Rusty old man retires (no, not that one), plans to drive for NASCAR (no, not that one)

Patrice Brisebois, aka Rusty Old Man of the Canadiens' defense, has retired. He even thanked Jacques Demers (or something) for coaching him to his only Stanley Cup in 1993. Remember back then? That seems like so long ago when you write the numbers '1993' out. And I guess it was long ago (although clearly not as long as, say, to pick a year at random, 1967).

I remember in 1995 when Demers was fired. I was living in Montreal and every single newspaper had this as the front page story. Those were good days, we thought, because Les Canadiens were not playing very well. In came Mario Tremblay and Les Canadiens started well under him. Then Tremblay left Roy in for too long in a game and poof. He was off to Colorado the next day after vowing never to play for Les Canadiens again. Quel désastre! I remember it as if it were yesterday. Although the tragedy of that incident has since been supplanted by other moments in sports, such as the 2003 ACLS ending and leading the pack, Tom Brady on the ground, clutching his knee.

Random fact: Mario Tremblay's nickname during his hockey-playing career was 'le bleuet bionique,' which translates to 'the bionic blueberry.' Trust me, I'm trying to find the origin for that and so far turning up nil.

Back to Brisebois: he plans to drive for NASCAR Canada. I didn't even know that there was a NASCAR Canada. What's more, I think that we need to rethink classifying something as a 'sport' if you can retire as a rusty old man from one professional league, then go compete in another.