Bob Probert will be remembered as one of the roughest, toughest and most tormented players in National Hockey League history.
Those who played with and against him during the nine seasons he spent with the Detroit Red Wings and the seven seasons he skated for the Blackhawks also recall that at the peak of his career he was able to put the puck in the net.
And they respect him for ultimately prevailing in what was perhaps his toughest battle, surmounting the alcohol and substance abuse problems that marred his career.
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"Probie turned his life around," said Denis Savard, the Hawks' Hall of Fame center and former coach. "I just feel so sorry for his family."
As fate would have it, Probert was surrounded by his family when his life came to an end at age 45 Monday afternoon. He was on a boat on a Lake St. Clair in his native Windsor, Ontario, with his wife, Dani, their children and his in-laws when he collapsed after complaining of severe chest pain.
Probert's father-in-law, Dan Parkinson, performed immediate cardio pulmonary resuscitation as did emergency crews when they arrived. He then was taken to Windsor Regional Hospital where attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Probert was Detroit's third choice and the 46th overall selection in the 1983 draft. He broke into the NHL with the Red Wings during the 1985-86 season. In 1987-88 he scored 29 goals, assisted on 33 and spent 398 minutes in the penalty box, all of which were career highs.
But Probert's career soon was compromised by recurring alcohol and drug problems. In 1989 he was arrested for cocaine possession while crossing the Detroit-Windsor border and sent to federal prison, limiting his 1988-89 season to four games. He played for the Red Wings for the next four seasons but had multiple arrests for driving under the influence. After he was involved in a July 1994 motorcycle crash in West Bloomfield, Mich., and police determined that he had alcohol and trace amounts of cocaine in his system, the team gave him his outright release.
Bob Pulford, the Hawks' senior vice president at the time, decided to give Probert another chance and signed him on July 23, 1994. But that September the NHL suspended him for the entire season for violating the league's substance abuse policy and it wasn't until the following season that he made his Chicago debut.
During the next seven years, Probert's conduct was exemplary.
"He went through rehabilitation and all the time he was playing here he was completely sober," Pulford said Monday night. "He was a great person.
"One the ice he put the fear of God in the other team. I remember Darryl Sutter (the Hawks' ex-coach and current Calgary general manager) saying his teammates should pay half of his salary because of the way he protects them.
"But he wasn't just a tough guy. He had a lot of talent."
Savard agreed wholeheartedly.
"Probie was a strong physical force, and he was able to score goals," he said. "In Detroit, he played on the line with (Hall of Fame center) Steve Yzerman. Even though he had some huge battles in his personal life I know he always was considered a great teammate."
Probert's most productive season with the Hawks was his first when he had 19 goals and 21 assists. Although his output declined significantly during subsequent seasons, he became one of the fans' favorites and his coaches considered him a role model.
In the summer of 2001, Probert was nominated by the Chicago chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded each year by the NHL to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."
After recording only one goal and three assists during the 2001-02 season, Probert signed a one-year $600,000 contract, but after failing to score in three exhibition games he was placed on injured reserve, ostensibly because of a groin injury and he remained there until mid-November when the Hawks announced he was joining their radio broadcast team as an in-studio analyst.
He ended his 935-game NHL career with 163 goals, 221 assists and 3,300 penalty minutes, sixth-highest total in league history. While playing for the Hawks, on Feb. 13, 1999 he had the distinction of scoring the final goal in the history of Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, one of the NHL's most famous arenas.
While working as a radio analyst, Probert had a relapse and the NHL and NHL Players' Association jointly announced on Feb. 4, 2003 that he had voluntarily submitted to residential treatment as part of their substance abuse and behavioral health program.
"No question about it, I think it was realizing that his playing career was over was what caused it," Pulford said. "That was a very traumatic time in his life.
"And just like he did when he came to us as a player, he got his life on track. I was proud of him."
Probert resumed playing hockey once a week in a no-check league that prohibited fighting, immersed himself in community service and made two trips to Afghanistan to meet U.S. and Canadian troops as part of an NHL Alumni tour.
"To be able to put smiles on their faces is something I'll never forget," he told Tribune columnist David Haugh.
The Hawks honored him with Bob Probert Heritage Night at the United Center on Feb. 22, 2009.
"Bob will always be a member of the Blackhawks' family and his memory will live on through our fans," team President John McDonough said in a statement released on behalf of the organization.
In a statement released by the Red Wings, the team's owners, Mike and Martian Ilitch, described Probert as "one of the kindest, most colorful and beloved players Detroit has ever known."
Probert is survived by his wife; daughters Brogan, Tierney and Declyn; and Declyn's twin brother, Jack
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