FanHouse ClintMalarchuk

For most NHL fans, recalling the career of retired goalie Clint Malarchuk conjures some of the most horrifying images in the history of the game. Thanks to an errant skate blade, Malarchuk was slashed across the neck during a 1989 game between his Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins. If not for the quick reaction of the team's medical staff, Malarchuk surely would have died on the ice.

Calling the incident horrifying isn't an understatement. According to reports, nine fans feinted after watching the accident, while another two suffered heart attacks at the Aud in Buffalo.

Now, 19 years later, Malarchuk has cheated death again, this time at his own hand. Here's the AFP account:

Ex-National Hockey League goalie Clint Malarchuk was recovering in hospital from his second nightmarish accident in 19 years after accidently shooting himself in the face with a hunting rifle on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old Malarchuk was rushed to hospital here after he shot himself with a .22-calibre rifle at his residence, The Record-Courier newspaper reported Wednesday.

[...]

Malarchuk's wife, Christy, told police her husband had been out hunting rabbits at the time of the shooting. She said the gun accidently discharged while he placed it on the ground between his legs.

Malarchuk currently serves as the goalie coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. For a look at that incident again from 19 years ago, see the video after the jump.

How can we not go through Hallowe'en mentioning gore? How can we not mention gore and bring up the goriest incident the NHL has ever experienced?

For those feint of heart, I'd skip this altogether. Otherwise, let us recount one of the scariest incidents in the league's history, just to spook the hell out of you.

March 22, 1989 - Clint Malarchuk nearly bled to death on the ice after taking a skate blade to the throat. As defender Uwe Krupp and Blackhawks forward Steve Tuttle drove towards the net, Tuttle feel and somehow his skate ended up hitting Malarchuk in the worst spot possible.

I was 10 years old at the time, and remember seeing the incident on TV. It still remains one of my most vivid memories from that period in my life, and my first real experience with anything close to death (other than the deer my father shot on his hunting trips). I can't imagine being one of his teammates on the ice, feeling helpless at Malarchuk continued to lose blood at an alarming rate.

"I did think I was done," said Malarchuk 13 years later, "Somewhere I'd heard that if you cut your jugular vein you've got a matter of minutes, like three minutes. I was going through the minutes preparing to die. I thought I had just three minutes to live and I've got a lot of repenting to do in three minutes."

The sight was so grizzly that 2 spectators suffered heart attacks and 3 of Malarchuk's teammates vomited while still on the ice.

It was estimated that if the skate hit 1/8 inch higher on Malarchuk's jugular, he would have been dead within 2 minutes. In the dressing room and on his way to the hospital, doctors spent 90 minutes and used over 300 stitches to close the wound.