The Other Side of Sawchuk

The peak of his career came during the 1966-67 season when Sawchuk helped the underdog Toronto Maple Leafs win the championship against the highly favored Montreal Canadians. After that season, the NHL expanded, and Terry Sawchuk was drafted onto an obscure roster by the fledgling Los Angeles Kings. Thus, his career and value as a goaltender began to rapidly diminish. And the years of angst and injury began to take its toll.

On April 29, 1970 – while playing backup goalie for the New York Rangers and having accumulated the last of his record 103 shutouts – Terry Sawchuk began his slide towards death at the age of 40. Since his wife had left him and taken with her his children, Sawchuk was living on Long Beach, Long Island, with fellow teammate defenseman Ron Stewart, another fading player. The two were drinking at a local bar called the E & J Pub when a discussion about their shared rent and living conditions led to a heated argument. The two wretched players scuffled at the bar and were separated and sent off to their home.

Back at their house, the argument erupted again on the front lawn. Their altercation began with pushing and shoving, escalated, then ended when Stewart was knocked to the ground and Sawchuk jumped onto him. Stewart had raised his knee in an instinctive defensive motion, and Sawchuk’s midsection had landed squarely on the knee. Endless barrages of pucks; terrible hindering injuries; mental anguish; miserable childhood hardships and family tragedy; and suddenly the sturdy Sawchuk was felled.

He was taken to the hospital for treatment. Days passed and his gall bladder had to be removed. Weeks passed and one liver operation led to another. A blood clot developed, then moved into his pulmonary artery and finally took his life on May 31, 1970.

Terry Sawchuk was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame one year after his death, his strange and inconceivable death. Hockey fans will always regard Sawchuk as one of the greatest goalies to play between the pipes, but ponder, if you will, the tragic and obscure man behind the mask of flesh and stitches.

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