Clint Malarchuk
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| Position | Goaltender |
| Caught | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb) |
| Pro clubs | Quebec Nordiques Washington Capitals Buffalo Sabres |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | May 1, 1961 , Grande Prairie, AB, CAN |
| NHL Draft | 74th overall, 1981 Quebec Nordiques |
| Pro career | 1981 – 1996 |
Clint Malarchuk (born May 1, 1961 in Grande Prairie, Alberta) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1981 and 1992, and current goaltending coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Aside from his career, he is known for sustaining a life-threatening injury during a game when another player's skate blade slashed his throat.
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[edit] Playing career
Malarchuk played for the Portland Winter Hawks, Québec Nordiques, Washington Capitals, and Buffalo Sabres throughout his career. He was a very competent goalie, with a career record of 141 wins, 130 losses, 45 ties, 12 shutouts, and a 0.885 save percentage.
[edit] Throat injury
The infamous moment that Malarchuk is perhaps most known for occurred during a game on March 22, 1989, between the visiting St. Louis Blues and Malarchuk's Buffalo Sabres. Steve Tuttle of the Blues and Uwe Krupp of the Sabres collided at the mouth of the goal, and Tuttle's skate caught Malarchuk on the neck, severing his jugular vein/carotid artery. [1][2]
With pools of blood collecting on the ice, Malarchuk somehow left the ice under his own power with the assistance of his team's athletic trainer, Jim Pizzutelli, ATC. Many spectators were physically sickened by the sight, with nine fainting and two suffering heart attacks while three teammates vomited on the ice. [3][4] Local television cameras covering the game cut away from the sight of Malarchuk after realizing what had happened.
Malarchuk, meanwhile, had only two thoughts: He was going to die, and he had to do it the right way. "All I wanted to do was get off the ice", said Malarchuk. "My mother was watching the game on TV, and I didn't want her to see me die."[5]
Malarchuk's life was saved by Jim Pizzutelli, ATC, the team's athletic trainer and a former army medic who had served in Vietnam. He reached into Malarchuk's neck and pinched off the bleeding, not letting go until doctors arrived to begin suturing the wound. Still, Malarchuk came within minutes of becoming only the second fatality to result from an on-ice injury in NHL history (the first was Bill Masterton).
Amazingly, after receiving more than 300 stitches to close the wound, [6] Malarchuk returned to practice four days later, having spent only one night in the hospital. And about a week after that, he was back in goal against the Quebec Nordiques. "Doctors told me to take the rest of the year off, but there was no way", Malarchuk said. "The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be. I play for keeps." Malarchuk came back in time to play in the playoffs but only to lose to Ray Bourque and the Boston Bruins in a 4–1 series.
Malarchuk's performance declined over the next few years, to the point that he left the NHL. After this, he struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder (as he had since a young age), as well as nightmares and alcoholism [7], but he eventually returned to hockey, in the International Hockey League. After retiring as a player, Malarchuk continued his hockey career as a coach.
Despite Malarchuk's injury, the NHL does require only goalies protective neck gear for any of its players.
[edit] Similar Accidents
In 1995, a Swedish hockey player, Bengt Åkerblom, died of blood loss after an incident similar to Malarchuk's, as a result of Bengt Åkerbloms death it became mandatory from 1st June 1996 to wear protective neck gear for all players in the Swedish series.
On February 10, 2008, coincidentally again in Buffalo, Florida Panthers Slovak player Richard Zedník suffered an injury similar to Malarchuk after Olli Jokinen's skate blade cut the side of Zedník's neck injuring his carotid artery and barely missing his jugular vein. Upon viewing the footage of Zednik's injury, Malarchuk was taken aback, saying that he didn't think his memory of his own incident would come back after 19 years. Malarchuk also stated he would like to speak with Zednik once the time was right. [8]
[edit] Coaching career
- Clint Malarchuk was a goaltending coach for the Florida Panthers during the season 2002–2003. He was signed as the goaltending coach for 2006–2007 by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
[edit] References
- ^ Sports Science: Clint Malarchuk injury - AOL Video
- ^ Malarchuk's horrific accident still etched in memory
- ^ "The 10 Spot: September 16, 2005", CNNSI.com.
- ^ Video of Malarchuk injury at YouTube.com (Warning: Graphic)
- ^ Zednik's injury brings Malarchuk's own nightmare back to surface
- ^ Burnside, Scott. "Other NHL on-ice scares", espn.com, 2005-11-22. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ^ Knisley, Michael. "The Biggest Save", The Sporting News, March 6, 1995.
- ^ Malarchuk still haunted by accident
