Former NHL’er Bob Probert passed away at age 45 this week, and attempting to tell his story on the ice and off is complex, and no singular story can do justice to a career and life that had such tremendous highs and such crushing lows.
Naturally, his ability with his fists on a hockey rink got lots of play in the media, but for me, I remember Probert best as the player who scored the last goal ever at Maple Leaf Gardens.
As part of a radio contest in February of 1999, we gave the sponsors of the Platers Hockey games the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens against Chicago before the Leafs shifted to the Air Canada Center.
The winner of the contest was Mike Smart of Smart’s Fashion Optical who took his pal , photographer John Carrick, to the game.
With Chicago leading 5-2, Bob Probert would beat Curtis Joseph of the Leafs for the final goal ever at Maple Leaf Gardens, a sequence of moves that John Carrick captured on film and put together in a great collage.
An enterprising chap at the best of times, John Carrick would seek out the principles in the final goal and get them to autograph the collage.
Curtis Joseph, Dany Markov, Steve Sullivan and Bob Probert all signed the collage, which John made a copy of and hangs as one of the rare pieces of memorabilia on my wall.
Bob Probert at his best, was a terrific hockey player, capable of beating you in many different ways and again, at his best, a willing participant in many charitable activities.
Eleven years after scoring the last NHL goal at Maple Leaf Gardens, Bob Probert passed away at 45 this week.
I’m Fred Wallace