Preface & Introduction to a hockey book – Hockey’s Most Tragic Deaths
vacation soon after.
Some modern NHLers are profiled near the end of the final chapter, including Michel Briere, a talented rookie star player with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team’s best player in the 1969 Stanley Cup playoffs, Briere suffered major head trauma in an off-season car crash. He remained in a coma for almost one year before finally dying. St. Louis defenseman Bob Gassof also was victimized by severe head injuries, his being received in a motorcycle accident. A tough, dependable defenseman for the Blues in the mid-1970s, Gassof was another player who died in an off-season misadventure.
Brian Spencer was a talented hockey player but never reached his true potential, as a journeyman for Toronto, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders. “Spinner” was just a rookie in 1970, when his father was tragically shot to death by the RCMP. Brian’s career never took off after that, and the troubled former NHLer moved to Florida soon after his retirement; eventually acquitted of first-degree murder in a highly publicized trial, Spencer was mysteriously shot to death shortly afterwards.
Tragedy also revisited the Philadelphia Flyers in the late 1990s. Left winger Yanick Dupre played briefly for the Flyers between 1991 and 1996, but then became ill with leukemia. He died less than a year after his final NHL stint. A promising rookie defenseman from Russia, Dmitri Tertyshny earned a roster spot with Philadelphia during the 1998-99 season, but was killed during a boating accident that very summer.
How NHLers have lived and died often reflects how much these players were products of their times. Vezina, Gardiner, Hall and Morenz all died from disease or illness early in the 20th Century; it is quite possible that their lives would have been saved if they had access to the assistance which modern medicine and science routinely provide patients. Baker, Davidson, McGee, Garrett and Turner all perished fighting in struggles dictated by the politics of their times. I addition to Barilko, these early hockey greats were also victims of the inherent dangers of modern aviation.
Modern NHLers have also met fates which accurately reflect the perils of our times. Briere, Horton, Gassof, Lindbergh, Chiasson, Tertyshny and Snyder all died due to misadventure, in motor vehicle accidents. Most of these mishaps involved the use of alcohol, largely during or after an event involving at least some of the player’s teammates, be it a game, team function or party. Alcohol was also an essential factor in the deaths of Sawchuk, Spencer, Kordic and Fogarty, with dangerous and illegal drugs probably playing significant roles in the latter three cases. The recent suicide of Roman Lyashenko, the only known NHL suicide, is another telltale sign of the relentless pressures facing modern pro hockey players.
A major lesson here is that several pro hockey players have historically fallen victim to the same substance abuse problems, bad decisions, and personal demons. It is not surprising, then, that many NHLers have died as a result of misadventure, often during the off-season. Late spring and summer are months when hockey players are afforded the opportunity to let their guards down and enjoy life more. They are known to have a few beers, play a few rounds of golf, and spend more time with family and friends. Some players take their leisure time to heart, living life in the fast lane, taking part in reckless, even life-endangering activities. That such players might engage in irresponsible behaviour to escape the pressures of being pro athletes does not make their actions acceptable, just more understandable. There is little doubt that modern hockey players regularly face much more stressful situations than players from previous eras, and this seems to be reflected in the recently increasing number of fatalities. Since 1997 seven of the twenty-three players profiled in this book have died – Stephane Morin, Dupre, Fogarty, Chiasson, Tertyshny, Lyashenko, and Snyder. It is interesting to note that the latter three died because of misadventure, during the off-season.
Brad Lombardo received his B.Ed. from the University of Toronto and his M.A. from McGill University. He has worked as a business manager, marketing consultant, account executive, admissions counselor, high school teacher and sportswriter. He has written a still to be published hockey book, and is currently penning a movie script based on his experiences as a Canadian teenager living in Spain.