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https://theathletic.com/2542210/2021/04/28/joe-thornton-and-gord-downie-inside-a-friendship-that-changed-a-hockey-star-and-inspired-a-music-legend/
I miss Gord.
Thornton’s career is littered by the kind of no-look, behind-the-back passes few players in NHL history had the brains, or the audacity, to try. Thornton remains the active leader in NHL assists, and is seventh all time.
He got there by sticking to this credo: “Safe is dead.”
During one of their many hangs, Thornton casually dropped the phrase in conversation.
Downie stopped in his tracks.
“Wait, what?” he asked, stunned. “Safe is dead?”
Thornton began likening his approach to Downie’s intense and uninhibited onstage persona.
“It’s like you, Gord, when you’re up on stage; nothing you do is safe. Safe is dead, man,” he said.
Having never heard the phrase before, it stuck with Downie, both as a lyricist and a person.