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In Memoriam Former pro hockey players/management/others deaths (Kristian Antila)

WildGopher

Registered User
Jun 13, 2012
1,072
159
Killion said:
His list of injuries & illnesses unbelievable, playing it in that super-low crouch as he did & maskless resulting in over 400 stitches to his face, multiple broken noses, cheekbones.... in constant pain, playing with & through it...
Click to expand...

You might have helped answer a question I've long had. I saw Sawchuk start for LA in the first NHL game I ever saw here in the North Stars' Met Center. Although he only gave up 1 goal, he was replaced after the 1st period. Old articles don't say why and I've wondered if it might have had something to do with his problems. But maybe from what you write, he was just banged up again that day. These maskless goalies sure had guts - Glenn Hall vomiting before games from the pressure, etc. - You have to really respect them all.
 
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Killion

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,226
WildGopher said:
You might have helped answer a question I've long had. I saw Sawchuk start for LA in the first NHL game I ever saw here in the North Stars' Met Center. Although he only gave up 1 goal, he was replaced after the 1st period. Old articles don't say why and I've wondered if it might have had something to do with his problems. But maybe from what you write, he was just banged up again that day. These maskless goalies sure had guts - Glenn Hall vomiting before games from the pressure, etc. - You have to really respect them all.
Click to expand...

... odd thing about that, Glenn Hall's up-chucking... one would naturally assume "nerves" however according to Hall himself, no, thats not why he would deliberately throw-up.... he's said he did that as he felt he played a lot better on an empty stomach, with nothing in his system. So it wasnt an involuntary reflex as a result of nerves but instead an entirely deliberate expulsion, heightening & increasing his senses. Physiologically, when you throw-up, brain temporarily oxygen starved, then once your systems purged creating a rush of blood to the head, the brain.

A strange way to go about getting yourself psyched huh? Absolutely bizarre. The closest thing I can compare this to would be the practice of strangulation during sex (which can have fatal consequences of course, Michael Hutchence for eg, former lead singer of INXS - dramatically in the Lynch film Blue Velvet, Dennis Hopper as psych-job Frank Booth with his aspirator, taking shots of pure oxygen through a mask) combined with elements of bulimia nervosa. So with Hall, not so much nerves as anxiety. The throwing up purging the anxiety while heightening his senses, awareness, reflexes. Played better, performed better feeling lighter, hungry. Strange, how some peoples minds, bodies work.... His wife of course forever refusing to make him pre-game meals. I mean, why bother?
 
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Voight

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
42,173
18,763
Mulberry Street
Met Bower numerous times over the years and he is one of the nicest people I have come across. So eager to share his stories and give life lessons, one of the best things about him was his constant presence at Leaf/Marlie games. He was also very involved in youth hockey up until he passed away, always willing to give advice and pointers.
 
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Killion

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,226
DJ Man said:
First time I saw Bower play, maybe 1962, the TV announcers were calling him an old man.
Funny, he didn't play that way. Still had many good years left in him.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Frozen time. Forever middle-aged.
 
Robert Gordon Orr

Robert Gordon Orr

Registered User
Dec 3, 2009
979
2,045
R.I.P. Ed Diachuk [1936-2017]
Played 12 games with Detroit in 1960/61

s-l1600.jpg
 

brachyrynchos

Registered User
Apr 10, 2017
1,472
1,000
Arthur 'Art' Dorrington passed away December 29th in Atlantic City, NJ.
Born March 13 1930 in Nova Scotia, became the first black professional hockey player when he signed a contract with the New York Rangers in November of 1950. Never got the call up, played 345 games (EHL, EAHL, and IHL) 163 goals 157 assists. Drafted into army, served almost 2 years overseas, played a little more until a leg injury ended his career. After retiring, joined Atlantic County Sheriff's Office. in 1998 with his wife, the Art Dorrington Hockey Foundation, a nonprofit program. An outstandingly good guy, from everything I've read about him.
 
Fenway

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
70,407
104,232
Cambridge, MA
upload_2018-1-5_17-42-19.png


Famed Milton NHL referee Bruce Hood passes

Bruce Hood — one of the NHL’s most recognized and colourful officials — has passed away after a battle with prostate cancer.
He died this afternoon (Friday) at the age of 81.

Inducted into the Milton Sports Hall of Fame in November, Hood went from a young sports columnist for the Milton Canadian Champion to becoming one of the town’s biggest ever sports success stories.

He officiated 1033 regular season games and 157 playoff contests over a 21-year career.
Hood was instrumental in the formation of the NHL Officials Association and was the last to officiate in all Original Six arenas.
 
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ICM1970

Registered User
Jan 29, 2012
609
135
Ottawa, ON
I recall in Bruce's book "Calling the Shots" the opening chapter in which he discussed the Good Friday 1984 fight filled game between the Nordiques and Montreal at the Forum. He had even officiated the first game between these two teams at Le Colisse in Quebec City back in 1979 and the Nords won that game. The fans were deafening with their cheers at the end and Hood commented on how about an hour afterward after he and his linesmen had showered and got back into their streetclothes and were going to head back to their hotel, the rink was still about half full with people singing and cheering in celebration.
 
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mbhhofr

Registered User
Dec 7, 2010
698
89
Las Vegas
Bruce Hood was my best friend in the officiating ranks. We met when we both reffed in the IHL back in 1962-63. I got to see him and spend time with him a lot after the first NHL expansion when I was living in Minnesota. He mentioned me in his book, Calling The Shots.

Rest in peace old buddy.

TEARS!
 
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nabby12

nabby12

Registered User
Nov 11, 2008
1,648
1,485
Winnipeg
Max Labovitch passed away two days ago. He was the seventh oldest living NHL player, playing in five games for the New York Rangers during the 1943-44 season as an emergency replacement during World War II. Max was believed to be the first Jewish player to sign an NHL contract and play in the NHL. He was a few days shy of his 94th birthday.

LABOVITCH MAX - Winnipeg Free Press Passages
 
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Killion

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,226
Legend has it that on the day he started his career with the Montreal Star in March 1955, the Richard Riot happened. Hows that for your first day on the job, first story?..... Red annoyed me at times but one of the Greatest Hockey Writers, arguably THE GREATEST ever all time..... RIP Red. :( ... died 10 days after his beloved wife of many years passed away, something that is not at all uncommon.
 
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