An injury that ends his career and his own life’s battles have propelled this former NHLer into a lifetime of mental health advocacy.
It was on March 22, 1989 when goalie Clint Malarchuk playing for the Buffalo Sabers was slashed by an opposing player’s skates and crashed into the goal area. The blade severed his carotid artery and partially severed his jugular vein. As blood spurted out onto the ice, Malarchuk somehow managed to grab his throat and pull himself out of the ice.
That incident would affect his game going forward and he eventually left the NHL. He then went on to play in the International Hockey League and eventually coach, ending his career on the Calgary Flames staff in 2014.
In 2008, tried to take his own life, somehow escaping the finality of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He faced mental health challenges including obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, alcoholism, and substance abuse.
Fast forward to the publication of her autobiography in November 2014 and several subsequent speaking engagements, including May 2015 at the Canadian Mental Health Association meeting in Ontario.
The inspiring story of comeback in the face of adversity is the fodder that leads Malarchuk to share his ride at Lloydminster next month. The Alberta native, nicknamed the “cowboy porter” because of his participation in the Calgary rodeo, is now also a horse dentist and chiropractor and has a small ranch in Nevada. He does numerous talks every year.
Lloydminster Mental Health and the Lakeland Rustlers women’s basketball team they are banding together to bring Malarchuk to the border town. Event planner Tricia Hunter with BPC Directional says she has read her book twice and sees how her life transcends the events on the ice.
“So he woke up in the hospital with a bullet lodged in his head and realized that he was on earth to do great things and had a higher purpose in life beyond the path he was on. She began to speak throughout North America. I’ve read his book a couple of times and it’s a fantastic story. I know there’s been a lot of great hockey stories, but there’s a lot more to his story than that. His whole story doesn’t happen on ice. It’s right where he started it all.”
The Lakeland Rustlers are currently seeking a national title after that first shot was taken away from them when the COVID pandemic cut short last season. That story is currently being filmed by bi-fold films for a documentary called second bounce. His comeback story resonates with Hunter, as he says it was an exchange of ideas last summer that tied all of these stories together.
“We had a brainstorm and they [Two Fold Films] They were telling me about your video and about Second Bounce, and I said, you know, what I’ve always wanted to do is have an event that includes all the mental health services. Let’s do something that encompasses all of our mental health services in the city and raise awareness and funding for all of them. and those girls [Lakeland Basketball team] they should know what is available to them if they need help.”
Hunter explained at the time that everything had been shut down due to COVID and the season was cut short for players. Many of them being international students could not travel to be with their families. School was closed and the sport they loved was also on hold, being on the cusp of a possible national title.
Hunter says that BPC Directional appreciates the support of mental health initiatives in the community and working together with Kim Capiral and Jessie Mann of Two Fold Films created an opportunity to create synergies between all of these efforts.
All proceeds from the event will benefit five mental health centers in Lloydminster:
- Libbie Young Center
- recovering residents
- shelter of men
- Thorpe Recovery Center
- Society of Interval Homes.
Malarchuk along with Chris King, coach of the Lakeland Rustlers women’s basketball team, captain Tori Dugan and some teammates will take the stage at the Lakeland College Gymnasium on Sunday, April 3 beginning at 6 p.m.
Tickets that include corporate tables can be purchased online at EventBrite.
For more details, contact Tricia Hunter at 780-872-4828 and email: [email protected].
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