I was sitting in my in-laws' beautifully-appointed living room in Summerside, Prince Edward Island the first time I saw Luc Bourdon. The date was July 30, 2005.

As a huge NHL draft nerd, I had been speculating on the possibility of Bourdon ending up with the Canucks, as they had the 10th overall pick.

He was described as a smooth-skating puck moving defenseman with a mean streak that had been honed playing for one of the worst teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Val d'Or Foreurs. Questions were abound about how smart a player he was, but the physical tools were all there.

Bourdon was ranked sixth among North American skaters by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau before the draft and was slated to go in the top-half of the first round.

Then the time came, Vancouver was up, and Slovenian stud Anze Kopitar, largely thought to be a blue-chip, top-five selection, slipped and was still available.

Then-Canucks GM Dave Nonis stepped up to the podium and announced Bourdon as the team's selection.

Fans panned it immediately, chastising the Canucks for taking Bourdon simply because they were concerned that Kopitar had not faced top competition in Slovenia and would take longer to develop.

Kopitar was taken one pick later and has become one of the NHL's brightest young stars with the Los Angeles Kings.

After nearly making the club as an 18-year-old, Bourdon struggled with injuries the next two seasons, bouncing from Moncton to Cape Breton, and finally, this season, to Winnipeg, and Vancouver, winning two gold medals at the World Junior Hockey Championships along the way.

Bourdon began to display his vast potential in spurts this past season, spending nearly half the year with the Canucks, usually playing on lower defense pairings. He scored his first NHL goal last November in a win over Minnesota.

He was killed early Thursday morning, when he lost control of his new motorcycle and hit a tractor-trailer head-on on a road near his hometown of Shippagan, New Brunswick.

A young defenseman who played for the St. Louis Blues by the name of Bob Gassoff, who played a similar style to Bourdon, was killed in a motorcycle crash 31 years and two days ago.

In both cases, an inexperienced rider lost control of their bike. Reports after Bourdon's death stated that he had bought his motorcycle two days ago and had two weeks of riding practice.

Inexperienced young athletes crashing motorcycles isn't just limited to hockey players, although this is the first death in several years.

Two of the NFL's brightest young stars, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, were both seriously injured in recent years on their bikes.

Duke University guard Jay Williams, a former first-round pick of the Chicago Bulls, had his career go down the tubes after a motorcycle crash.

Getting back to Bourdon, hopefully NHL teams keep closer watch on their young players and the activities they get into off the ice. A young man full of potential has been killed, hopefully his death serves as more than just a cautionary tale.

What's scary for me is that at 21, Bourdon is the same age as my brother. To have a life cut so short is a tragedy not just for the hockey community, but for all Canadians.