Celebrity Death Thread

[DanO]

It's confirmed.

GO LIONS "10" !!!!!!!!!

[Desert Lion]

Way too young. RIP Probie.

[Newbomb Turk]

Holy shit

[FVD]

Not too surprising to me, but still very sad. RIP Probie.

[WingsFan]

"I'm in shock, total shock," said Joe Kocur, who along with Probert formed the "Bruise Brothers," a hugely popular duo. Probert, especially, and Kocur were adored by Wings fans for their pugilistic ways. "It's horrible," Kocur added. "When I heard this afternoon, I cried. I had all sorts of emotions. You don't expect someone at that age to die."

Kocur and Probert co-authored a book called "Bruise Brothers" several years ago and remained good friends after their playing days were over. "Obviously, we went to different teams through the years, but through it all, we stayed in touch and maintained our friendship," Kocur said. "We still had that bond and that never left. The last time I talked to him, he felt real good. Every time I saw him, he looked fine.

"I've always said that if the Hall of Fame put people in for intimidation and toughness, Probie would be in there," Kocur said. "There's no doubt he was the best. No one was better."

“My favorite memory of Bob would be sitting down before a game, going over the opposing lineup and picking and choosing who would go first and if the goalie would be safe or not. It was great to be able to go out on the ice knowing that he had my back and I had his.” He was like the brother I never had. My prayers go out to his family.”

[WingsFan]

“Bob was a part of our very first NHL draft class that also included Steve Yzerman, Joe Kocur, Petr Klima and Stu Grimson,” team owners Mike and Marian Ilitch said in a statement. "Bob was always there for his teammates and was one of the toughest men to ever play in the NHL. He also was one of the kindest, most colorful and beloved players Detroit has ever known. We are very saddened by his passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to Bob’s family.”

[WingsFan]

Not a good day when my favorite player besides Stevie Y passes on. Terrible, he was with his family to see.

RIP Probie

[DetroitDad08]

RIP, hopefully he's roughing people up in heaven!

[Islair]

Damn this sucks....Bob was great to watch.

[Rocky Bleier]

Damn...I really loved the Bruise Brothers days. Probert was one of my all-time favorites. Another kid they drafted back then who was a hell of a fighter was Lane Lambert. Anyone else remember him?

[WingsFan]

Without a doubt one of Detroit most beloved athletes of all time. He didn't bring any Stanley Cups here, but him and Joey, and Stevie put the Dead Wings in the past and put people in the seats and excitement back to Detroit and Red Wing fans. This tells how times and the game has changed since Probert was the heavyweight champ.

Remembering Bob Probert as the 'teddy bear', the 'heavyweight champ' and 'one of the toughest guys ever'

[WingsFan]

Bob Probert: The Ultimate Rebel Without A Cause
He might have been the most popular athlete to play in this town the past 30 years, at least among those not named Steve Yzerman. More popular than Barry Sanders, and Isiah Thomas and Kirk Gibson, the latter two who led local teams to championships. While he didn’t have anywhere close to the same success as the above-mentioned players in competition, Probert’s connection with the people was greater. And it wasn’t because of interviews he did with the media, that’s for sure. It was more a matter of style. In Probert, fans, particularly those of a working-class background, saw themselves. Their strengths. Their flaws. Their dreams fulfilled by the son of a Windsor cop. There was never a fight he turned down. He lived hard off the ice, too, constantly running afoul with the law, which many admired in a "boys will boys’ sense. Probert was the classic rebel without a cause.

http://patcaputo.blogspot.com/

[Malto Marko]

Without a doubt one of Detroit most beloved athletes of all time. He didn't bring any Stanley Cups here, but him and Joey, and Stevie put the Dead Wings in the past and put people in the seats and excitement back to Detroit and Red Wing fans. This tells how times and the game has changed since Probert was the heavyweight champ.

Remembering Bob Probert as the 'teddy bear', the 'heavyweight champ' and 'one of the toughest guys ever'

Yup. But now the Commish is Bettman who wants to remove fighting from the game.

The real question becomes; Why do they fight in hockey?

The answer is; Some players take cheap shots and the only way to keep them from doing it again is to kick their ass and let them know it is not acceptable.

But, Bettman thinks the brutality of fighting should be removed and it is OK to take cheap shots (and if your name is Crosby, you can take cheap shots before, during and after, the game and it is OK too).

[Islair]

In the high school I went to there was a sci-fi/fantasy literature course, and one of the assignments was to create a Utopian Society. Groups were picked at random and then everyone had to agree to how to set up the perfect society. Economy, defensive setup against enemies, and law enforcement.

Well in one of the classes there were a group of friends that just happened to get shoved into a group together, and growing up in Minnesota they all either hockey fans or hockey players themselves. The society they set up was called...Probertia...I dont remember all the specifics of their society, but if you were convicted of a crime, instead of going to jail, Bob Probert just kicked your ass. Shoplifting...Bob kicked your ass for 5 minutes straight, stole a car...he kicked your ass for 25...killed someone...Bob kicked your ass to death. At the end of the presentation they showed a 15 minute clip of Bob kicking ass, just to prove their point that he was a good guy to enforce their society.

RIP Bob.

[Drew]

RIP Probert.