Top photo: Mark Pavelich last year and in his heyday
TRAGIC LAST CHAPTER TO ‘MIRACLE ON ICE’
The National Hockey League and New York Rangers management are accountable in the death of ‘Miracle on Ice’ star Mark Pavelich, the former team captain charges.
The Rangers and the NHL abandoned Pavelich as he battled mental illness, Barry Beck wrote in a savage social media post.
“They don’t discuss it because they’re cowards,” Beck wrote. “The only thing that matters to them is money.”
Pavelich, 63, was found dead at a mental health facility in Minnesota where he was being treated for brain damage caused by head injuries during his seven years in the NHL, most of it with the Rangers. The exact cause of death is being investigated.
UPDATE
Rangers president John Davidson contacted Beck after his emotional post, prompting Beck to write a follow-up post.
“I was soon thereafter contacted by NY Rangers President John Davidson. Years ago John, Mark and I were teammates with the Rangers. John and I discussed the remarks I had made. We both respect each other and agreed that at this time it’s best we focus on mourning the death of Mark.”
Beck, who is still mourning the road-rage stabbing death of his 20-year-old son Brock last July in Hamilton, Ontario, said he was heart-broken by his teammate’s death.
Pavelich was a key player in the underdog U.S.A. team’s stunning gold medal win over the heavily favored Soviet team at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.
Pavelich, who had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), was commitment to the Eagle Healing Nest facility in 2019 after attacking a neighbor with a metal pipe and breaking several bones.
The degenerative brain disease is marked by depression, memory loss and dementia. CTE can only be diagnosed after death.
Yep as usual, profit overrules everything. In sports, it wasn't until former players left with brain injuries after retiring started suing the leagues they played in did safety become a concern. Today new helmet safety protocol using the latest technology to reduce concussions in the NFL,CFL and NHL. Spotters are assigned during the game now, pulling players to get checked for possible concussions.But this is all recent improvements not for the worry of the athlete as a human being but to avoid loosing league and ownership money in lawsuits. Before this change thousands suffered life-altering brain-related illnesses and dysfunctions. Many former NFL players committing suicide as depression and rages of violence overcame them.Some of them even shooting themselves in the heart instead of the head so autopsies could reveal brain-damage from multiple concussions as they suspected. In essence they gave their lives in hopes of better player-safety tomorrow!
Excellent analysis of the whole sports/concussion tragedy, and new information for me. I didn’t know about the grim fact that some victims shoot themselves in the heart to preserve their brain for an autopsy. Thanks for the comment, Wayne.