Michel Mongeau, 45, pro hockey player recovered from a broken face to resume his career [theglobeandmail.com]
Hoodoo
Determination helped him bounce back from a grievous injury
TOM HAWTHORN
Special to The Globe and Mail
July 8, 2010
http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20100708.OBMONGEAUATL//TPStory/Obituaries
Michel Mongeau, a professional hockey player, suffered grievous facial
injuries when crosschecked from behind into a goal. He recovered from a
broken face to resume his career.
Perseverance is a sports cliché, but doggedness is the best explanation
for Mongeau's comeback. He was overlooked and underestimated during his
playing days, managing to earn a salary as a hockey player for 17
seasons owing to his own fierce determination
Mongeau, who died at the age of 45 on May 22 after a diagnosis of
melanoma, played briefly in the National Hockey League. He had been
skipped in the draft as a junior player, but his playmaking prowess in
the minor leagues gave him a shot at an NHL roster.
He played in 54 NHL games for two teams over parts of four seasons. In
the end, he proved too slow a skater and too small a forward at 5-foot-9
to earn more than a temporary spot.
It was in the unlikely hockey hotbed of Peoria, Ill., that the
Quebec-born centre became a fan favourite, leading the Rivermen to a
championship.
A peripatetic career included stints with teams in Europe, though he
returned to his native province to play senior hockey before retiring
just six years ago.
Mongeau was born in Montreal on Feb. 9, 1965, where his hockey hero
growing up was Guy Lafleur of the hometown Canadiens, a team so dominant
it had won 10 Stanley Cups from his birth until shortly after his 14th
birthday.
At 16, he caught the attention of scouts by averaging more than two
points per game for the Lac St. Louis Lions, an AAA midget team. He
moved on to the junior Laval Voisins, a freewheeling ensemble whose two
other centres were Vincent Damphousse, a future captain of the
Canadiens, and Mario Lemieux, who averaged more than four points per
game on his way to a Hockey Hall of Fame career.
The Voisins dominated Quebec competition before flaming out with three
consecutive losses in the Memorial Cup playoffs, as Lemieux managed only
a single goal. For his part, Mongeau scored three goals and added two
assists in a losing cause.
After two more seasons with the Voisins, including a campaign during
which he recorded 180 points in 72 games, Mongeau went unselected in the
NHL draft. He wound up signing a contract with the Saginaw (Mich.)
Generals of the International Hockey League, a minor-league circuit in
which he would build his reputation.
He racked up impressive statistics, twice leading the IHL in assists.
The NHL's St. Louis Blues signed him as a free agent and he performed
well during a call-up lasting seven games, scoring a goal and five
assists. He also skated in two playoff games, earning another assist.
He bounced between Peoria and the parent club in following seasons.
With the Rivermen, Mongeau played centre with wingers Dave Thomlinson
and Jim Vesey, a high-scoring trio that sportswriters dubbed the MTV
line. Mongeau led the Rivermen to an 18-game winning streak, which the
club boasted as a pro record, on the way to claiming the Turner Cup
championship in 1990-91.
The NHL's new Tampa Bay franchise selected him in the 1992 expansion
draft, but the centreman played only four games in a Lightning uniform.
Mongeau was skating for the Rivermen in a road game against the
Cleveland Lumberjacks on Feb. 27, 1994, when he suffered a gruesome
injury. He grabbed the puck from opponent Chris Tamer, a defenceman
employed less for his puck skills than for a bruising style. Tamer
crosschecked the shorter player from behind, sending him crashing
face-first into a support beam at the back of the Cleveland net.
At first, Mongeau did not realize the extent of his injuries.
"I took my mouthpiece out and my teeth didn't come together," he later
told Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I never lost
consciousness. I probably should have. I had some big headaches that night."
The injuries included a broken jaw, a broken cheekbone, and broken eye
sockets, as well as a broken nose. His head swelled to grotesque
proportions. Doctors needed three metal plates to rebuild his face.
Tamer was suspended for a single game, a decision that outraged
Mongeau's teammates, who complained a marquee player had been taken out
by a goon. Shortly after, Tamer was promoted to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He enjoyed a long career in the NHL.
Meanwhile, Mongeau ate his meals through a straw, as his wife, Chantal
Bourgeois, needed to put his food through a blender. She ate the same
fare in the same manner in solidarity.
The player sued Tamer and the Lumberjacks for $3-million (U.S.) in
damages. His wife sought $350,000.
A first trial in U.S. District Court in Akron, Ohio, ended in a hung
jury. A second jury ruled against the injured player in 1996.
He returned to the ice after 10 months of recovery, complaining he had
to change his style. He also suffered from headaches and had difficulty
sleeping.
Among the other teams for which he skated were the Detroit Vipers,
Milwaukee Admirals, Phoenix Roadrunners, Flint (Mich.) Spirits, Quebec
Rafales, Manitoba Moose, and the Cornwall (Ont.) Aces, as well as pro
teams in Italy, France, and Switzerland.
He completed his career where it started by joining the Chiefs, a
semiprofessional team, in the Montreal suburb of Laval, where he had
played as a junior.
Mongeau, who was remembered after his death by the Courrier Laval
newspaper as "a true magician with the puck," leaves his wife and two
children.
--
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