While much in hockey has changed since Masterton died, one thing hasnt: Playing hurt is a sacred principle. "I'd been knocked out myself playing football. Bill Masterton played only 38 games in the NHL, but his memory has left a lasting impression. Like most players of his era, he was not wearing a helmet. It goes on today, theres no question about it. The team doctor soon joined him. "Helmets are great to absorb blunt impact, but when the brain is spinning, helmets don't help the spinning contents slow down," Corry said. "When he had headaches early on, we wouldn't have had him on the ice," he said. 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. 's top rookie", "Brain injuries takes life of Stars' Bill Masterton", "Star investigation: What really killed NHL's Bill Masterton", "North Star player's death 40 years ago changed the game of hockey forever", "N.H.L. He remains the last fatality in any professional team sport involving a direct in-game injury in North America. His aggressiveness got him.. 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. One of their sticks tangled with Mastertons skates as he slid a pass to his wing, and he lost his balance, pitching forward. "It is very rare to see that level of swelling in the brain from a single injury," he said. Ken Lindgren, a fan watching the play about 10 rows up in the stands just above the blue line, can still visualize the impact. 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. When the brain hasnt healed completely from a previous injury, a subsequent blow can cause the type of sudden and severe swelling found in Mastertons brain. "When he had headaches early on, we wouldn't have had him on the ice," he said. Carol, who was watching the game from the stands, and Masterton's parents, who were listening to the game from their home in Winnipeg, rushed to his bedside at the hospital. "His eyes were gray at the time -- it was like a horror picture," Boudrias says. The team also retired his No. That rotation was a contributing factor in the severity of his injury. Still, it's very hard because I made the play. Masterton died in a Minneapolis hospital shortly after midnight on Jan. 15, 1968, a little more than one day after the 29 . That injury was compounded by the age-old hockey code that preaches shake-it-off-and-get-back-out-there resilience in the face of pain, serious injury, even brain trauma. He had kept fit by playing on a barnstorming amateur team, the St. Paul Steers, and with the U.S. national team. That rotation was a contributing factor in the severity of his injury. Yet that might not actually be the case. ", North Stars coach Wren Blair describes Masterton's qualities as a player. Seven hours later, when the Hennepin County medical examiner performed an autopsy, they discovered the true cause of Mastertons death. I wouldnt do it.. 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. The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star That was the NHL's code. We are the premier subreddit to talk everything hockey! 1/2 Minnesota North Stars F Bill Masterton was tragically lost on this day in 1968, 2 days after having struck his head on Met Center ice. 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. He didnt see the other defender, who caught him with a clean check that knocked him backward. In 1967, Mastertons nearly forgotten hope of playing in the NHL re-emerged with the leagues expansion from six to 12 teams. . 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. He admits he lied to team doctors about his post-concussion issues in order to return for a shot at the Stanley Cup. Talk centered on the divisive topic of helmets. [16] In that game, a 22 tie, Masterton scored the first goal in Minnesota franchise history. After Masterton's death, the North Stars set up a scholarship fund in his name. 19, a tradition the franchise continued to honor when it moved and became the Dallas Stars. If the guy only sees two, you send him back out there because it doesn't matter anyway. RIP Bill Masterton. Bill Masterton, the only player to die from injuries suffered during an NHL game, might not have died in vain. Despite several efforts to mandate their use, it was 11 years before the NHL made them compulsory for all new players beginning in the 1979-80 NHL season . "What killed this man was second-impact syndrome.". To order copies of 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 196768. Players, coaches, execs vote for NHL's top centers, NHL Power Rankings: Checking in on each team's 25-and-under core, McAvoy scores in OT, Bruins beat Flames for 8th win a row, Gaudreau scores in shootout, Wild beat Islanders 2-1, Geekie ends drought with 2 goals, Kraken beat Blues 5-3, Robinson scores 3 goals in Blue Jackets' 5-3 win over Sabres. Yet players such as Masterton learned to play hurt. 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. https://www.hockey-reference.com/awards/masterton.html. Boudrias is convinced his insistence on wearing a helmet factored into Blairs decision. Boudrias helped the teams trainer onto the ice to tend to Masterton. They didn't. 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. John Rosengren is the author of Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win. 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. Hes also convinced a helmet would have saved Mastertons life. The usual story is just as has unfolded here, that they can even talk a bit after that final hit and then they lapse into a coma, Tator said. There is evidence of massive brain swelling . 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. 19, a tradition the franchise continued to honor when it moved and became the Dallas Stars. He wanted it badly. He didn't see the other defender, who caught him with a clean check that knocked him backward. That was the NHLs code. He cherished his son, Scott, 3, and daughter, Sally, 1. The death of DU hockey Alum Bill Masterton 40 years ago this week was tragic, unnecessary and foolish. He and others considered it a sign of weakness. Corry does not think the amount of swelling would have been caused from the singular impact at Met Center. The irony is that perseverance probably killed Bill Masterton. You have come to the ESPN Africa edition, for other ESPN editions, click above. 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. 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. The rarely told story behind the death of Bill Masterton -- the only NHL player to die from an injury suffered during a game -- highlights the risks and league culpability of concussions. The season started with promise: Masterton scored the first goal in North Stars history. 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. He settled in Minneapolis with his high school sweetheart, Carol, and they adopted two children, Scott and Sally. said Masterton's son, Scott, now 50. ' said Mastertons son, Scott, now 50. "He didn't move after that. Yet that might not actually be the case. 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. 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. His death . said Boudrias, now 72. NHL trade grades: Kane deal to Rangers earns high marks for one side, NHL trade tracker: Latest deals, rumors and grades, Rangers clear hurdles, get Kane from Blackhawks, Oilers bulk up defense, secure Predators' Ekholm, Leafs win Schenn sweepstakes, trade for veteran, Leafs deal Sandin to Capitals for Gustafsson, pick, Wild add depth, acquire Johansson from Capitals, NHL suspends Rangers' Miller for spitting incident, Oilers trade ex-No. As dramatic music replaced a play-by-play call of the incident, the video moved backwards in slow motion until just before Laperrieres face absorbed the slapshot. 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. They had total control.. 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. He's also convinced a helmet would have saved Masterton's life. 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. 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. He's also convinced a helmet would have saved Masterton's life. He bore the bruises of that hit and others in subsequent games -- on his left arm, both thighs and, unwittingly, his brain. 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. 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. "I knew he was done.". Laperrieres brain was bleeding. Deadline decisions: What will Avs, Kraken and others do? "We watched his head bounce," Lindgren said. My feeling is that he may have gotten a minor concussion playing or practising on some other day . Thirty hours later, he was dead in. 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