When Dr. David Mulder first joined the ranks of hockey team physicians, many goalies tended their nets without masks and the goal in the National Hockey League was to get players back on the ice as quickly as possible after an injury.
Now, 60 years later, Mulder is retiring as head doctor for the Montreal Canadiens.
Over the course of eight Stanley Cup championships and decades of treating tough patients and tough cases, Mulder witnesses a lot of changes, often from his spot behind the players’ bench at the rink.
“Helmets are much better”, he told journalists at a tribute gala in his honour. “The padding is more protective, the league is aware of concussions and how serious they can be. We have made progress in this regard.”
And Mulder played a key part in some of the changes that have made the league safer, guided by advice he received a rookie, from the late legendary Montreal Canadiens’ captain Jean Beliveau.
“The lesson Jean Beliveau taught me was to always do what is best for the health of a player,” he said. “Don’t take pressure from management, from the payers, the fans or because of playoff situations. That was probably the best advice I had as a rookie.”
Mulder grew up playing hockey in Eston, a small town in Saskatchewan. He went on to medical school, eventually becoming a thoracic surgeon in Montreal.
But in 1963, a passion for hockey led him to a spot on the medical team of the Montreal Junior Canadiens, the farm team at the time. Six years later, he was promoted to the big leagues, as assistant physician, before becoming the top doctor for the Habs in 1999.
In the years since, he has treated countless NHL stars, but also faced off against a few.
Mulder says he made an enemy, almost for life, during the Stanley Cup finals in 1986. Enforcer Chris Nilan suffered an ankle sprain, his leg swelled up like a balloon. Mulder benched him, but despite the severity of his injury, Nilan desperately wanted to play.
“He was ready to punch me out because I wouldn’t let him play. He has forgiven me now,” says Mulder. “But no question, there is a lot of pressure to return to play.” The Canadiens went on to win the cup, with Nilan on the sidelines.
Mulder says it has now become standard, especially in cases of concussions for doctors across the NHL to abide by a simple rule. When in doubt, sit them out.
One of the most medically challenging game day of Mulder’s career came on January 29, 2000 during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Habs right winger Trent McCleary dropped to the ice to block a shot, but the puck crashed into his throat, crushing his larynx resulting in a collapsed lung.
Trent was unable to breathe, and collapsed at the bench. Mulder and other members of the medical staff worked feverishly and rushed him to the Montreal General hospital. Mc Cleary was in the operating room about seventeen minutes after the injury, speed that saved his life.
“At that time doctors were sitting in the middle of the crowd, and (then-president of the Montreal Canadiens) Pierre Boivin said that the doctors must be sitting behind the players’ bench” says Mulder. That puts the doctor metres away from the emergency clinic, a rule that has now been applied across the NHL to speed up interventions.
Mulder guided Canadiens’ players through anything from concussions, knee injuries, to cancer diagnoses, while still also continuing his work as a surgeon at the McGill University Health Centre and tirelessly advocated to restructure Quebec’s trauma system over several years.
But he is also devoted to prevention, and says there are still a lot of advances to be made in the NHL to improve the health of players.
“Do you know what the purpose of a fight is?’ he asks. “It is to produce a concussion, a brain injury.”
And so while he has hung up his stethoscope as team physician, Mulder still has advice for the sport he loves.
“I would like fighting removed from the NHL, but that is not a popular opinion with the crowd.”
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