Posted on 10/09/2008 6:50:46 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Blue Jackets assistant coach's gunshot wound accidental, wife says Thursday, October 9, 2008 9:15 PM By TOM REED THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Blue Jackets goaltending coach Clint Malarchuk is recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chin that he suffered Tuesday afternoon at his ranch in Gardnerville, Nev.
His wife, Joan, told deputy sheriffs the shooting was accidental.
The former NHL goaltender, perhaps best known for having his jugular vein severed in a 1989 game in Buffalo, was found by police bleeding profusely from the mouth and chin after he shot himself with a .22-caliber rifle, according to a Douglas County sheriff's office report.
Sgt. Jim Halsey said today that an investigation is ongoing and detectives are interviewing Malarchuk and his wife to determine the circumstances behind the shooting.
Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson declined to comment. The team issued a brief statement: "Our concern is with Clint and his well being. We are optimistic that he will have a full recovery very soon."
His wife told deputies that Malarchuk had been drinking and he's not supposed to consume alcohol while taking prescription medication. Malarchuk suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The incident happened almost a year after the same sheriff's office arrested Malarchuk for disorderly conduct in connection with an altercation in a Douglas County sports bar.
Malarchuk also was involved in a fight last season while the Jackets were playing Nashville, although no police report was filed.
On Tuesday, deputies were summoned to his residence after his wife reported the shooting.
Malrachuk had been shooting rabbits in the couple's backyard, his wife told deputies.
The couple spoke for about five minutes while Malarchuk had been sitting on a bench near a horse tack shed.
According to the report, he stood up, turned toward his wife and placed the butt of the rifle on the ground between his legs while holding the rifle with one hand. The rifle discharged, striking him in the chin, the report said.
Deputies found the loaded rifle on the ground about 30 feet from Malarchuk.
The Jackets assistant coach initially refused treatment and was uncooperative with medical staff arriving on his property, the report stated. He eventually was taken to Reno, Nev., medical facility, where deputy sheriffs were called again to help calm Malarchuk.
Malarchuk is considered one of the NHL's top goaltending coaches and counts Vancouver's Roberto Luongo among his proteges. He joined the Jackets in August 2006.
Unlike other assistants, goaltender coaches are not with their teams full time. During the season, Malarchuk works in Columbus and Syracuse, N.Y., home of the Jackets' minor-league affiliate, and occasionally flies home to his Nevada ranch, where he tends to horses.
Hockey ping!
Hockey ping!
Prayers for Clint Malarchuk and his family.
I remember the jugular vein incident, back in 1988. I’d heard he was still having problems dealing with it; understandable.
The local paper interviewed him last year, and Clint admitted that it's something he's never totally gotten over.
that sucks...get better mally!
After watching video of it a few weeks ago, at the same time the other hockey guy got his throat slashed, I'm having problems dealing with it (whenever I think about it). Man!
As a Blue Jackets fan, I am really beginning to think that the franchise is cursed.
Well, Nationwide is built on the former penitentiary site. Hundreds of people died there over the years, including 322 in the fire of 1930.
They do say that ghosts of inmates have been sighted in the bowels of the arena.
Really? I hadn't heard that.
I read it somewhere, a few years back. Maybe Hitchcock needs to use that to scare the boys even more into winners?
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