WINDSOR, Ont. – Former NHL fighter Bob Probert was boating with his family Monday when he developed “severe chest pain” and collapsed to his death, his father-in-law Dan Parkinson told reporters Monday night.
Parkinson said he performed CPR on the 45-year-old Probert, but was unsuccessful. Probert was with Parkinson, his children and mother-in-law at the time of his death.
The death was confirmed in Windsor late Monday afternoon by Ontario Provincial Police spokeswoman Shawna Coulter.
“This is a tragedy for the family and totally unexpected,” Parkinson said.
A witness on the scene, who asked not to be identified, said Probert looked like he was attending to something on the boat on Lake St. Clair, near Windsor, when he collapsed around 2 p.m. local time.
“He was fixing the trim or something, stood up and then fell down,” the witness said.
Old teammates and colleagues shared their memories and offered their prayers and condolences to the Probert family Monday night.
Former Red Wings teammate Joe Kocur said Probert was “like the brother I never had.”
“My favourite memory of Bob would be sitting down before a game, going over the opposing lineup and picking and choosing who would go first and if the goalie would be safe or not,” he said. “It was great to be able to go out on the ice knowing that he had my back and I had his.”
Probert, who is fifth all-time in penalty minutes with 3,300 over a 16-year NHL career with Detroit and Chicago, received high praise from other fighters.
“He epitomized the NHL fighter,” newly signed Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Jody Shelley told the Columbus Dispatch. “He’s what us other guys wanted to be. He played the game like a man.
“I go back and watch some of those fights, and you just marvel at how tough he was. Those fights between him and Tie Domi were extraordinary. Getting punched in the face … it was almost like he used it for energy. It’s like he gained momentum. And he was always smiling as he went about it.”
Ian Laperriere, a rough-and-tumble winger with the Flyers, paid Probert one of the highest possible compliments any fighter could get, calling him the “scariest player ever to play against, for sure” in a text message to the Denver Post.
Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch said in a statement that Probert was “one of the toughest men to ever play in the NHL” but was also “one of the kindest, most colourful and beloved players Detroit has ever known.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Probert family during this difficult time,” Chicago Blackhawks president John McDonough said in a statement Monday night.
“Bob will always be a member of the Blackhawks family and his memory will live on through our fans.”
The Windsor native played for the Red Wings for nine seasons before moving to the Chicago Blackhawks for his final seven NHL seasons, retiring in 2002.
He was the last NHL player to score a goal in Toronto’s venerable Maple Leaf Gardens, on Feb. 13, 1999.
The bruising winger scored 163 career NHL goals and set up 221 others for a regular-season total of 384 points, but was best noted for his pugilistic skills.
He was selected 46th overall in the 1983 NHL entry draft from the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and played his first game with the Red Wings in the 1985-86 season.
Probert never won a Stanley Cup, but often led his team in the accumulation of penalty minutes. He played in the 1988 NHL All-Star Game.
Probert was suspended indefinitely after he was arrested for attempting to smuggle cocaine across the Canada-U.S. border in March 1989. He was welcomed back into the league but barred from travelling with the Red Wings for road games in Canada during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons as he appealed a ruling that would have seen him deported from the United States if he left and re-entered the country. He was granted permission to play in Canada on Dec. 7, 1992.
The Probert family held a news conference at Windsor Regional Hospital to issue a statement. They did not take any questions from the media.
Windsor Star
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