Passing: John Ferguson, Heart & Soul of Canadiens' Championship Teams of the 1960's

John Ferguson died on Saturday July 14 at the age of 68 after a battle with prostate and bone cancer.

His obituary will read that he was a pugnacious hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens and then established himself later as a television analyst for Hockey Night in Canada, executive for the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Ottawa Senators and Team Canada, and finally as a scout (most recently for the San Jose Sharks). He also served as an unoffical advisor to the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Ferguson, Jr., his son.

But he represented so much more.

The essence of John Ferguson perhaps (as usual) is best captured an appreciation by legendary columnist Red Fisher in a most appropriately titled column: "He had the heart of a lion and true love for his team".

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/story.html?id=bae811fd-c5a4-4b82-8d46-6cf7fdb0cbec&p=2

An obituary of the life and career of John Ferguson may be found here:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2007/07/14/ferguson-obit.html

There's also much more about Fergy (old pictures, old articles and more) at habsibsideout:
http://www.habsinsideout.com/2007/07/rest_in_peace_fergy_cancer_cla/#comments

Also see:
http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-ferguson-1938-2007.html#links

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/sports/story.html?id=8704ee13-4ff6-441d-bc57-e7aeac270d0c&k=62149&p=2

http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=1456

Here is an article reporting on John Ferguson's funeral on July 21, 2007 in Windsor, Ontario:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=a7fc5514-876c-4e96-aa8a-97aea3173a4f&k=53951