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Tomorrow is my 30th birthday, which means I'm pretty old.
So old, that many players die before the age of 30 while their playing career is still active. So while I know you all really want to celebrate me and how great I am this weekend, let's also remember all of the NHLers that died prior to hitting this landmark age.
I've curated this list from Wikipedia's "List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career," taking out pretty much everyone who wasn't an NHLer or who was 30 and older. I probably missed a few, so apologies if you don't find an NHLer that should be on here. The list is arranged by date of death.
| Age | Player | Date of death | Cause of death | Notes |
| 24 | James A. McGee | Sunday, May 15, 1904 | horse riding accident | Member of the Ottawa Silver Seven, captain of the Ottawa Rough Riders; brother of Frank McGee. |
| 18 | Kirill Tarasov | Monday, June 12, 1905 | car accident | A candidate for the Soviet Nation Junior team; Vyacheslav Kozlov, then the top junior player in the country who would go on to play 18 years in the NHL, was seriously injured in the same accident. |
| 22 | Owen McCourt | Thursday, March 07, 1907 | On-ice head injury | Murder charges were laid against other players in game in Cornwall, Ontario. There were no convictions. |
| 28 | Hod Stuart | Sunday, June 23, 1907 | diving accident | Member of Montreal Wanderers, Stanley Cup champion in 1906 and 1907. All-star benefit game held for family. Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. |
| 29 | Edgar Dey | Tuesday, February 13, 1912 | on-ice injury/chest | Stanley Cup winner with Ottawa Senators in 1909. |
| 24 | Allan Davidson | Wednesday, June 16, 1915 | World War I casualty | Played professionally for Toronto Blueshirts. Stanley Cup winner in 1914. Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. |
| 23 | Del Irvine | Thursday, April 13, 1916 | pneumonia | Played professionally for Portland Rosebuds. PCHA champion in 1916. |
| 26 | Hobey Baker | Saturday, December 21, 1918 | aviation accident | Only member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and Hockey Hall of Fame, annual award to top male player in U.S. collegiate hockey named in his honour. |
| 25 | George Horne | Wednesday, July 31, 1929 | drowning | Played three seasons in the NHL From 1925 to 1929 with the Montreal Maroons and Toronto Maple Leafs. Stanley Cup champion in 1926. |
| 26 | Bobby Connors | Monday, July 27, 1931 | broken neck | Played three seasons and 78 games in the NHL from 1926 to 1929-30 for the New York Americans and Detroit Cougars. |
| 29 | Charlie Gardiner | Wednesday, June 13, 1934 | brain hemorrhage | Goaltender for the Chicago Black Hawks for seven seasons from 1926-27 until 1933-34, the year they won theStanley Cup; Gardiner was a multiple award winner, winning the Vezina Trophy twice, and is a member of theHockey Hall of Fame. |
| 24 | Jack "Newsy" Leswick | Tuesday, August 07, 1934 | drowning | Played 37 games for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1933-34. Found in a lake with no money, valuables, or car.Stanley Cup Champion in 1934. |
| 24 | Russell McConnell | Monday, September 07, 1942 | World War II casualty | Played four championship seasons with McGill University; most valuable player of Quebec Senior Hockey League in 1938-39. Turned down pro offers from New York Rangers to serve in Royal Canadian Navy. |
| 20 | Red Garrett | Saturday, November 25, 1944 | World War II casualty | Played 23 games for the New York Rangers in 1942-43; Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award is awarded annually by AHL to top rookie. |
| 25 | Joe Turner | Friday, January 12, 1945 | World War II casualty | Played one game in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings as a goaltender, a 3-3 tie; the now-defunct IHL awarded the Turner Cup in his memory annually to the league champion. |
| 24 | Bill Barilko | Sunday, August 26, 1951 | aviation accident | His plane crashed in 1951 but investigators did not find the crash until 1962. Played five seasons and won 4 Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1947 to 1951, and scored the legendary Cup-winning goal in overtime of game 5 in the 1951 Finals; the Leafs retired his number 5. Inspired the song "Fifty Mission Cap" byThe Tragically Hip. |
| 26 | Ross Lowe | Monday, August 08, 1955 | drowning | Played three seasons and 77 games in the NHL from 1949 to 1952 for the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens; Les Cunningham Award recipient as AHL MVP for his performance during 1954-55, his last season. |
| 29 | Murray Balfour | Sunday, May 30, 1965 | lung cancer | Played eight seasons and 306 games in the National Hockey League from 1956-57 to 1964-65 winning a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1961; he also played for the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. |
| 22 | Butch Paul | Friday, March 25, 1966 | car accident | Played three games for the Detroit Red Wings in 1964-65. |
| 29 | Bill Masterton | Monday, January 15, 1968 | on-ice head injury | Played 30 games in the 1967-68 NHL season with the Minnesota North Stars and is the only player in NHL history to be killed as a direct result of an on-ice incident; the NHL annually awards the Bill Masterton Trophy in his honour, and the North Stars retired his number 19. |
| 29 | Wayne Larkin | Friday, September 13, 1968 | Massive coronary thrombosis | Played eight seasons in American Hockey League. Died on the ice during the first practice of the New York Rangers training camp, held in Kitchener, Ontario. Won 1959 Memorial Cup with Winnipeg Braves. |
| 29 | Wayne Maki | Sunday, May 12, 1974 | brain cancer | Played six seasons and 246 games in the National Hockey League, for the Chicago Black Hawks, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. |
| 27 | Scott Garland | Saturday, June 09, 1979 | car accident | Played three seasons and 91 games in the NHL from 1975 to 1979 for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings. |
| 26 | Don Ashby | Saturday, May 30, 1981 | car accident | Played six seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies, and Edmonton Oilers from 1975to 1981 |
| 26 | Pelle Lindbergh | Monday, November 11, 1985 | car accident | Philadelphia Flyers goalie played five seasons from 1981 until his death in 1985; Vezina Trophy recipient for1984-85 NHL season; the Flyers created the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial and award it annually to the team's most improved player. |
| 27 | John Kordic | Saturday, August 08, 1992 | drug overdose | Played 7 seasons and 244 games in the NHL from 1985 to 1992, most notably with the Montreal Canadiensand Toronto Maple Leafs. Won Stanley Cup in 1986 with Montreal. Won 1982-83 Memorial Cup with WHL'sPortland Winter Hawks. |
| 25 | Mike Colman | Tuesday, April 05, 1994 | car accident | Played fifteen games for the San Jose Sharks in 1991-92. |
| 25 | Jeff Batters | Friday, August 23, 1996 | car accident | Played two seasons and sixteen games for the St. Louis Blues from 1993 to 1995. |
| 24 | Yanick Dupré | Saturday, August 16, 1997 | leukemia | Played three seasons and 35 games for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1991 to 1996, the Yanick Dupre Memorialis awarded annually by the Flyers organization. |
| 29 | Stéphane Morin | Tuesday, October 06, 1998 | heart attack | Played five seasons and 90 games in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks; he was awarded the Leo P. Lamoureux Memorial Trophy as the IHL's leading scorer in 1995. |
| 22 | Dmitri Tertyshny | Friday, July 23, 1999 | slashed jugular vein in boat accident | Played 62 games for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1998-99. |
| 24 | Roman Lyashenko | Saturday, July 05, 2003 | suicide by hanging | Played four seasons in the NHL for the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers from 1999 to 2003. |
| 23 | Trevor Ettinger | Saturday, July 26, 2003 | suicide | Chosen 159th overall at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Was playing for the AHL's Syracuse Crunch at the time of his death. |
| 25 | Dan Snyder | Sunday, October 05, 2003 | car accident | Played three seasons and 49 games for the Atlanta Thrashers from 2000 to 2003; the OHL renamed its Humanitarian of the Year award to the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy in Snyder's honour; Dany Heatley was the driver in the accident. |
| 28 | Jonathan Delisle | Thursday, March 16, 2006 | car accident | Drafted and played one game with Montreal Canadiens. Delisle died in an auto accident in March 2006 as a member of the Saint-Georges CRS Express. In his honor, the Delisle Trophy has been named in his honor and is awarded to the LNAH player who "best exemplifies leadership in the regular season." |
| 22 | Alexei Savin | Monday, June 18, 2007 | car accident | Played for the Belarusian national team. |
| 21 | Luc Bourdon | Thursday, May 29, 2008 | motorcycle accident | Drafted 10th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks; played 36 games in the NHL from 2006-2008. |
| 28 | Tom Cavanagh | Friday, January 07, 2011 | suicide | Played for the San Jose Sharks and the Springfield Falcons (AHL). Diagnosed with schizophrenia; found dead in the Providence Mall parking garage after jumping to his death. |
| 28 | Derek Boogaard | Friday, May 13, 2011 | accidental mixture of alcohol and oxycodone toxicity | Played six seasons and 277 games in the NHL, five with the Minnesota Wild and one with the New York Rangers, between 2005 and 2011. |
| 27 | Rick Rypien | Monday, August 15, 2011 | suicide | Played 119 NHL games between 2005 and 2011. Rypien is also the cousin of former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, Super Bowl XXVI MVP |
| 23 | Alexander Vasyunov | Wednesday, September 07, 2011 | plane crash | Forward. Drafted 58th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. Played 18 NHL regular games scoring 5 (1+4) points and 187 AHL games scoring 91 (39+52) points. 2007 IIHF World U20 Championship Silver Medal winner. |
| 26 | Alexander Galimov | Monday, September 12, 2011 | injuries sustained in a plane crash | Member of the silver-medal winning Russian U20 team at the 2005 IIHF World U20 Championship |
| 28 | Fred Higginbotham | September 1896 | horse riding accident | Member of the Winnipeg Victorias; won Stanley Cup in February 1896 in a challenge match against the Montreal Victorias. |
Well, this post certainly is depressing.
Gameday Prediction
Anaheim scores 30 goals in celebration of me.
Classic Moment
To help commemorate the Ducks' 20th year this season, each gameday I'll be posting a clip of a classic moment from the team's history against that night's opponent. Here is today's...
A brawl between the two teams at the end of a New Year's Day game in 1999.
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