"Miracle On Ice" standout center Mark Pavelich died on Friday at Eagle's Nest, a Minnesota residential treatment center dedicated to dealing with mental illness. Cause and manner of death have not been released He was 63.
Why was he in a mental illness treatment center? He was being treated there after having been found incompetent to stand trial by District Judge Michael Cuzzo because he was mentally ill and dangerous. The judge ordered him committed to a state-operated secure treatment facility. This occurred in December, 2019.
He was in court facing 4 felony counts. 2 for assaulting his longtime neighbor and friend with a metal pole because he accused the man of spiking his beer. The other 2 counts were for possession of 2 illegal weapons with altered serial numbers found on his reclusive property.
In recent years family and friends said he had become confused, paranoid, and borderline threatening. It is believed he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), caused by repeated blows to the head while playing as a tenacious, undersized forward (listed at 5'8", 170 pounds. His sister is convinced that "all the concussions and the blows to the head he had in the NHL" left him suffering from CTE. Mark is the most kind and gentle person you'd ever know. This is a totally different guy.
What has the NHL or his most famous NHL team, the New York Rangers, had to do with him since the verdict came about. I have heard nothing until this weekend when both the NHL and the New York Rangers have released condolences on his death and have sung his praises for his contributions to USA hockey and the NHL. The fact that they might have had an ability to recognize the game may have contributed to his issues does not show up anywhere.
The NHL is still negligent as to the treatment of NHL players after they leave the game particularly those who have been out of the game for many years before the league even started to take this issue somewhat seriously. The NFL and NHL have done all in their power to not become involved in treatment of players for CTE once they are out of the game and not suffering present signs of the issue. The results of this issue are often very slow and subtle in developing and when the serious reactions are displayed they are far from the game that caused it. Players from those leagues should be required to take a physical and cognitive tests annually and the sport they played should be paying for it with an insurance plan provided to their ex-players specifically for those tests. If a problem is diagnosed the CTE insurance policy should cover the treatment.
You have to recognize that the majority of the guys who played the game a couple decades ago or more did not become millionaires playing the game. Pavelich sold his gold medal for $262,900 in 2015 to provide financial security for his daughter 2 years after the death of his wife to to Pavelich played for 5 years with the New York Rangers beginning in 1981-82 and ending in 1986-87. He had a very successful career for them playing at 1 PPG in his 1st 3 seasons and finishing with 318 Pts in 341 GP.
Teammate Barry Beck blasted both the Rangers and the NHL for how they deal with mental health issues. He also believes the long-term impact of hea injuries played a role in Pavelich's mental health state.
Just a bit of Beck's wrath:
There's a lot of people that could have helped Mark and didn't. They know who they are. Nownot one NHL team willdiscuss CTE or any of their players, staff or employees. After ther CVTE lawsuit the NHL was just happy they didn't have to discuss it anymore. They told teams under no circumstances shall any team discuss CTE the shrinkage of the brain. Not even the stickboy. They don't discuss it because they are cowards. The only thing that matters to them is money. That's it in a nutshell. It's always been that way. Ask the lawyers..yea just money.
No one from the Rangers or USA Hockey contacted his family to offer their support after Pavelich was first arrested, and Beck thinks it's too late at this point to send their condolences, saying that "they missed the boat."
"Both the Rangers and USA Hockey are accountable for Mar's death." Beck wrote. "The NHL has to grow a set of balls and take action."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said in the past that the "relationship between concussions and the asserted clinical symptoms of CTE remains unknown."
My take here is that Bettman's comment is akin to the same illogical BS used by the tobacco industry to deny smoking was related to the cause of cancer, emphysema, or heart disease or more recently those who claim their are is no conclusive evidence to prove burning fossil fuels has contributed to climate change.
Pavelich's death is sad for many reasons.
