Goalie rolled in with Thunder
Time spent in LV aided in recovery from nasty injury
Editor’s note: The Review-journal’s “Where Are They Now?” series catches up with athletes who played high school, college or professional sports in the Las Vegas Valley. Stories will run at least once a week.
In his 2014 bare-the-soul autobiography titled “A Matter of Inches,” former Thunder goalie Clint Malarchuk wrote that after he had his throat slashed by an opposing player’s skate and almost died on the ice while playing for the Buffalo Sabres in 1989, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and alcoholism.
Almost 20 years later, he tried to commit suicide with a hunting rifle on his ranch outside Gardnerville.
He said he still has meds to take and wounds to heal.
So that’s where he has been.
As for where he is now, on Monday he was rolling down a lonely two-lane road headed to the hardware store. He sounded well. Almost buoyant. Which, during these days, is a challenge for those who have endured far less than he has.
He’s not coaching hockey anymore, and social distancing has put his second career as a public speaker and mental health advocate on hold.
He says he’s still a horse dentist.
“I’ve got a gym in my barn,
I’ve got a shop in my barn. I’ve got my horses — I’ve got everything I need,” said the “Cowboy Goalie” from the Canadian prairie. “I’m actually enjoying the seclusion.”
The walls don’t close in on one at the Canuck Ranch as quickly as they might in the city. Malarchuk, who will turn 59 Friday, has been dialing up old hockey buddies, including many who played for the Thunder.
“I’ve talked to Jeff Sharples, Darcy Loewen, Pokey Reddick, Rod Buskas,” he said of fellow Thunder stalwarts