Last night, the Canucks remembered Bourdon by presenting his last game-worn sweater to four family members, including his mother and fiancée. The players will also wear stickers with “L.B.” on their helmets for the remainder of the season.

The jersey was presented by Canucks captain Roberto Luongo, ex-teammate and close friend Alex Burrows and by the season-ticket holder who was given Bourdon’s sweater after the final home game last year.

The ceremony, peppered with chants of “Luc” from the 18,630 at GM Place, ended with recording artist Tom Cochrane performing an acoustic version of his song Big League while photos of Bourdon appeared on the video scoreboard.

Luc Bourdon, the promising rookie defenseman, was killed today.  It’s a sad day for hockey. It’s tragic, shocking news and I wish the best for his family. I don’t have much information yet but here is what I know:

According to the press:

Luc Bourdon, a promising defenceman with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, was killed Thursday afternoon in a motorcycle crash in his native northern New Brunswick.

Bourdon’s sister, Eve Bourdon, confirmed the death but declined further comment when reached at the family’s home in Shippagan.

“Luc was a winner, he was a competitor,” said Kent Hughes, his agent. “There was no quit in him. He persevered through a lot. He was a great guy and a great teammate.”

RCMP in Shippagan wouldn’t confirm the identity of the victim but said the driver of a motorcycle was killed at about 12:30 p.m. AT in crash on a road between Shippagan and Lemeque, N.B.

A report said Bourdon lost control of his motorcycle before hitting a tractor-trailer.

Bourdon, 21, was the first-round pick of the Canucks, 10th overall, in the 2005 NHL draft.

He split time this season with the Canucks and the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. In 27 games with the Canucks, he scored twice but had no assists.

Bourdon was a member of the Canadian team that won gold at the 2006 world junior hockey championship in Vancouver and was named to the tournament all-star team.

He helped Canada win another gold at the 2007 tournament in Sweden.

I saw him play for the Canucks and at the World Juniors and thought he was a great player that just needed time to step into the NHL.  More to come…