Sam Roberts

People felt that it would only be a matter of time before Sam Roberts eclipsed all of Canada’s hockey greats. Gretzky’s mind, Lemieux’s physical prowess and Yzerman’s grit and determination. Nobody spoke about it, even the press kept their sticky paws off of his story - all in the hopes that a pressure free environment would help to foster this unique talent. The Great Northern Hope, or in the tongue of his adoptive Ojibway Indian parents "tekana witha manitunaga." Unbeknownst to this wizard of the frozen pond and his legion of supporters, troubled times lay ahead. Yet so did a story of redemption from a strange and unexpected source.

For a 14 year old Sam , winning the Iron Man triathlon in Hawaii was par for the course. He’d done it three years running and considered it good summer training for the grueling schedule of the Montreal Junior Canadiens. After pleasing the paparazzi with a few off-colour photo ops involving chewing tobacco and a Hawaiian Tropic swimsuit model, young Roberts ducked down a back street in what he later (and most unfortunately found out) was Honolulu’s toughest "quartier." Some local heavies took offense to his incursion on their turf and decided to teach him a little about the Aloha spirit. As Sam recalled in a later interview "I was ducking and weaving and the last thing I heard was ‘pound him Vince.’"

During his two month convalescence back in Montreal, it was clear that injuries to the young legend’s left leg and head were not life threatening but they did spell the end to his dreams of leading Canada back to the top rung of the world’s now-crowded hockey ladder. Many tears were shed and it was the old custodian Blind Clint who taught Sam to channel his sadness into music. He wrote his first ballad "Keep Your Stick on the Ice" from his hospital bed and the rest was well… history. You now have before you the latest opus of a man destined to be great, but whose fate led him away from Our Game to the vile bowels of the Rock n’ Roll world. So listen carefully to Sam Roberts’ latest chapter, better yet feel it.