Former NHL Player Dies in Minneapolis; Brain to Be Studied

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Former National Hockey League player Jeff Parker, who briefly skated for the Hartford Whalers following a lopsided six-player trade in 1991, died Monday in a Minneapolis hospital of complications from a heart and lung infection. He was 53.

Parker's career ended prematurely in 1991 following a pair of head injuries sustained in his final season with the Whalers. His family told the Sporting News it plans to donate his brain to Boston University, where scientists have examined the brains of more than 100 former NHL and National Football League players in researching chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative brain disease that can be caused by repeated concussions or head trauma which can only be diagnosed following death.

A St. Paul-born right wing who spent parts of four seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, Parker was twice included in trades involving future Hockey Hall of Fame members. In 1990, Buffalo dealt him and two others to the Winnipeg Jets for Dale Hawerchuk; however, he was sent to the minor leagues by the Jets and eventually released. He was picked up by the Pittsburgh Penguins in Feb. 1991, but days later was sent to the Whalers, along with John Cullen and Zarley Zalapski, in exchange for popular captain and eventual Hall of Famer Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings.

In his third game with Hartford, Parker received a hard check against the Washington Capitals and struck his head on a stanchion supporting the glass. After missing two weeks, he said in a recent interview with the White Bear (MN) Press, he returned in a game against the New Jersey Devils, where a routine check "brought back the white flashes in his head, and his appendages went numb." It was his final NHL appearance.

He played 141 NHL games, scoring 16 goals and adding 19 assists. He had 163 penalty minutes.

Following his playing days, he experienced difficulties maintaining his equilibrium, and suffered when exposed to bright light or noise. He joined a class-action lawsuit against the NHL in 2013, with more than 200 ex-players alleging the league concealed the risks of concussions for many years. That lawsuit is still pending.

Image credit: courtesy of Alex Jensen's card collection