TORONTO - A Canadian man has cursed the heads of the National Hockey League -- from beyond the grave.
Archie Bennitz, 84, an ardent hockey fan from Kanata, Ontario, near Ottawa, used his own obituary to blast NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association executive Bob Goodenow, for the lockout which has left fans without hockey this year.
The obituary, published in the Ottawa Citizen, was written by Bennitz's 45-year-old son David, who took dictation at his hospital bedside.
In his obituary, Bennitz called Bettman and Goodenow "skunks for denying him the pleasure of watching NHL on TV this year."
He also asked Bettman to step aside and give retired NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky the top job running the league.
"Of all the different words and profanity to choose from, the word 'skunk' sort of summed up what was going on," David told Reuters on Friday. "A skunk won't kill you, but it sure does smell."
David plans to send the published obituary to Bettman and Goodenow, who have been at loggerheads for months over a new NHL labor contract.
