Gilles Marotte of the Boston Bruins Rushed to Hospital After Incident

Published on August 12th, 2024 3:03 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


We've heard about hockey players being rushed to the hospital because of pucks to the face, skates to the neck and all sorts of other dangerous situations, but have you ever heard of a player being rushed to hospital because of an exploding stick?

This is exactly what happened on March 31st, 1964, when the Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Boston Bruins.

Back in those days, players didn't use aluminum or graphite sticks.

Instead, they used the good old wooden sticks.

Shack was winding up for a blistering slap shot in the late-March contest against the Bruins in 1964. Upon impact with the puck, Shack's stick shattered.

Gilles Marotte, who played defense for the Bruins at the time, took some of the splinters from the stick to his throat.

This wasn't just a small splinter - Marotte had a piece of Shack's wooden stick sticking out of his neck.

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Marotte was known for his toughness and gritty play - this is how he earned the nickname "Captain Crunch".

Marotte was known for his toughness, Marotte was known for playing through pain, and Marotte was known for constantly getting bloodied up.

After taking a piece of Shack's stick to his neck, Marotte was bloodied up yet again.

To Marotte this incident was no big deal, but Boston's team doctors thought differently.

The bizarre incident sent Marotte to the hospital, where he was given the once over by local doctors.

Thankfully, the exploding stick had avoided any crucial parts of Marotte's neck, and he was bandaged up and released.

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Marotte would go on to enjoy a long career as a professional hockey player, as he remained active until the late 1970s, when he finally elected to retire.