Former Vancouver Canucks’ enforcer Gino Odjick gets up out of a wheelchair and waves to hundreds of fans that gathered to support him outside Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver, B.C., on June 29, 2014.
The former enforcer had 64 goals and 73 assists in 605 NHL games.
“He was a friend to me, and you — he was a very special individual,” Smyl said Sunday.
“I feel very fortunate for the support I’ve received over the years,” Odjick wrote.
“When someone like that, a professional hockey player, comes into our community, I think it really hits home to the kids,” she said.