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Mark Messier’s appointment as an officer of the Order of Canada comes at a bittersweet time for the former Edmonton Oilers captain.

It was announced Friday that he is receiving the honour for his contributions to the sport of hockey and for his leadership in encouraging children to take up the sport.

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Messier had anticipated this Canada Day being a special one for this reason, but then he learned that his former teammate, Dave Semenko, died Thursday of pancreatic cancer.

“It’s a little bit bittersweet to say the least,” he said. “A day I’ll never forget for both reasons.”

Semenko, known as Wayne Gretzky’s bodyguard during the 1980s, spent most of his NHL career with the Oilers.

“Dave was a big brother to all of us. He was instrumental in our success in Edmonton,” Messier said.

“It was an incredible experience watching Dave go through his career and have the success that he did. He’s going to be really missed. He was a great friend.”