Robert Larry Mickey (October 21, 1943 — July 23, 1982) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

between 1965 and 1975.

Playing career

While playing with the

Omaha Knights The Omaha Knights was the name of three minor league professional ice hockey teams from 1959 to 1965 and from 1966 to 1975, based in Omaha, Nebraska, at the Ak-Sar-Ben (arena), Ak-Sar-Ben Arena. The Knights were founded in 1959 as members of the ...

, Mickey was named to the first team of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

All-Stars during the 1966-67 season, and his team advanced to the Adams Cup finals that same year. On April 16, 1967, the night before the third game of the Adams Cup best-of-seven play-off series between the Omaha Knights and the Oklahoma City Blazers, Mickey was driving with his wife, Eleanor, on a country road near

Seward, Nebraska Seward is a city and county seat of Seward County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 6,964 at the 2010 census. Seward is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is known for its large Fourth of July (Independ ...

late on Sunday night. The road's visibility was reduced to nearly zero as a result of blowing dust from a nearby field, and Mickey was involved in a two-car, head-on collision. Mickey suffered cuts, bruises and a broken left arm, while Eleanor was killed in the crash. While Mickey had many accomplishments in the NHL, he was also known for his community involvement with youth hockey and children with special needs. Mickey is recognized as one of the early founders of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. This franchise was established in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

in 1975. During its history, a half-dozen former Buffalo Sabres served as head coach or assistant coach. Mickey coached the team from 1975 to the end of the 1977 season.

Death

Mickey committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

in Buffalo on July 23, 1982."After Hockey, Life was too Difficult"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', September 8, 1982.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mickey, Larry 1943 births 1982 suicides 1982 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Buffalo Sabres players Calgary Stampeders (WHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey right wingers Chicago Blackhawks players Cincinnati Swords players Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) players Hampton Aces players Ice hockey people from Alberta Los Angeles Kings players Minnesota Rangers players Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Voyageurs players Moose Jaw Canucks players New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players People from Lacombe, Alberta Philadelphia Flyers players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (WHL) players St. Louis Braves players Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning Suicides in New York (state) Toronto Maple Leafs players Utica Mohawks players