The NHL suffered a major blow this week as the Chicago Blackhawks' team U-Haul crashed on the highway, spilling all its players onto the hard asphalt, killing six. Tragic though it is, the NHL is no stranger to sadness. Here are a few of the notable calamities to befall this struggling league:
- 1898 - A league-wide outbreak of rubella is traced back to the Montreal Victorias decision to store the Stanley Cup in the moldering abandoned debtors prison they were squatting in at the time
- 1926 - The Rangers and Bruins are simultaneously killed when a fire rips through the unventilated workspace where they are forced to sew their own uniforms
- 1967 - Legend Gordie Howe trampled to death by a horse he was trying to kill and eat
- 1982 - Though no cause of death was found, it is presumed that the five Islanders found dead in a Long Island outreach center just gave up
- 1986 - Unable to pay for air conditioning, the seven Flyers and five Bruins drown once the ice melts
- 1990 - Wayne Gretzky is stabbed in the side after trying to steal a crust of bread off the plate of a notorious biker gang leader
- 2003 - The first year every single player in the NHL was officially diagnosed with syphilis
- 2008 - 15 Canucks are shot and killed for trying to escape their mandatory enclosure