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Jhase Sniderman remembers a lot of things about his former junior hockey teammate Luc Bourdon: How good a skater he was, how he liked to show off his strength by breaking apples in half with his bare hands and how he liked to play the video game Guitar Hero.

But yesterday, when news of Bourdon's death reached Sniderman in Toronto, there was another memory that was hard to shake: his former teammate's love of motorcycles.

"He said he always wanted one," said Sniderman, who spent two seasons with Bourdon and the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL. "He said when he signed in the NHL he was going to buy one."

A rising prospect with the Vancouver Canucks, Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle crash yesterday in northeastern New Brunswick, his home province. The 21-year-old had reportedly purchased the machine only two days ago and had been riding a family member's motorbike before that.

Two of Bourdon's relatives confirmed the death, but declined to comment further when reached by telephone yesterday.

A source in the hockey community said Bourdon's girlfriend was travelling in a car behind his motorcycle when the crash occurred.

Police would not confirm the identity of the victim, but did say that a motorcyclist had been killed in a crash shortly after noon on a highway east of Shippagan.

"A motorcycle collided with a transport truck, a head-on collision," said Sergeant Derek Strong, an RCMP spokesman. He said it was too early in the investigation to say which vehicle had been out of its proper lane.

Bourdon's agent, Boston-based Kent Hughes, said he was unaware his client rode motorcycles until hearing about yesterday's crash. But two years ago, Hughes organized a conference for his clients in Toronto where they were warned about the baggage that accompanies professional athletes and the importance of avoiding risks.

"I don't specifically recall mentioning motorcycles," he said. "All I know is my four-year-old son just said to my wife, 'Why didn't daddy tell him it's too dangerous to ride motorcycles?' "

News of Boudon's death hit his NHL organization hard.

"We had very high hopes that Luc was going to step in and be a major contributor to the organization," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said yesterday on a telephone conference call. "I think many people felt he was ready to emerge as player in the National Hockey League."

Gillis said that in his previous profession, as a player agent, he always counselled clients against putting themselves at undue physical risk and that the Canucks are now contemplating policies and educational programs designed to reinforce that point — but not solely directed at motorcycles.

"We'll certainly be moving in that direction," he said. "You try to advise them to be more responsible and more careful in their daily activities."

Gillis added that the NHL's standard player contract prohibits certain physical activities, but the list does not include motorcycling.

Canucks assistant GM Steve Tambellini, who was part of the management team that drafted Bourdon, said the defenceman was a passionate and emotional person who was coming out of his shell as his standing within the organization's ranks improved.

"He was a caring young man who was well on his way to reaping some of the rewards for all his hard work," Tambellini said. "He cared a great deal about his teammates and about his profession."

The Canucks selected the strapping defenceman 10th overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft. This was only months before he won his first gold medal with Canada at the under-20 world championship in Vancouver.

One year later, he won gold again, scoring four points in six games.

"He had such great potential," said Brent Sutter, Bourdon's world junior team coach in 2006. "He was a high-strung kid, but he was learning to relax on the ice and play within himself. He was getting better and he was going to be a good NHL player."

Bourdon was a training-camp star with the Canucks in 2005, but wasn't able to recapture the magic over the next two seasons. He was still viewed as the organization's top prospect, though, blessed with a rare combination of size (6 foot 2 and 211 pounds) and offensive ability.

He played just nine NHL games in 2006-07 and 27 this season. In November, he scored his first NHL goal and ended the season with two goals and 20 penalty minutes.

"He had begun to stop fretting his mistakes and trying to compensate for them," said Hughes, who remembers his client as an intense competitor with a terrific sense of humour.

Hughes recalled an off-season conditioning program several years ago in Montreal where Bourdon was being taught how to properly lift weights. The exercise was a power clean, and the first time Bourdon did it, he fell over.

"Everybody laughed," Hughes said. "In the next hour, he must have done 300 cleans trying to perfect it."