30 years ago today...scariest incident in NHL history

[transplant99]

The Clint Malarchuk story should never be forgotten....both what happened that day and how it affected him later in life.

The first time I should have died was a Wednesday. March 22, 1989.

We were up 1-0. The puck was on the boards in the corner and I was on my post. The Blues' Steve Tuttle, a twenty-three-year-old rookie, charged to the net, looking for a pass. One of our defensemen, Uwe Krupp, was right behind him.

4:45 ... The pass came just above the crease -- a backdoor play. I slid across the net. 4:44 ... Krupp pulled Tuttle down from behind and slid into me, skates first. 4:43.

It felt like a kick to the mask. There was no pain, but I pulled my helmet off. And then I saw the blood. It spattered red in the faceoff circle.

A stream gushed out with every beat of my heart. It's an artery. I grabbed my neck, trying to keep the blood in, but it rushed between my fingers. It just kept coming. I slumped forward and it glugged out like a water fountain.

"We're going to save you."

"Jim, I can't breathe."

He flexed his grip. "You're not going to breathe until we get you to a doctor."

My mother was at home in Calgary, watching the game on satellite. I couldn't let her see this happen -- not on the ice, not on TV, not like this. They put me on a table in the trainer's room. Rip Simonick, our equipment manager, stood over me and held my hand. I asked him to call my mom.

One of the team's doctors took a towel and pressed it down on my throat with all his weight. He'd let up so I could breathe, and the blood would spout out and he'd press back down.

Security had to clear everyone out. Jim started cutting off my pads and chest protector. Rip was still holding my hand as he dialed my mother's number. I didn't want to pass out. If I close my eyes, I won't wake up.

I tried to make a joke: "Put in a couple stitches and let me get back out there." Blood gurgled out as I said it. No one laughed. They were white as ghosts, and I figured it was the end.

WARNING........GRAPHIC PHOTO

NSFW!

Ten days later, he was back on the ice. He received a standing ovation, but no counselling.

"None was provided. I didn't think of it back then, nor did they."

Looking back, Clint thinks he was in shock for those first few months. But by the next season, he started to experience depression and anxiety, as well as panic attacks.

Nightmares followed.

"I'd sit straight up in a chair so I wouldn't go into a deep sleep," he said, "so I wouldn't visualise in a dream the flashback of that skate coming up and cutting my jugular vein.

He was drinking heavily, and his relationship with Joanie began to break down. The anxiety he was experiencing led him to constantly question their relationship.

One afternoon, Joanie came home to find her husband sitting out back. He had been drinking and was holding a .22 caliber rifle.

"He just kept talking about how he couldn't turn his head off," Joanie remembers.

As their discussion became heated, Clint picked up the gun and placed it under his chin.

"This is what I wish would happen," he said, and pulled the trigger.

"Did I wanna die? No, no I didn't," Clint said.

"But boy I wanted to kill that pain, and I think most suicide survivors will tell you the same thing."


'Don't suffer in silence'
Clint went to rehab after the suicide attempt, where he was diagnosed with PTSD from the accident in 1989.

"I went 20 years with undiagnosed PTSD that almost ended my life 20 years later," he said.

He and Joanie are now mental health advocates, urging others to seek help for their problems.

Just a reminder..if you feel that kind of pain...you are not alone and tell someone. People really do want to help.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/1...jury-cost-life

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/...ater-1.4980926

[Maritime Q-Scout]

If you ever get a chance to see Clint speak about this, be sure to go. Especially if he's speaking with his wife Joanie. They're captivating, honest, and raw. Although you might leave with a cavity or two because Joanie is so sweet.

Clint is also a genuine down to earth, easy going, give you the shirt off his back, guy next door. Not the gruff, type A, don't want to meet him in a back alley persona that you'd find on the ice (or the hallways of Rogers Arena).

They say don't meet your heroes, but I can honestly say Clint was beyond what I expected.

Be sure to read his book "The Crazy Game". Best book I've ever read.

[Redliner]

I was watching that game and saw that happen. Just horrific.

I know Malarchuk still has a few demons to battle but I have an incredible amount of respect for him and the things he has overcome. The guy is tough as nails, and despite his illness such a strong, strong person.

[crapshoot]

Team staff really did one heck of a job rushing in fast and saving his life. Gruesome story, and fantastic how he managed to finally turn his life around.


I will always think fondly of Malarchuk for going after Tortorella in the scrum in the tunnel during that game against the Canucks back in 2014.

[CalgaryFan1988]

It makes sense that it would, but I had no idea the Zednik injury brought everything back for Malarchuk, making him relive the trauma all over again.

I dont know Malarchuk at all, but I'm always so grateful for people in the public eye who come forward and speak about topics such as mental illness. It helps so many people. From such a tragic story a lot of lives are saved.

[Thor]

Just reading the tagline of this post I was immediately taken back to that night when it happened and the same pit of my stomach feeling when I first saw the highlight.

Scary, still can't believe he was ok.

[Nyah]

On March 22, 1989, during a game between the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues, Steve Tuttle's skate severed the former Sabres goalie's jugular vein. Blood poured from Malarchuk as a trainer pressed a towel against his neck. Malarchuk needed 300 stitches to close the gash.

At the time, there were reports that 11 fans fainted and two more had heart attacks when Malarchuk's macabre accident took place. Three players vomited on the ice.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=3242226

[Vox]

Originally Posted by Thor

Just reading the tagline of this post I was immediately taken back to that night when it happened and the same pit of my stomach feeling when I first saw the highlight.

Scary, still can't believe he was ok.

Exactly my reaction. One of those things that can't be forgotten.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I dont know Malarchuk at all

I met him last year, picked him and his wife up at the airport, had dinner with them (amongst a number of others), and got to spend some time just chatting with them.

Great, great people.

I've spend the last several minutes trying to put into words the respect and admiration I have for them... I consider myself a wordsmith and honestly don't know how.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

If you ever get a chance to see Clint speak about this, be sure to go. Especially if he's speaking with his wife Joanie. They're captivating, honest, and raw. Although you might leave with a cavity or two because Joanie is so sweet.

Ohh, you.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by crapshoot

Team staff really did one heck of a job rushing in fast and saving his life. Gruesome story, and fantastic how he managed to finally turn his life around.

If I recall correctly, one of the staff (trainer?) was a veteran combat medic who had done tours in Vietnam. He recognized the severity of the situation, and likely saved Clint’s life.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

If I recall correctly, one of the staff (trainer?) was a veteran combat medic who had done tours in Vietnam. He recognized the severity of the situation, and likely saved Clint’s life.

I believe that's accurate. If I'm not mistaken he was also the trianer that attended to Richard Zedník when a skate cut his throat.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

If I recall correctly, one of the staff (trainer?) was a veteran combat medic who had done tours in Vietnam. He recognized the severity of the situation, and likely saved Clint’s life.

I read his book and that is correct.

A must read for anyone that can get a hand on his book.

[transplant99]

nm

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

If I recall correctly, one of the staff (trainer?) was a veteran combat medic who had done tours in Vietnam. He recognized the severity of the situation, and likely saved Clint’s life.

From the ESPN article

Our trainer, Jim Pizzutelli, got to me first. He had gauze from the medical kit. He pushed it against my throat, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. The crease was covered in blood.

I coughed out, "Jim, it's my jugular."

He was so calm. "Just do what I say."

Years earlier, Jim had been a combat engineer in the Vietnam War. His second week in, he was walking through a village when a truck collided with him and four other soldiers. The impact broke his ribs. It tossed another soldier into a gully, where he was decapitated by a sheet-metal hut.

Jim was medevacked out, with the young man's body and head beside him. He studied sports medicine after the war. Now here he was, squeezing his arm around my neck.

"We're going to save you."

"Jim, I can't breathe."