Locked out NHL brawler Donald Brashear, hugely popular in his native province, needed someplace to play.
The fledgling Ligue du Nord Americaine du Hockey (LNAH), a 10-team loop built on the base of the old semi-pro Quebec Senior League, needed a drawing card.
The erstwhile Philadelphia Flyer madman signed up with Les Radio X de Quebec, a group of hard-tack players that may never see time in the NHL, but could easily find work in Hollywood's central casting as convicts or pirates.
When asked by MLN at time why he opted to play in the LNAH instead of someplace else, Brashear said emphatically, "There is no other league. This is the only kind of league I (want) to play in."
Which makes sense. If Don King had been Canadian, he might have dreamed up the LNAH and avoided the fight game altogether. Given the WWE-like qualities of showmanship and brute force, Brashear was in his element, top predator, the T-Rex of Radio X.
It couldn't have lined up any better. Until Donald broke the Eleventh Commandment of Hockey, one of the sport's time honored understandings: If you deck an opponent with your fist, just leave him on the ice. Don't keep hitting him.
Brashear repeatedly pummeled Glen Kjernisted of Les Prolab de Thetford Mines, well after Kjernisted had "turtled" for his life.
It was ugly, too ugly, even for the LNAH, which has already earned its reputation as a roughhouse league. Brashear found himself suspended by the LNAH for the remainder of the season for crossing the line in egregious fashion on Dec. 7, 2004.
It played well among Quebec's hardscrabble hockey lovers, who showed up in droves when Brashear signed with Les Radio X after the NHL shutdown. Brashear attracted crowds in excess of 10,000 to what until this year had been strictly un ligue du biere.
He was certainly earning his keep, even though he was making at reported $300,000 (CDN), more than 10 times the average salary in a league that pays of its players by the fight.
Brashear's presence is a two-edged sword. It gives the 10-team LNAH instant credibility and helps fans in Quebec cope with the absence of the sainted Montreal Canadiens.
He was also a marked man though, having to tangle each night with no-names who wanted to have something to tell their grandchildren.
"I once got beat up by Donald Brashear".
He was aware of the freak show element, but was willing to roll with the punches, so to speak
"Obviously, they always try to mark the best players, you know?," he said then. "I try to take it to my advantage. It's sad, but that's the way it is. There's not much we can do about it."
Michel Gaudet found a way to deal with it: Drastically.
Sending the message that no player is bigger than his league, not even Brashear, Gaudet derailed his own gravy train, ripped up his biggest meal ticket and threw it to the winds.
"He has had a good impact on the league," Gaudet told MLN. "But we're not relying on one guy."
As in most great French drama, though, one should never say never. Apparently Brashier is bigger than the league. Pere Noel Gaudet took Donald off the naughty list on Christmas Eve, and left a reinstatement in Brashear's stocking instead of the requisite lump of coal.
C'est Hockey. C'est la vie.
