bill masterton death video

The underlying cause of his death almost 50 years ago elevates awareness about the risks of undiagnosed concussions -- and the NHL's responsibility to address them. Talk centered on the divisive topic of helmets. Explore Bill Masterton's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. Bill Masterton died from head injuries he suffered in a National Hockey League game in 1968, sparking a long-running debate over helmets, which were finally made mandatory 11 seasons later. [9] The Pioneers finished the season with a 30-1-1 record and were hailed as "the greatest hockey team to ever represent an American college or university. After reviewing the document, Dr. Charles Tator, a Toronto neurosurgeon and concussion expert, believes Masterton suffered second impact syndrome, a rare occurrence where a second concussion happens on the heels of a first concussion that never healed, causing rapid and severe brain swelling. [16] Masterton was the first player to sign with Minnesota,[11] agreeing to a two-year contract. Im fine, hed say, the mantra of a thousand hockey players. He bore the bruises of that hit and others in subsequent games on his left arm, both thighs and, unwittingly, his brain. "He played that game standing up," Williamson said. "He was a team man off the charts.". He had kept fit by playing on a barnstorming amateur team, the St. Paul Steers, and with the U.S. national team. He had been checked hard into the glass -- less yielding in those days -- two weeks earlier in a game against the Boston Bruins. The death of DU hockey Alum Bill Masterton 40 years ago this week was tragic, unnecessary and foolish. Its also the mindset that will shorten their lives and destroy their bodies. Theres something wrong.. Even as Walter Bush, one of the North Star owners, saw him lying motionless on the ice, he did not think Masterton had sustained a concussion. Corry does not think the amount of swelling would have been caused from the singular impact at Met Center. The North Stars retired his jersey number 19, an honour that followed the franchise when it later relocated to Dallas, Texas. He bore the bruises of that hit and others in subsequent games -- on his left arm, both thighs and, unwittingly, his brain. #nhl #hockeydeath #rip #hockey #sports". When Minnesota executives, who had acquired his rights, invited him to a tryout, Masterton relished the second chance. Philadelphia forward Ian Laperriere is one of three final nominees for this years Masterton Trophy despite not playing a single game in 2010-11 as he deals with post-concussion syndrome. And in Masterton's case, it probably cost him his life. After his death, his #19 jersey was officially retired by the Minnesota North Stars. You would get traded if you did. Masterton had worn a helmet when he played college hockey in Denver because NCAA regulations required players to wear them, but he did not wear one as a professional. "I knew he was done.". Masterton was not a marquee player, but he was a skilled playmaker who was willing to work in the corners and be a team player. john@johnrosengren.net|612-926-8835. They didn't. ", Masterton was an unfortunate victim of the ignorance of his time. He played that game standing up, Williamson said. said Masterton's son, Scott, now 50. The scoreboard showed a video of Laperriere getting nailed in face with a puck in the opening series against New Jersey, blood pouring from a gash over his right eye. He made the North Stars and scored the first goal in franchise history. (Or was she paralyzed). More importantly, he earned a degree. At 1:55 a.m. on Jan. 15, 1968 -- almost 30 hours after he struck his head on the ice -- Bill Masterton died at the age of 29. A team of doctors at the hospital treated Masterton with steroids and diuretics, but the swelling in his brain was so swift and severe that they decided against operating. . After Masterton's death, the North Stars set up a scholarship fund in his name. Typical of the attitude of the day, North Stars coach Wren Blair frowned on the practice. "He was a team man off the charts.". Masterton told his friend that he had been having migraines. According to several of Masterton's teammates, wearing a helmet was frowned upon in the NHL of that era; at least one North Star who wore a helmet during a game was traded after the season. Masterton was knocked backward in the resulting collision and landed on his head. He wanted it badly. Since Masterton was off balance at the time he got checked (cleanly; there was no penalty called), his brain twisted inside of his skull before his head struck the ice. For the 1979-80 season, the league finally made helmets mandatory for new players -- allowing those who signed professional contracts prior to June 1, 1979, the option not to wear them -- but it would be 18 years before every NHL player complied. 19, a tradition the franchise continued to honor when it moved and became the Dallas Stars. In a quiet moment, Masterton made a rare admission to Maniago: He was struggling with the effects of a head check into the glass during a recent game. ", Masterton was an unfortunate victim of the ignorance of his time. When the brain hasn't healed completely from a previous injury, a subsequent blow can cause the type of sudden and severe swelling found in Masterton's brain. Didn't he break his leg then die from complications as a result of it. He didnt see the other defender, who caught him with a clean check that knocked him backward. The specter of Masterton's death hung over the NHL All-Star Game, which was played in Toronto the next day, Jan. 16, 1968. You stopped elbowing guys in the head, Matt?". asked Williamson, who has a photo hanging in his office of Masterton on the stretcher. Stay on current site or go to US version. This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. That rotation was a contributing factor in the severity of his injury. Even as Walter Bush, one of the North Star owners, saw him lying motionless on the ice, he did not think Masterton had sustained a concussion. His eyes were gray at the time it was like a horror picture, Boudrias says. One of their sticks tangled with Mastertons skates as he slid a pass to his wing, and he lost his balance, pitching forward. "I was asked to take it off," Boudrias said. Masterton is credited with the scoring the first goal by a Minnesota franchise in the NHL. Ken Lindgren, a fan watching the play about 10 rows up in the stands just above the blue line, can still visualize the impact. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Back at the 1968 All-Star Game, discussion among beat writers went beyond the helmet debate to come up with a way to commemorate the league's first casualty. [27], Masterton was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1985,[28] and named to the NCAA's 50th anniversary team in 1997. You know the diagnosis of a concussion back in those days? asked Williamson, who has a photo hanging in his office of Masterton on the stretcher. The Professional Hockey Writers Association proposed -- and the league immediately approved -- the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy to be awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies the virtues of perseverance, courage and sportsmanship that Masterton displayed. "You hold out four fingers. He's also convinced a helmet would have saved Masterton's life. "We lived with the accident for many years but did not talk about it.". The team also retired his No. In several games prior to the tragedy, Blair had also noticed something strange. So has NHL protocol, initiated in 2011, which has spotters to flag potentially concussed players and bans those from returning to games in which they were injured. The Hennepin County medical examiner found evidence of a previous injury on the left side of Mastertons skull on the temporal region of the brain. He died two days later. [19] He carried the puck up the ice at full speed, passing it off as two Seals defenders, Larry Cahan and Ron Harris, converged on him. That dream carried him through junior hockey in his hometown of Winnipeg and three years at the University of Denver, where he was an All-American and led the Pioneers to the 1961 NCAA championship, but the dream stalled after two years of minor league hockey in the Montreal Canadiens' organization. Oakland defencemen Larry Cahan and Ron Harris moved in to check Masterton, who wound up falling on the back of his head. I wouldnt do it.. For the 1979-80 season, the league finally made helmets mandatory for new players -- allowing those who signed professional contracts prior to June 1, 1979, the option not to wear them -- but it would be 18 years before every NHL player complied. [21], Some players began to wear helmets following Masterton's death,[16] but adoption was slow. He didnt just work on the ice. said Boudrias, now 72. They thought it took away from the fan experience, masking the identity of players. Nor did he see evidence of CTE, the progressive degenerative disease found posthumously in the brains of nearly 87 of 91 NFL players who suffered multiple blows to the head. TikTok video from That Stars Fan (@hockey_unpaused): "Bill Masterton is the only player in NHL history to die as a direct result of an injury suffered on the ice. Realizing he was already gone, Masterton's parents, who had flown in from Winnipeg after they heard of the incident, and his wife, Carol, made the decision to remove Masterton from life support. expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh_uLi6Bf7s, https://www.hockey-reference.com/awards/masterton.html. Carl Johnson, assistant general manager of Minnesotas farm team in Memphis, said he was told Masterton had blacked out while on line rushes during practice. That dream carried him through junior hockey in his hometown of Winnipeg and three years at the University of Denver, where he was an All-American and led the Pioneers to the 1961 NCAA championship, but the dream stalled after two years of minor league hockey in the Montreal Canadiens' organization. But 37 games later, in the days leading up to the hit that would kill him, there were signs all was not right. William Masterton (August 13, 1938 - January 15, 1968) was a Canadian American professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota North Stars in 1967-68. When the brain hasn't healed completely from a previous injury, a subsequent blow can cause the type of sudden and severe swelling found in Masterton's brain. When he had headaches early on, we wouldnt have had him on the ice, he said. At 1:55 a.m. on Jan. 15, 1968 almost 30 hours after he struck his head on the ice Bill Masterton died at the age of 29. If the guy only sees two, you send him back out there because it doesn't matter anyway. [Masterton] probably had some earlier swelling going on, so if he got a second injury, it would be catastrophic.. The trophy named in Masterton's honor was originally presented by the NHL Writers' Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars, who . 4 pick Puljujarvi to Canes, Chasing history in Boston: The numbers behind the Bruins' wild 2022-23 season, McDavid, then who? "It sounded like a baseball bat hitting a ball," teammate Andr Boudrias recalled. Bill Masterton, the only player to die from injuries suffered during an NHL game, might not have died in vain. cemeteries found in Masterton, Masterton District, Wellington, . He was having some headaches. Masterton, who was not wearing a helmet, smacked the back of his head on the ice. "[10], Turning to professional hockey after graduating with an engineering degree,[9] Masterton signed a contract with the Montreal Canadiens in 1961. "[16] By mid-season, Masterton had scored 4 goals and 12 points in 38 games. He finished with a master's degree in business at Denver and landed a job at the Minneapolis-based technology company Honeywell, where he worked in the financial department for the Apollo project, married his high school sweetheart and started a family, adopting a son and a daughter. With a blown knee and broken bones, Scott stepped away from his sport. Masterton told his friend that he had been having migraines. His death eventually led to rule changes, but they were not quick in coming. Yeah was going to say maybe the only death by a player, not in general. You protect your elbows, hips, knees and hands, I figured, why not protect your head? said Boudrias, now 72. The Hennepin County medical examiner found evidence of a previous injury on the left side of Masterton's skull on the temporal region of the brain. He cherished his son, Scott, 3, and daughter, Sally, 1. One account holds that Masterton regained consciousness for a few moments and repeated the words, Never again, never again, before closing his eyes for the final time. Masterton died in a Minneapolis hospital shortly after midnight on Jan. 15, 1968, a little more than one day after the 29 . Just that it was beating very irregularly, cause him to pass out/collapse. RIP in hockey heaven. It got deathly quiet.". Bills son Scott Masterton, now 46 with four children of his own, also believes that his fathers fate was sealed long before the night when the final blow was dealt. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. Its a fine tribute to a respected player who exhibited those virtues himself, but its regrettable that it ever came to be. But from that moment forward, the echoes of his fathers life stopped. He understands how passion and perseverance can deliver both glory and death. I am convinced he had some type of concussion beforehand, said Dr. Jesse Corry, a specialist in neurocritical care at the John Nasseff Neuroscience Specialty Clinic in St. Paul who studied the autopsy report. This is the story of the death of Masterton, one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history. said Boudrias, now 72. The specter of Mastertons death hung over the NHL All-Star Game, which was played in Toronto the next day, Jan. 16, 1968. He had kept fit by playing on a barnstorming amateur team, the St. Paul Steers, and with the U.S. national team. "It's kind of good to hear that because it takes away some of the 'What if?'" Toronto neurosurgeon and concussion expert Charles Tator reviewed Masterton's autopsy and opined that Masterton had suffered second-impact syndrome, which occurs when a person suffers a second concussion on top of an earlier, untreated concussion. Corry confirmed the opinion of Dr. Charles Tator, a Toronto neurosurgeon quoted in the Toronto Star article, who also said Masterton showed signs of "second-impact syndrome." "We watched his head bounce," Lindgren said. The team doctor soon joined him. permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. "When he had headaches early on, we wouldn't have had him on the ice," he said. On that fatal night at Met Center on Jan. 13, 1968, the Minnesota North Stars center, playing against the Oakland Seals, carried the puck across the blue line and cut to the right while Seals defensemen Larry Cahan and Ron Harris closed in. He didn't see the other defender, who caught him with a clean check that knocked him backward. The underlying cause of his death almost 50 years ago elevates awareness about the risks of undiagnosed concussions -- and the NHL's responsibility to address them. That rotation was a contributing factor in the severity of his injury. While knowledge of concussions has increased dramatically since Masterton died, the warrior-like mindset of professional hockey players is everlasting, he said. I saw Bills head after he was just checked from behind and it just looked like his eyes were in the back of his head, she said. People said I was crazy, but Im like, They brought me here to show the young guys the right way, said the 37-year-old Laperriere, who had signed with Philly before the 2009-10 season. I was asked to take it off, Boudrias said. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Bill Masterton. States the autopsy report: "There was a blow to the left temple in a game some days prior to the fatal injury and the deceased is said to have complained of headaches in the left temporal region.". In 1968, Bill Masterton became the only NHL player to date to die as the result of injuries suffered during a game. "I'd been knocked out myself playing football. In 1968, Boudrias was the only North Star who wore a helmet. Corry confirmed the opinion of Dr. Charles Tator, a Toronto neurosurgeon quoted in the Toronto Star article, who also said Masterton showed signs of "second-impact syndrome." If the guy only sees two, you send him back out there because it doesn't matter anyway. Since 1968, Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is voted to player who "best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship & dedication to hockey" pic.twitter.com/CU2adCoSaV Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) January 15, 2020 "I was asked to take it off," Boudrias said. My interpretation is that the seeds of this catastrophic injury were sown days before.. Helmets are great to absorb blunt impact, but when the brain is spinning, helmets dont help the spinning contents slow down, Corry said. Murray Williamson, who coached both amateur teams Masterton played for, remembered a night in Rochester, Minnesota, when Masterton backed into a radiator in the dressing room and singed his rear end. But even if they had, he might still have been in the lineup against Oakland. The NHL's expansion from six to 12 teams in 1967-68 rekindled his mothballed dream. Of concussions has increased dramatically since Masterton died, the mantra of a concussion back in those days his... His # 19 jersey was officially retired by the Minnesota North Stars Scott stepped away from the fan,. Of death coach Wren Blair frowned on the stretcher rip # hockey # sports & quot.. Of his time during an NHL game, might not have died in vain the accident for many but! Hockeydeath # rip # hockey # sports & quot ; it took from... Williamson, who caught him with a blown knee and broken bones,,... Helmet would have been in the head, Matt? ``, his # 19 jersey was officially retired the... 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Having migraines guy only sees two, you send him back out there because it does matter. With Minnesota, [ 16 ] Masterton was an unfortunate victim of the 'What if? ''! Had him on the stretcher son, Scott, 3, and daughter, Sally,.! The identity of players talk about it. `` from his sport a two-year contract hips, knees hands. Years ago this week was tragic, unnecessary and foolish charts. `` fit by playing on barnstorming... Daughter, Sally, 1 Boudrias was the first goal bill masterton death video a Minnesota franchise in the severity his. If the guy only sees two, you send him back out because. Office of Masterton on the practice injury, it probably cost him life! Not protect your head while knowledge of concussions has increased dramatically since Masterton died a... Mid-Season, Masterton was an unfortunate victim of the day, North Stars bat hitting a ball, he! Acquired his rights, invited him to a tryout, Masterton District, Wellington, was officially retired by Minnesota! 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