Top 7 NHL Players Whose Careers Were Cut Short

NHL Players

  • There are a number of who have had their careers cut short.
  • may end because of repeated injury or assaults by other .
  • There are many NHL players through who have had great careers end for a variety of reasons.

1. Steve Moore

Steve Moore had his NHL career cut short due to a hit from Todd Bertuzzi which was extremely brutal. The premeditated attack was so vicious that Moore suffered from a concussion, his neck was broken, and he also had numerous other injuries as well. Steve Moore never did play again, although he did recover from his injuries. Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for the remainder of the season as a punishment for the assault. The attack was so brutal that the Vancouver police investigated whether to bring criminal charges or not, but none were ever filed.

2. Paul Kariya

Paul Kariya was severely injured on February 1, 1998 when he made a score during a game between the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks. Gary Suter, a player for Chicago, cross checked Kariya viciously up the side of his head in an unwarranted brutal attack. Kariya was supposed to play in the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games and represent Canada in the hockey rink, but this did not happen. Because of the assault by Suter, Kariya never made it to the Olympic games, and he had post concussion syndrome which caused him to miss the rest of the season as well. Kariya did come back, but his performance and skills have never been the same and his career is no longer bright like it was before the attack.

3. “Ace” Bailey

In 1933, “Ace” Bailey was injured severely and had his hockey career ended, even though he would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame and his injury would start the All Star Game tradition. The game was between the Toronto Leafs and the Boston Bruins. Bruins defense Eddie Shore, who was known for being one of the roughest and meanest players in hockey, brutally hit Bailey from the back, sending him slamming into the ice with an audible skull fracture that made spectators wince. The result was a severe skull fracture, and Bailey never played hockey again. The following year a benefit was held to honor him, and this game has become the modern All Star Game today.

4. Robert Gordon Orr, a.k.a Bobby

Robert Gordon Orr, better known as Bobby, was known as one of the best to ever play in the NHL, but his career was cut short because of injuries and repeated knee surgeries. Retired in 1978 after more than twelve knee surgeries, he was thirty one years old. Orr was such an asset to the NHL that when he retired the mandatory three year waiting period for induction in the Hall of Fame was waived, and Orr was brought into the Hall of Fame the same year that he retired from the NHL. Bobby Orr was the winner of the Norris trophy for eight consecutive years, setting a record, and he also managed to win four of the major NHL awards in a single season, being the only player to do so.

5. Donald Brashear

In February of 2000, during a game with the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks, Donald Brashear was slashed viciously on the side of his head by Marty McSorley. Once the stick slashed him, Brashear fell down and slammed his head against the ice on the rink. The result was a severe concussion for Brashear, a criminal trial for McSorley on the charge of assault with a weapon, and a stipulation that McSorley could never play against Brashear again. The stipulation was not necessary, because Brashear never played hockey again. He had no recall of the assault or falling, but his coordination never recovered enough from the injuries to allow him to play professionally again.

6. Adam Deadmarsh

Adam Deadmarsh had an amazing NHL career still ahead when post concussion syndrome ended it all in 2005. With a Stanley Cup win in 1996, and chosen as a member of two Olympic hockey teams, Deadmarsh was destined for even greater things until his medical problems forced him to quit hockey. The first concussion occurred during a fight with Ed Jovavovski.

7. Pat LaFontaine

Pat LaFontaine was one of the best in the NHL, until all of it ended with a concussion and post concussion syndrome that ended his career as a hockey player. The final career blow came in 1998, right after he played in the Olympics, when LaFontaine was in an accidental collision with Mike Keane and suffered another concussion which took him out of hockey for good.

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16 thoughts on “Top 7 NHL Players Whose Careers Were Cut Short

  1. These stories are crazy. I can’t believe how rough hockey is. Just the fact that there is a list of the top seven people who were injured during the game shows that there is a whole lot of hitting going on.

    1. Ok… the problem is this article is completely false… sort of!

      Steve Moore: True. That was a brutal incident. But before you feel pity for Steve Moore, he was a MARGINAL NHL player who had made a name for himself with some pretty big cheap shots on star players. He ran around the ice and smoked players from behind. The ONLY difference between what Steve Moore did and what Bertuzzi did, is that Bertuzzi actually injured someone. If Bertuzzi hadn’t ended Moore’s career, Moore was going to end someone elses. Plain an simple. I also lost all respect for Moore after he attempted to sue literally everyone (Including his own team) for the altercation. It was a pure money grab.

      Paul Kariya: The Suter thing was a terrible moment in hockey. It disgusted me to the core maybe more so then the “Bertuzzi-ing” of Moore. Maybe because the camera was a lot more telling on Suter. But Kariya continued to light it up for two more seasons. The very next season after retunring from the injury, he actually netted 101 points. He continues to be an effective player but injuries and age are now catching him.

      Ace Bailey: Bailey’s career came to an abrupt end on December 12, 1933, when he was hit from behind by Eddie Shore of the Boston Bruins, apparently in retaliation for a hit he had received from King Clancy moments earlier, and hit his head on the ice, fracturing his skull. KEEP IN MIND: Noone wore helmets back then.

      Bobby Orr did retire due to knee surgeries. But how many other sports suffer this same problem. Basketball players and Football players blow MCLs and ACLs all the time.

      Donald Brashear was still an active goon for the Capitals as of last year…. do some research man…

      Lafontaine and Deadmarsh are correct.

  2. One of the things I never understood about some sports is much injury they put themselves through to stay involved in the sport. It seems like they sacrifice their lives and their futures just to be a part of sport for a few years. It seems crazy.

  3. I guess I never realized how severely people can still get hurt, even with all the pads that they wear. I assumed that they were protected from a lot of these types of injuries which is why they allowed the hits that they do. I guess I was wrong.

  4. I’m not sure what you meant by “…Brashear never played hockey again.” Brashear has played with the Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers since the McSorley incident, and has currently been playing for the Capitals for the past three years.

  5. As bad as these injuries are unfortunately it is part of the game. In every sport there are injuries as well as in almost every profession. With the exception of the injuries such as Moore, Brashear and Bailey injuries happen and the players know the risk when they play. In cases such as Moore, Brashear and Bailey, I believe that the league should be much harder on the offending players and the players should be suspended as long as the injured player is absent from the games and if the player never returns, then they should not either.

    1. i completley agree. I have this argument all the time with my friends and I always say that the suspension should gon on for as long as the injury. Why should bertuzzi get to end moore’s career and then just come back and play the next season, he should be out of the game for life. And the brashear thing isn’t a career ending injury that is wildly false he is still playing.

  6. Some of these facts or just blatantly wrong. What do you mean Brashear never played hockey again, he even played the very next season and is still playing today (for the caps). Who ever wrote this probobly doesn’t even watch hockey.

  7. A lot of inaccuracies.

    Steve Moore put a hit to the head of Markus Naslund, to which Markus has never been the same since. I don’t believe Bertuzzi meant to injure to the degree to which it happened. There was a dog pile after the initial hit which compounded the alleged injuries. Moore never expressed remorse for what he did to Naslund. The NHL never made him accountable. Players still punch to the head and the NHL lets it happen.
    Steve, what goes around, comes around.

  8. This is the dumbest article ever. Whoever wrote this knows absolutely nothing about hockey. Any real hockey fan would think the same. You left out so many players who actually had their careers ended by injuries and such it’s not even funny. Steve Moore?!?!?? Hahahaha. Give me a break.

  9. Poor list, Bobby Orr is undoubtedly number one. Cam Neely who isn’t on the list should be 2 or 3 with Lafontaine.

    Steve Moore doesn’t even belong on a list of “top players.” He was a marginal fourth liner and unlikely to get much better.

    Deadmarsh was a competent top-four defence but to suggest he was destine for greatness is ridiculous.

    The Brashear comment is wrong and has been commented on already.

    Finally, Kariya certainly missed out on the Olympics and half a season but his decline had nothing to do with the concussion he received. He’s had well documented hip problems. Even with that he’s managed to play hockey at a very level for over a decade since the injury.

    Poor list, better research next time.

    1. mike bossy should be up near the top of this list…one of the greatest pure goal scorers in the history of the game, forced to retire at age 30 bc his back was so bad he could barely tie his own skates.

  10. Where is Mike Bossy on this list? The only player to have over 50 goals 9 straight years (I think still a record), he retired in his 10th season b/c of chronic back problems. Highest goals per game average in NHL history, arguably the greatest natural scorer ever. But really, shouldn’t this list be for players who never really had a chance to get off the ice, not guys who played 7,8,10 + years?

  11. And Mario Lemieux. Back problems and cancer scares took him out too, and he’s definitely one of the top 10.

    I agree with another commentator, whoever made this list knows nothing about hockey.

  12. This list is terrible. How could Bobby Orr be left off? Think of all the things he accomplished in just nine seasons. Also Eric Lindros should be up at number two. He started his career up amongst the greats. Concussions cut his career to half of what it would have been.

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