The best piece on Poddubny...

Allan Maki doesn't always get his due writing for a Globe & Mail sports section which has its Blair-and-Brunt 1-2 punch, but he often finds great material in his native Thunder Bay. His profile of the recently deceased NHLer, Walt Poddubny, was about perfect.

"It would be a cautionary tale, he had said over a handful of conversations. He would talk at length about the highs — being a Toronto Maple Leaf and a 40-goal scorer with the New York Rangers — to the lows: being out of the game, too hobbled to hold a regular job, too broke to undergo surgery; a guy who was living in the basement of his sister's home."

Related:
A man who lived for the game that left him behind; Walt Poddubny had a hard life after the NHL, but was eager to share his story as a cautionary tale for those with hockey dreams. He died before he had the chance (Allan Maki, globesports.com; via fromtherink.com)