Colorado Avalanche: Sam Girard Lucky, Uninjured in Car Accident
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard was involved in a single-vehicle car accident Sunday night. Luckily, he’s unharmed.
If you had to pick a hockey player to have gotten into a car accident Sunday tonight, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard would probably not top your list. You’d almost certainly run down the entire Washington Capitals’ roster, who are celebrating their Stanley Cup win all over D.C., and probably many Avs players before arriving at our youngest, smallest player.
However, it was Sam Girard who got into a car accident Sunday night. The report came out in Le Lac-St.-Jean, which I translated here.
According to the article, Girard was driving back from a charity event Sunday night in Laurentian Park, which is in Sam’s native province of Quebec. Apparently he fell asleep behind the wheel, and the car left the road and collided with something.
The car was a sweet Chevrolet Camaro from Duchesne Auto. The company had loaned the car to Girard as part of a deal between the player and the dealership. He just became the “new image” of the company. Oops. The car now features a crashed right bumper and slightly buckled hood — you can see a picture in the above-linked article.
Sam Girard, thank goodness, escaped the accident unscathed. His mother, Guylaine Dion, stated, “He was lucky in his bad luck.”
Jean-Michel Duchesne of Duchesne Auto said, “There is no speed or alcohol in there. He fell asleep and left the road. Now he must rest.” Duchesne added, “He is a boy with a big heart.” Duchesne also stated that the company would be loaning Girard a new car.
Avalanche vice president Jean Martineau told BSN Avalanche, ““Everything is good. No injuries.”
Girard came over from the Nashville Predators as the centerpiece of the Matt Duchene trade — and yes, it’s the height of irony, Duchesne-Duchene. He played 68 regular season and three playoff games with the Colorado Avalanche. He recorded three goals and 17 assists in a rookie year that’s accounted a high success for the young defenseman.
The Roberval, Quebec, native just turned 20 on May 12. He’s very young, and youngsters make mistakes. Indeed, we saw it even on the ice, he made mistakes. However, we also noticed that he learned from his mistakes right away and didn’t make the same ones again.
I’m confident the same will be true in this case. We’ve all been sleepy at the wheel and kept pushing on. Unfortunately for Sam Girard, his sleepiness got the best of him. I’m sure next time he’ll pull over.
Next: The Evolution of Sam Girard
Because the stakes are high. He’s got a very promising career in front of him, hopefully as a staple of the Colorado Avalanche blueline. Far, far more importantly, though, he’s just a kid with a lot of life ahead of him. Good thing he lucked out Sunday night — as Mama Girard said, he found luck in his bad luck.