     93   240  36*   8.57   0   0 104  6/51   21.80  4   5  0
4th match innings     70   149  28    9.31   0   0  58  8/45   16.13  3   3  0

no follow-on          95  1427  53   12.51   0   1 397  8/45   20.71 22  17  0
enforcing a follow-on  2    12  12*    -     0   0   5  2/42   29.20  0   1  0
in team following on   1     0   0    0.00   0   0   3  3/83   43.66  0   0  0

matches won           44   588  44   12.51   0   0 229  8/45   16.86 13  12  0
matches drawn         28   488  53   18.76   0   1  81  5/35   26.02  5   3  0
matches lost          26   363  44    8.44   0   0  95  6/51   26.63  4   3  0

won by an innings      8    76  22   25.33   0   0  37  7/25   15.21  1   2  0
won defending target  13   254  44   11.54   0   0  84  8/45   13.45  6   4  0
won chasing target    23   258  31   11.72   0   0 108  5/37   20.09  6   6  0
lost by an innings     4    53  30    8.83   0   0   6  4/42   42.83  0   0  0
lost defending targ.  12   219  44    9.95   0   0  57  6/51   24.15  3   1  0
lost chasing target   10    91  25*   6.06   0   0  32  5/25   28.00  1   2  0

5 day matches         98  1439  53   12.40   0   1 405  8/45   20.99 22  18  0

1st/Only Tests        26   364  43   13.00   0   0  94  6/34   20.80  4   4  0
2nd Tests             24   324  31   10.45   0   0  95  6/51   23.46  5   3  0
3rd Tests             20   393  53   14.55   0   1  93  6/24   18.01  7   3  0
4th Tests             15   217  44   10.85   0   0  66  8/45   20.48  3   3  0
5th Tests             11   117  28   11.70   0   0  45  7/25   23.64  2   5  0
6th Tests              2    24  19*    -     0   0  12  5/96   18.75  1   0  0

in series won         58   945  53   15.00   0   1 250  8/45   19.65 13  14  0
in series drawn       21   238  28*   9.52   0   0  92  6/52   23.04  5   2  0
in series lost        19   256  36*   9.14   0   0  63  6/51   23.28  4   2  0

Everything Quests: Athletes and Sports Figures (idea) by caknuck Fri Jan 16 2004 at 2:04:19
linked by kthejoker

THE REFEREE HAS BLOWN FULL-TIME.

Many thanks to the noders who contributed to this quest. We received 74 contributions from 43 different writers, covering subjects from 24 sports/fields and hailing from 18 nations.

We interrupt ABC's Wide World of Sports to bring you this message from the fine folks at e2sports and e2biography...

HUH?
We plan our day around watching them ply their trade on TV. We shoulder aside nine-year old boys to get their autograph. We put their likenesses on cardboard and stuff them in foil wrappers with a stick of dessicated bubble gum. We hire them to sell SUVs, coffee makers, muscle creme and anti-impotency drugs. Most importantly, we live and die with their successes and failures. They're our most revered (and hated) heroes (and villains): athletes.

WHAT?
This quest seeks top-notch writeups covering the lives and expoits of individual athletes and sports figures (see below for more details). While receiving loads of writeups for footballers and baseball players would be grand, we'd like as much diversity as possible! Bring us your biggest sumo, your most petite gymnasts, your most accurate pool sharks and your... um... whatever it is you call those guys who play takraw. Ideally, we'll get a mix of amateurs and professionals, world-class superstars as well as those who toil(ed) in obscurity for small colleges or regional club teams. Just make the writeups interesting and comprehensive.

WHO?
You, silly.

Okay, this quest is restricted to individual athletes and sports figures, meaning that teams, duos, clubs, double-play combinations, stables and line-ups are disqualified. So, who exactly qualifies as an athlete? We'll be pretty lenient here, accepting competitive sailors, dart throwers, pro wrestlers, skeet shooters, extreme ironers and curlers. We do have to draw the line somewhere, so Betty Crocker Bake-Off contestants and chess grandmasters will be left in the cold. We will, however, accept animal athletes (racehorses, greyhounds, and celebrated jumping frogs all). Please /msg caknuck or anybody else from the e2sports usergroup if you are unsure if a subject qualifies as an athlete or sports figure.

But what about the more ambiguous term "sports figure"? This could include, but is not necessarily restricted to: sportscasters, team owners, coaches, managers, trainers, innovators of athletic equipment, sportswriters, fans, officials and anybody else who's primarily known for their contributions (positive or negative) to the sporting world.

WHEN?
The quest will run from the moment this writeup is posted until 12:01 a.m. (server time), Monday, February 2 Tuesday, February 3, 2004. Only writeups datestamped within that timeframe will be considered (unless an extension is granted, /msg caknuck if needed).

HOW?
To participate, pick an unnoded athlete or sports figure, write that person up within the alotted timeframe and /msg caknuck. He will add that w/u to the list found at the end of this node. If you would like to rescue an existing noded subject, then /msg caknuck beforehand and he'll make sure that you're not beating the proverbial dead horse. Exceptional content and nodeshell rescues may receive an additional XP bonus (see below). And if you're having trouble picking an athlete to whom you can pay homage, then check out "The Farm Team" below for suggestions.

There is no prescribed length or format, but check the "Hall of Famers" section for examples of superlative sports bios. These should give you an idea of the type of submission we're looking for. It's recommended that you read E2 FAQ: Writing a biography for guidelines and additional tips for writing bios.

Don't restrict your noding to an athlete's on-field performance. Make sure to mention their off-field exploits, their charity work, their philandering and wanton drug use. Paint a complete portrait. Also, include statistics when useful (for instance, listing Gordie Howe's season-by-season stats would be wasteful, but his career stats and a list of major records held wouldn't).

BE WARNED: The fine folks running this quest will check to make sure that your writeup is your own work. This means...

  • No cut 'n' paste writeups. Failure to follow this simple rule will result in the nuking of "your" writeup and a likely cursing from the gods (scads of both XP lost and expletives gained).
  • Attribute your quotes.
  • Cite your sources. (Writeups that fail to cite their source material will see a reduction in their XP bonus.)

Also, please proofread your text. The last thing you want is to have the Typo Death Squad sicced upon you.

WHY?
Writeups that meet the criteria will get the usual bonuses associated with quest entries:

  • Copious amounts of upvotes.
  • C!hings (provided by yours truly and a few others from the e2biography usergroup and the e2sports bleachers).
  • Blessings of 10-30 XP, doled out by the lovely and sensual wertperch.
  • Increased exposure, as all submissions will be hardlinked from this writeup (see "The Medal Podium" and "The Peloton" below).

Why else? Submit an entry because you want E2 to know that your great uncle was an Olympic fencer. Do it because you want to disagree with discofever's belief that Brooks Robinson is the best third baseman to ever play baseball. Do it because you're a sports fan who wants an in to join us oh-so-exclusive e2sports types (really, we're just getting started, so /msg kthejoker if you're interested). Do it because you're obsessed with delving into the lives of other, more famous people (in which case, /msg shimmer to ask about e2biography). Do it because you want to node what you know. Or do it because you want to node what you don't know. Do it because you're an XP whore. Really, we don't care.

This place needs more actual jock content. Let's get started.

The Medal Podium
The best of the submissions.

The Peloton
These are the writeups that have been submitted for the quest thusfar.

Hall of Famers
These worthy writeups were completed before the quest began. Read through them to get an idea of what we're looking for in this quest.

Sidd Finch (person) by 18thCandidate Thu Nov 08 2001 at 16:05:36
linked by borgo

The curious case of Sidd Finch is perhaps one of the best hoaxes of all time. Sidd Finch was the subject of an article by George Plimpton in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated about a yoga-devoted pitcher with an enormous fastball that the New York Mets were keeping hidden in their spring training camp. The tale (with supporting photographs) was conceived well enough that a large number of people were actually caught up in it, believing the Mets had somehow discovered the best pitcher of all time.

Sidd Finch (Sidd being short for Siddhartha, the Indian mystic in Hermann Hesse's book of the same name), according to the story, could pitch a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. The fastest previous recorded speed for a pitch was 103 mph. Finch had actually never played baseball before. He had been raised in an English orphanage before he was adopted by the archaeologist Francis Whyte-Finch, who was later killed in an airplane crash in the Dhaulaglri mountain region of Nepal. Finch briefly attended Harvard before he headed to Tibet where he learned the teachings of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa" and mastered "siddhi, namely the yogic mastery of mind-body." Through his Tibetan mind-body mastery, Finch had "learned the art of the pitch."

Finch was discovered after attending a Toledo Mud Hens game in 1984; after the game, he bumped into the manager and showed off his unbelievable fastball. With the encouragement of the manager, Sidd arrived at the New York Mets training camp in Florida in February 1985 and so impressed Davey Johnson (the manager of the Mets at the time) that he was invited to attend training camp. When pitching he looked, in the words of the catcher, "like a pretzel gone loony." Finch frequently wore a hiking boot on his right foot while pitching, his other foot being bare. His speed and power were so great that the catcher would only hear a small sound before the ball would land in his glove, knocking him two or three feet back. Lenny Dykstra, outfielder for the Mets at the time, declared that it was not "humanly possible" to hit Finch's pitches.

In condensed form, this story sounds utterly bogus, but in fact spread out over several pages with many supporting pictures, it was quite believable. The magazine received thousands of letters in response to this article, reaching the point where they were forced to either try to perpetuate the hoax or admit it. The next issue of SI, published on April 8, announced that Finch had held a press conference stating that due to the sudden media pressure put on him, he had lost his pinpoint control and was leaving the game of baseball. In the following issue, cover dated April 15, the magazine announced that Sidd Finch was a hoax.

Even more fun was the fact that Plimpton left a huge hint in the article that the entire thing was a hoax. The subheading of the article was as follows, with some extra bolding added so that you can pick up the message.

He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent lifestyle, Sidd's deciding about yoga —and his future in baseball.

The first letter of each of the words before the dash, taken together, spell "H-a-p-p-y A-p-r-i-l F-o-o-l-s D-a-y." The first letter of the last three words, taken together, spells "f-i-b," which also means a falsehood.

The article itself is available online at http://www.cnnsi.com/features/cover/news/2000/07/24/finch_flash/ - it is well worth reading if you want to see an example of a truly great media hoax, perhaps the best one ever perpetrated on the world of professional sports.

Billy Martin (person) by borgo Tue Jan 13 2004 at 20:10:45

"I’ve always said I could manage Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Hirohito. That doesn’t mean I’d like them, but I’d manage them." – Billy Martin

I grew up in New York City and even though I was (and still am) a New York Mets fan, I found it rather hard not appreciate or at least have some laughs at the many (5) comings and goings of Billy Martin at the hands of one George Steinbrenner.

The Player

So, what can you say about Billy Martin, the player? Based on his stats, not too much. After all, he only managed to hit .257 over a career that spanned 11 years and 7 teams. The first seven of those years were spent with the New York Yankees and from 1950 through 1957. All they managed to do during that time was win 5 World Series including four in a row from 1950 through 1953 and another one in 1956. I believe his 12 hits in the ’53 Series is a record that still stands today and over his career, he batted .333 for the World Series alone. Pretty clutch if you ask me. (As a matter of fact, the only year the Yankees missed taking the American League pennant during Martin’s time as a player was in 1954 when he went off to serve in the military.)

Martin had a reputation as fighter both on and off the field and an incident after the 1956 season led to his first banishment from his beloved Yankees. It appears he and some of his teammates (including Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford) were enjoying some cocktails at the Copacabana when they took offense at some comments made by other patrons. Martin, always one to swing first and ask questions later, became involved in an “altercation” that resulted in said patrons getting their asses kicked.

Yankee management took a dim view of his actions and despite the protests of Casey Stengel decided to send him packing. It seems they didn’t want him to “influence” any of their up and coming stars and he was sent of to the (then) Kansas City Athletics. After a short stint, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers, then to the Cleveland Indians, then to the Cincinnati Reds, then to the Milwaukee Brewers and finally to the Minnesota Twins. During that time, he managed to get into a fight with an opposing pitcher from the Chicago Cubs by the name of Jim Brewer. By the time all was said and done, Brewer had a broken jaw and eventually filed a law suit against Martin that took over 9 years to get settled.

I guess Billy figured his days were numbered as a player and after the 1961 season convinced the Minnesota Twins to keep him on as a scout.

The Manager

After kicking around the Twins organization for about 8 years, he finally got his shot at managing a big league ball club and, lo and behold, he took the Twins from lovable losers to winning their division title in 1969 with a record of 97-65. You would think this would be just the beginning but Martin, in what was to become (if it wasn’t already) an all too familiar pattern, was fired for kicking the shit out of one of his own pitchers while trying to break up a fight that started in the clubhouse bathroom.

From there, Martin took over the helm for the struggling Detroit Tigers. He lasted from 1971 until 1973 and even managed to win a division title in ’72. Anybody wanna guess how his stay there ended?

Late in his third year, he was fired when it became known that he had ordered his pitchers to go headhunting after the Cleveland Indians hitters because he was pissed at then Indian pitcher Gaylord Perry, the king of spitballers.

Martin landed in Texas where he took over the reigns for the Rangers. They had finished last in their division in 1973 but Martin again engineered a turnaround in ’74 and they wound up finishing 2nd. When 1975 rolled around, Martin was fired when he clashed with the new management.

Welcome back to the Bronx, at least for a little while.

During 1975 the Yankees were struggling. Both wins and fans were getting hard to come by and a change was in order. George Steinbrenner, perhaps recognizing that Martin had become an “expert” in turning around teams, hired him on a manager for the last 56 games of the 1975 season. The Yankees managed to finish 3rd.

The next year, Martin worked his magic and led the Yankees to a 97-62 record and eventual trip to the World Series. They were swept in four games by the Big Red Machine.

Many owners would be pleased with a team that made the World Series, especially after what seemed like such a long absence, but then again, many owners are not like George Steinbrenner.

Many changes were made during the off-season without consulting Martin. The most significant of those was the acquisition of one Reggie Jackson. For any of you folks who are familiar with baseball, the Yankees now possessed what was probably the three largest egos in the game if not on the planet. It would only be a matter of time….

The time would occur during a late season game in a heated pennant race against the (who else?) Boston Red Sox. Martin had been plagued by Steinbrenner all year and things finally reached the boiling point. After Reggie failed to hustle after a ball on the field, Martin began shouting at him in the dugout. Reggie, being Reggie, shouted back. Martin, being Martin, shouted even louder and eventually had to be restrained by fellow teammates from going after Jackson. Naturally, all of this unfolded before a national television audience.

Through all of the turmoil, the Yankees played hard and finished the season at 100-62. They went on to the World Series and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in 6 games. It was their first World Series Championship in 15 years.

Perhaps resting on their laurels, the Yankees seemed to take 1978 for granted. Sloppy play and constant threats by management didn’t help and Martin took to boozing pretty heavily. Things came to head in July when Martin, referring to Jackson and Steinbrenner , said to reporters…

”The two of them deserve each other, one’s a born liar (Jackson) and the other is convicted (Steinbrenner).

The next day, perhaps realizing what he said, Martin broke down in tears and announced his resignation. Apparently, his resignation wouldn’t last all that long because on Old Timers Day, the team announced that he would be back to take over for the beginning of the 1980 season.

Perhaps recognizing a need, Steinbrenner moved the schedule up in 1979 when Martin was back in pinstripes for the finals 95 games of the season. In October, he got into a fight with (of all things!) a marshmallow salesman and Steinbrenner fired him again.

He wound up in Oakland with the A’s and invented what became to be known as “Billyball”. At first, it was a huge success and he won the West division title in 1981.

“Billyball” carried a high price though. In 1982 the A’s plummeted to 68-94 and management thought “Billyball” was to blame. Martin, perhaps because of a lousy bullpen, had burned out his pitching staff by leaving them in games for too long. The resulting sore arms and time spent on the disabled list made for a lousy season and Martin was promptly canned.

He was brought back by Steinbrenner to manage the Yankees for all of 1983 and he finished 3rd. He made through about ¾ of the 1985 season before he was once again, fired by Steinbrenner. Rehired in 1988, he lasted about ½ the season before, you know it, he was fired for the last time.

Billy Martin was acting as a “special consultant” to the New York Yankees when his car slid off the road on Christmas Day in 1989. Later autopsy results indicated that he was well over the legal limit at the time of the accident. He was 61 years old and somehow, nobody seemed surprised.

The Yankees, in recognition to Billy Martin, retired his #1 and dedicated a plaque to him in centerfield at Yankee Stadium. It seems he had finally come home.

http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Martin_Billy.html

Saku Koivu (person) by ContinentalRift Wed Feb 12 2003 at 16:02:50
linked by RoyHoo33

Saku Koivu is a small (Height : 5’10’’ ; Weight : 180 lbs) but very talented left-handed hockey player with a good vision of the game which gives him an edge in play making abilities. He was born in Turku, Finland, on November 23, 1974. He was drafted 21st overall in 1993 by the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL. He joined the team in the 1995-1996 season and became their captain in 1999 (still is) which allowed him to wear a cool «C» on the front of his team jersey. In 1998, along with Teemu Selanne, he lead Finland’s national hockey team to a bronze medal win at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games.

Unfortunately, his career has so far been plagued with injuries. At the beginning of the 2001-2002 season, Saku Koivu was diagnosed with cancer, which could have ended his career (and his life, has a matter of fact). His treatments allowed him to recover and he immediately started training to make a comeback in the NHL. Remarkably, he was able to play the last 3 games of the regular season in which he recorded 2 assists. In the playoffs of that year, he scored 4 goals and added 6 assists in 12 games, playing a major role in the first round upsetting of the then favored Boston Bruins. This incredible accomplishment was recognized by the NHL who awarded him the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy at the end of the season.

He is a great source of inspiration for everybody and now gives back to the Montreal community (where he received his treatments) by donating time to cheer up those who are afflicted with cancer, especially children. He also has a foundation (the Saku Koivu Foundation) which is dedicated to gather money to provide the Montreal General Hospital with a PET/CT Scan machine used in diagnosing and treating various illnesses. He always says that American cyclist Lance Armstrong was a great source of inspiration for him. Armstrong won the Tour de France after recovering from cancer.

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