Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

  It's time for another series of tributes, and we start with an underrated all-time great in his field.

Goodbye to Dennis Condrey at the age of 74.

"Loverboy" Dennis Condrey was part of the greatest tag team in the history of professional wrestling (my opinion) with partner "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and manager Jim Cornette to comprise the Midnight Express.

Condrey was a veteran of the three Tennessee territories before getting his big break in 1983 with Mid-South Wrestling, with Eaton and Cornette using the name "Midnight Express" for their team, which Condrey and Randy Rose had used before the move to Mid-South.

Condrey and Eaton would win and lose the NWA world tag team titles against the Rock N Roll Express before Condrey's famous 1987 disappearance, which would lead to Stan Lane as Condrey's replacement in the Midnight Express.

Condrey returned to wrestling with Randy Rose in the AWA, winning the dying federation's tag team titles as the original Midnight Express before moving to the NWA with their famous studio attack on the Jim Cornette version of the Express.

Goodbye to Miguel Canto at the age of 78.

The long-time holder of the WBC flyweight title in the 1970s, Canto defended his title fourteen times from 1975 to 1979.

Known for his silky smooth boxing, Canto lacked any type of power and scored only fifteen knockouts in his sixty-one victories.

Canto lost his title in South Korea to Chan-Hee Park in 1979 but nearly regained it in the rematch, also in South Korea, drawing with Park in a controversial decision.

Goodbye to Claude Lemieux at the age of 60.

The scrappy and controversial Lemieux was known for his ability to get under his opponents' skin and for his excellent play in the postseason.

Lemieux won four Stanley Cups, two with New Jersey and one each with Colorado and Montreal, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the 1995 champion Devils.

Lemieux was an underrated scorer, scoring 25 goals or more nine times in his career, with a high of 41 in 1991-92 with New Jersey.

Lemieux scored 379 goals in his career, with eighty more in postseason play.

Goodbye to John Garrett at the age of 74.

Garrett played for four teams in the WHA and three others after the merger with the NHL and finished his WHA career with a record of 148-151, the most losses for a goaltender in league history.

Garrett became an analyst after his retirement with the Vancouver Canucks. In recent years, Garrett covered other teams for Rogers Sportsnet.

Goodbye to Stacey King at the age of 59.

An All-American at Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to the National title game. King was a firsr round draft choice by the Chicago Bulls in 1989.

King would play for three championship teams with the Bulls and would play for four other teams before retiring in 1999.

King has spent the last twenty years in various roles with the Bulls local broadcast team as a beloved figure in the Chicago area.