Clint Malarchuk

At 62 years old, Clint Malarchuk has this physical status:

Clint Malarchuk (born May 1, 1961) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender who competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1981 and 1992.

He has been a mentor for four NHL franchises and two minor league clubs, most recently the Calgary Flames.

He was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, was raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Alberta and Nevada.Malarchuk is best known for his recovery from a life-threatening injury sustained during a 1989 NHL game where Steve Tuttle's skate blade cut his jugular vein, resulting in immediate blood loss.

Personal life

Malarchuk is of Ukrainian descent.

Malarchuk retired from playing and then settled on a ranch near Carson City, Nevada (later Gardnerville, Nevada), where he and his wife, who had three children at the time. He became a licensed veterinary technician in mid-2000 and runs a clinic as a horse dentist from his ranch. Malarchuk's emus had a visiting photographer's camera flash stolen once more.

Since he was involved in the Calgary, Alberta, area rodeo scene during the hockey offseason, Malarchuk's nickname in hockey was "the Cowboy Goalie." In a front-page newspaper snapshot while playing for the Washington Capitals, he was seen riding barefoot, and he was later given horses as a contractual reward with the Las Vegas Thunder. When returning to play for the Buffalo Sabres, he credited his cowboy upbringing for his toughness.

In November 2014, Malarchuk released The Crazy Game, an autobiography. The book was published in the United States under the heading A Matter of Inches—How I Survived In The Crease And Beyond. The book debuted on the Toronto Star bestsellers list from January 2015 and was turned into a documentary film.

Following their publication, Clint and Joan Malarchuk were public speakers on topics such as obsessive compulsive disorder, help for alcoholics in recovery, suicide prevention, and psychological trauma. Malarchuk appeared as a guest speaker at a Canadian Mental Health Association meeting in Oakville, Ontario, on May 7, 2015. Clint and Joan Malarchuk, keynote speakers at the International OCD Foundation's conference in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 1, 2015. They told the audience that the video of his sports injury had been viewed with the understanding that it might cause harm to people who are unfamiliar with blood and trauma. Malarchuk and his wife now fly and participate in a number of league-related and unrelated activities involving mental stability, OCD, and depression in retired athletes.

Malarchuk sustained what seemed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chin from a.22 caliber rifle at his house in Fish Springs, Nevada, during a period of anxiety and domestic problems on October 7, 2008. The incident was initially described as an accident while hunting rabbits, but Malarchuk and his wife have since admitted that it was a suicide attempt. The Douglas County, Nevada sheriff's report concluded that the shooting was accidental under unethical circumstances, but afterward Joan Malarchuk said it was a suicide attempt "so that he would get the assistance she needed."

Officers and paramedics at the scene informed Malarchuk, who was bleeding from both his mouth and chin, was uncooperative and refused care. Joan Malarchuk said she sat with her husband and consoled him because she was afraid he'd lash out and be shot by police. Malarchuk was later flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno for care and release less than a week after the shooting. He then spent six months in a rehabilitation hospital for alcoholism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a post-traumatic stress disorder.

Joan Malarchuk told authorities that her husband was not supposed to drink alcohol while on prescription drugs for obsessive-compulsive disorder, but that she was doing so at the time of the shooting. Malarchuk later said he was overmedicated dating back to when he was prescribed an anti-psychotic sedative while playing pro hockey in San Diego.

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Playing career

Malarchuk played junior hockey for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League in the Western Hockey League. (WHL). He continued to play professionally in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals, and Buffalo Sabres, as well as in the International Hockey League (IHL) for the San Diego Gulls and Las Vegas Thunder. He had a career of 141 victories, 130 losses, 45 tied, 12 shutouts, and a.8885 save percentage.

In a road game against the Buffalo Sabres on December 13, 1981, Malarchuk made his NHL debut with the Nordiques on December 13, 1981, getting off in goal. In spite of being dissatisfied with back-up goaltender Michel Plasse at the time, the Nordiques were dissatisfied with him, and decided to give Malarchuk a look, considering that he only turned 20 a few months ago. He played well enough in his first game, a 4–4 draw, but the second one, two days later, was much tougher, as he met the defending Stanley Cup champions, the New York Islanders, who were defending Stanley Cup champions. In a wild 10–7 loss in what was the highest scoring game in the Nassau Coliseum's history, the Nordiques preferred a wide-open style of play at the time, and Malarchuk was largely to his own devices and saw 37 shots, allowing 10 goals to pass him. He was recalled to the American Hockey League after failing his audition and did not return until the following season. In return for John Garrett, Quebec traded Plasse to the Hartford Whalers later this season, the team's search for a reliable back-up goaltender for Dan Bouchard.

Malarchuk was barely active in the NHL for the next two seasons, and not at all in 1984–85, when he spent the bulk of his time with the Fredericton Express in the AHL. He was the Nordiques' primary goaltender from 1985–86, serving the position for two seasons, though ongoing controversies about whether he or local favorite Mario Gosselin should be the starter. He was not awarded with a game played during the 1984 NHL Playoffs, but was still assessed with 15 penalty minutes. In Game 6 of the Adams Division Finals against the Montreal Canadiens on April 20, he was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for leaving his squad's bench to participate in an on-ice brawl. After the 1986 NHL Entry Draft that eventually brought the Nordiques Joe Sakic, he was traded to the Washington Capitals alongside Dale Hunter in a return for Gaétan Duchesne, Alan Haworth, and a first-round pick. Malarchuk, along with Grant Ledyard and a 1991 sixth-round pick (Brian Holzinger) in exchange for Calle Johansson and a 1989 second-round pick (Byron Dafoe), then. Malarchuk would suffer a life-threatening neck injury in his sixth game with the Sabres.

On March 22, 1989, Steve Tuttle of the Blues and Malarchuk's Buffalo Sabres crashed hard into the goal crease during play during a game between the visiting St. Louis Blues and the Malarchuk Sabres. Tuttle's skate blade bit into the right front of Malarchuk's neck, severing his carotid artery and partially cutting his jugular vein as they collided.

With blood gushing out of Malarchuk's neck onto the ice, he was able to break the ice on his own feet with the help of his team's athletic coach, Jim Pizzutelli. Many spectators were physically ill by the spectacle. The excessive amount of blood lost to Malarchuk has caused eleven followers to faint, two more to have heart attacks, and three players to vomit on the ice. After seeing what had happened, local television cameras covering Malarchuk's bleeding were turned away from the game's view, Sabres announcers Ted Darling and Mike Robitaille were audibly shaken. A producer scrolled his tape back to inform two other producers, who were both horrified by the sight at the production room of the national cable sports highlight show.

In the meanwhile, Malarchuk thought he was going to die. Malarchuk said, "All I wanted to do was get off the ice." "My mother was watching the game on TV, and I didn't want her to die." He knew his mother was watching the game on television and wanted to tell her he loved her. He pleaded for a priest, which prompted him to request one.

Malarchuk's life was saved thanks to quick action by Sabres' athletic trainer Jim Pizzutelli, a veteran US Army combat medic who served in the Vietnam War. He gripped Malarchuk's neck and pinched off the vein, refusing to let go until doctors arrived to begin stabilizing the wound. He led Malarchuk off the ice and put extreme pressure on his collarbone, causing a low breathing rate and low metabolic state, which is preferable to exsanguination. Malarchuk was alert and talking on the way to the hospital, and she jokingly asked medics if they could bring him back to the hospital in time for the third period. As league personnel received notice that Malarchuk was in fair shape, the game was rescheduled.

Malarchuk lost 1.5 litres of blood. To close the six-inch wound, doctors took 300 stitches. In ten days, he was back on the ice in ten days.

Richard Zedn, the forward for the Buffalo, Florida Panthers, sustained an injury similar to Malarchuk's after Olli Jokinen's skate blade cut the front of Zedn's neck, destroying his common carotid artery, prompting immediate blood loss. Although Malarchuk initially refused to view the video, after viewing it, he was taken aback, saying he didn't think his memories of his own experience would return after nearly 20 years. The following year, he began seeking medical assistance for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Malarchuk's results declined over the next two years until he decided to leave the league. He suffered with obsessive disorder (as he suffered with since a young age), nightmares, and alcoholism, but the International Hockey League kept him in pro hockey. Malarchuk, a goaltender for the San Diego Gulls in 1992-93, was a goaltender for the IHL's San Diego Gulls and competed in the league championship. He played for 56 games and set a record of 34–10–7 the following season. The Thunder and hangs from the Thomas & Mack Center's rafters.

Coaching career

Malarchuk continued his work as a coach after resigning as a player. In the 1998-99 season and the Idaho Steelheads until 2000, Malarchuk served as head coach and assistant general manager of the Las Vegas Thunder. He was a goaltending coach for the NHL Florida Panthers from 2002-03 seasons. The Columbus Blue Jackets named him as the goaltending coach for 2006-07. Malarchuk decided to be the Atlanta Thrashers' goaltending coach in August 2010. The Calgary Flames announced on June 17, 2011 that Malarchuk would be their goaltender coach. The Calgary Flames reported that they had parted ways with Malarchuk and were looking for a new goaltending coach on June 17, 2014. He had been away from work during the 2013–14 season to begin the National Hockey League's substance abuse rehabilitation program.

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