Toggle sidebar

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

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
bob suter never made the NHL, but obviously his brother and son were stars. member of the 1980 US team. his death last september kind of flew under the radar.

it's really sad: what we didn't know about their free agency year was that ryan suter and zach parise both signed with the wild to be close to their sick dads (or at least that's what minnesota public radio tells me).


(but RIP elmer lach, which is what i originally clicked into this thread to say.)
 
Big Phil said:
Why would Terry Sawchuk be depressed? He has it all right?
Click to expand...

You'd think, though back then of course they werent making great $$$ and in a lot of cases were working 2 or 3 jobs on top of playing hockey. Alternative being stuck in a mine or whatever. No control over their lives, could be traded at anytime, and if injured that likelihood increasing exponentially so they'd play through injuries & Sawchuk in particular, Horror Story of injuries that he did play through beyond the cuts to his face, bruises. Collapsed lung, dislocated discs in his back, just on & on. His childhood as well marred by tragedies, 2 of his 3 brothers dying when he was a kid, one of Scarlet Fever when Terry was very young; the oldest, an aspiring Goalie at 17 (when Terry was 10 & who he idolized) from a Heart Attack. Playing Rugby at 12 or so he wrecked one of his arms up & didnt tell his parents about it, left untreated, causing problems for the rest of his life. When he arrived in Detroit Adams demanded he lose 40lbs and as Gordie Howe & others commented at the time, that weight loss seemed to change his personality, causing sleep loss (could only sleep 2hrs at a time) & so on, creating a situation where he then struggled with his weight throughout his career. Really a culmination of a lot of things, becoming surly, short tempered, introspective & ya, angry. Alcohol playing a big part which is itself a depressant & certainly when abused even more so, messing up the central nervous system. So really quite a few factors, early childhood traumas', injuries, sleep deprivation, Id imagine pain killers and not just the kind youd buy at a pharmacy, the booze etc. Untreated throughout his life. Death by misadventure. Happens.
 
Big Phil said:
Oh no! Lach died. That's a shame. What a life he lived and the stories he could have told. He lived longer than his linemates. Toe Blake dying in 1995, Rocket dying in 2000. The other two lived full lives as well.
Click to expand...

Lach was one of the last greats from his era... Milt Schmidt is the only other one I can think of (he's the oldest living former NHLer now). Next oldest living Hab I believe is John Mahaffy, 96.
 
Last edited:
I met Dollard St. Laurent and other teammates of his in 1953 when I was 14 years old. I'm now 75 and to this day I have always said that he was the nicest pro hockey player that I have ever met and I've met many. May he rest in peace.
 
Mark Reeds, who played for the Blues and Whalers in the 1980s and was recently an assistant coach with the Senators, died today from cancer, aged 55.
 
John Mahaffy, 96 died on May 2, 2015. Was the oldest living former Montreal Canadien. The oldest Hab now is Bob Fillion, 94.
 
Last edited:
Didn't know Denis Tsygurov died. Will always remember him for looking like former WWF wrestler Curt Hennig...who is also dead.
 
Greg Parks passes away

Former Canadian national team forward Greg Parks passed away on Tuesday in his hometown of Edmonton. He was only 48 years old.

Parks played four years for Bowling Green State University in the U.S. and spent a season with Karpat Oulu in Finland before moving on to the NHL. During three seasons he appeared in 23 regular-season games for the New York Islanders while spending most of the time with the Islanders’ affiliates.

http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=9879
 
byrone said:
Greg Parks passes away

Former Canadian national team forward Greg Parks passed away on Tuesday in his hometown of Edmonton. He was only 48 years old.

Parks played four years for Bowling Green State University in the U.S. and spent a season with Karpat Oulu in Finland before moving on to the NHL. During three seasons he appeared in 23 regular-season games for the New York Islanders while spending most of the time with the Islanders’ affiliates.

http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=9879
Click to expand...

That's really sad... only 48 years old. RIP.
 
Big Phil said:
Unfortunately we really don't know. We assume a hockey player can't possibly be depressed, but they can.

Gordie Howe - who played with Sawchuk forever - said this about him: "For a man who seemingly had everything he was a very unhappy individual."

Why would Terry Sawchuk be depressed? He has it all right? Well, we thought that about Robin Williams too. The truth is, once the curtain is down with these great athletes reality sets in. I really don't know why Montador was depressed either.
Click to expand...

Sadly depression is misunderstood still.

There aren't "logical " reasons for depressions and the medical community still doesn't fully understand everything about it but it's a disease that can strike anyone for no apparent rhyme or reason.
 
byrone said:
Greg Parks passes away

Former Canadian national team forward Greg Parks passed away on Tuesday in his hometown of Edmonton. He was only 48 years old.

Parks played four years for Bowling Green State University in the U.S. and spent a season with Karpat Oulu in Finland before moving on to the NHL. During three seasons he appeared in 23 regular-season games for the New York Islanders while spending most of the time with the Islanders’ affiliates.

http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=9879
Click to expand...

I thought his name sounded familiar. He was one of the first ECHL players to play in the NHL. I'd say he was probably within the first 10 ECHL players, if not first five.

IIRC, it was Scott Gordon (QUE), Mitch Molloy (BUF), and Parks (NYI) as the first three players from the Chiefs to make the jump.

RIP
 
Nunymare said:
June 29, Wally Stanowski, 96. Last surviving member of the Leafs' 1942 and 1945 Cup winning teams.

http://m.torontosun.com/2015/06/29/maple-leafs-alum-wally-stanowski-dead-at-96
Click to expand...

Huh. Pretty good long life. And isnt that interesting, that he had $30 "deducted" for his sweater? First time Ive ever heard of this. That is the equivalent of $503.17 in 2015! How that is even possible, that amount.... and just why.... would Conn Smythe or anyone else for that matter at the minor pro or NHL level be charging his players for jerseys? See that in Minor Hockey, House League, but beyond that, no.
 
Darth Yoda said:
Wasn't Stanowski the guy that to what it appears his grave bore a grudge about having a goal stolen by a teammate?
Click to expand...

Indeed he was. Howie Meeker to be precise. That his 5 goal game was a work of fiction & not fact. Discussed here not long ago. .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom