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Entries with the tag: Chris+Nilan
Recent NHL Deaths Should Not Be Grouped Together
by Paul on 09/07/11 at 06:38 AM ET
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from Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette,
(Chris) Nilan, by the way, isn’t buying any part of enforcer Georges Laraque’s recent suggestion the deaths were closely linked with the job, that fighting was the toughest job in hockey.
“Oh, listen to this big bullead sayin’: ‘It’s the toughest job in hockey . that I couldn’t watch a movie the night before a game,’ ” Nilan said, shedding a mock tear or two. “Here he is sayin’ all this s—-! Here’s this guy who never had two, three fights in a game. He never had to go into Boston to fight (Stan) Jonathan, (Terry) O’Reilly, (John) Wensink, (Al) Secord or (Gord) Kluzak.
“I won’t sit here and tell you I was never scared,” Nilan continued. “Of course, I was nervous before a game. I knew I had to fight. Before a game I knew that maybe I had to fight two or three guys. But not for a second the previous night was I goin’ around moanin’ I couldn’ watch a movie. Not for a second was I depressed.
“I don’t think that Rypien kid fought all that much. Was he depressed? Yeah. He had a tough time, that poor kid. It’s a pretty tough place to be when the only option is to kill yourself. That’s a sad and lonely place to be.
“The other kid (Boogaard), he gets out of rehab, which the NHL does a great job tryin’ to help people, and the day he gets out he thought he could do it one more time, like I did. I got away with it. This kid, he thought he could do it one more time - and died.
“Here’s the deal: every night I was playin’ Russian roulette with five bullets in the gun. I was very lucky. I got away with it.
Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
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“I’m A Drug Addict & Alcoholic”- Chris Nilan
by Paul on 12/10/09 at 02:32 PM ET
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from Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette via Faceoff.com,
Once, he was the darling of Canadiens fans because he wore the CH on his heart. Doors in Montreal and elsewhere were open to him. Life was good, but that was then, this is now - and it’s not a pretty picture.
Nilan: addicted to pain-killing drugs.
Nilan: alcoholic.
He is 51, a grandfather, and he remembers the first time he plummeted into the ugly, mind-bending culture of pills and booze. He can recall how in their own clawing, gnawing way they crept into his mind, convincing him they were the only way out of a life of pain. Instead, in the light of day it was a life gone wrong, including a divorce after 25 years of marriage. (Karen and Chris have two daughters - Pauline, 26, Tara, 19, and a son, Christopher, 23.) Where does it start? When? Why? “Probably the first time I saw the pills was after I finished playin’,” Nilan said.
“I was coachin’ the Chesapeake Icebreakers in the East Coast Hockey League. Two years. First year, I got coach of the year. Second year, I’d had surgery in the offseason and I took some Percocet. It’s an opiate. I got addicted to ‘em.
I needed them. If I didn’t have them, I was real sick.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Nilan Tried To Save A Few Dollars
by Paul on 07/16/09 at 07:03 PM ET
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from Tony Catinella of the Patriot Ledger,
Chris Nilan, a former professional hockey player known for his frequent trips to the penalty box, was arrested on a charge of stealing a bathing suit from the Lord & Taylor store at the South Shore Plaza.
“I just wanted to save a few bucks,” he told police.
The case was dismissed Thursday in Quincy District Court. Nilan, a former Boston Bruin and Montreal Canadien, was ordered to pay $100 in court costs and to stay away from the store.
Filed in: Hockey Related Stories | KK Hockey | Permalink
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