Roy Halpin spent six weeks flat on his back in Dundee Royal Infirmary after his ice hockey career was ended by injury 40 years ago.
The Dundee Rockets icon raised the bar for braveness.
Roy had to be dressed by his team-mates and helped on and off the ice in what turned out to be his final appearance against Nottingham Panthers in January 1985.
He scored his 100th point of the season in front of the BBC Grandstand cameras.
Roy was in significant pain when the game finished.
He would never play again.
Roy Halpin joined Dundee Rockets in 1981
Roy recorded over 400 goals and 350 assists before being forced into retirement.
It was a sad closing chapter in a Dundee Rockets career that started when he stepped off a transatlantic flight at Prestwick Airport in September 1981.
A new era in British ice hockey began when he arrived at Kingsway Rink as one of three full-time import players alongside Chris Brinster and Kevin O’Neill.
Tom Stewart’s all-conquering Rockets made a clean sweep of every trophy from 1981 to 1984 and their era of dominance showed no sign of ending.
They were favourites to add to their streak in 1985.
Roch Bois arrived to replace Mike Walker but the core of the side remained the same and it all looked so positive.
But the dream turned into a nightmare.
Results started to go wrong and injuries played their part.
Mike Ward was in and out of the team through injury and 16-year-old Martin McKay from Edinburgh played 12 league games between the sticks.
Things went from bad to worse.
Roy collapsed in shower after back injury
“It was early in the season at Murrayfield,” Roy told me.
“I remember the moment the injury happened.
“I was reaching back for a pass at our blueline.
“My torso was fully turned and extended when an opposing player clipped me enough to pop two discs, which I didn’t know at the time as I went down.
“I couldn’t stand upright because of the excruciating pain I felt.”
Rockets team-mate Chris Brinster helped him back to the dressing room.
“Once my equipment was off, I made my way to the shower,” said Roy.
“At a certain moment in the shower, I collapsed because of the pain.
“As I lay sideways in the shower for a few minutes I came to the realisation that my hockey career was likely over.
“Not knowing or trying to diagnose the extent of the injury, a creepy feeling swept in as the pain compounded.”
He was taken to Dundee Royal Infirmary.
Results showed slipped discs.
He was told by doctors to fully rest and stay inactive for a few weeks.
A bittersweet final game in Nottingham
“After four weeks the pain began to subside,” he said.
“After six weeks of rehab and improvement I decided to try an easy skate at practice with the boys.
“My body told me it was not the time.
“My passion and brain cramps told me otherwise.
“A week later I was playing in a TV game in Nottingham.
“I had to be helped on and off the ice every shift.
“Unsurprisingly, things didn’t work out all that well.
“I travelled back from Nottingham and 24 hours later I couldn’t get out of bed.
“A doctor was called in to see me.”
Roy was told to rest in a reclined position.
“Over two weeks my back deteriorated more than ever,” he said.
“My wife called an ambulance once my situation was too much to deal with.
“Once in a ward at the hospital, I was not even allowed sit up in my bed.
“After four weeks’ inactivity and a worsening of my situation, my doctor ordered a myelogram to look for problems in the spinal canal.”
Two back discs exploded on operating table
An emergency operation was carried out the following day.
“Once the operation was deemed successful the doctor came to see me to explain that when he opened the lower back and exposed the vertebrae, two discs exploded out and sprayed all over the place,” said Roy.
“He stated he had never experienced that much pressure in 20 years of practice.
“He also said they couldn’t replace the discs, as the pressure would have returned.
“He told me flat out that my hockey days were over and to stay at the hospital for another two weeks of rehabilitation.
“My muscles had wasted away due to four weeks of full stabilisation.”
Steve Salter replaced Roy and filled the gap considerably.
Once rehabilitated, he found strength in being back around the team.
The Rockets found themselves in unfamiliar territory.
The hopes of a fourth title were shot down inside five days in April 1985.
The Rockets crashed 9-6 at home to Ayr Bruins and 8-5 to Murrayfield Racers.
The defeats left them needing a point from a midweek home game against Fife Flyers to make the end-of-season play-offs at the expense of Cleveland Bombers.
The Flyers won 8-5.
Lionel Richie brings back painful memories
“The fact the team was losing was tremendously frustrating,” said Roy.
“Not at the way we played with the tools we had, but frustrating in the sense that I wasn’t there to go down with the ship.
“I have always told myself I should have been on the ice for the fourth-year demise.
“My team-mates were my family and I couldn’t do anything to help.
“It’s an uncomfortable feeling that I continue to deal with to this day.”
Roy, who now lives in Canada, said two things come to mind when he thinks back to his time in hospital.
“On most days two young fans would come by my ward to visit,” he said.
“I always think of them when I reflect on the hard times during my hospital days.
“I got a chance to thank them when I returned to Dundee in June to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Grand Slam triumph at the Whitehall Theatre.
“The second thing I confront, as a reminder of the hospital, is Lionel Richie music.
“I had a Sony Walkman but only one cassette – which was a Lionel Richie album!
“Every time I hear his music, it reminds me of dark days in my life.”
After his retiral from ice hockey, Roy was hired by Tennis Canada in early 1986 to organise an annual professional tennis tournament in Montreal.
He became the executive director for amateur and Olympic boxing in Canada and retired following the 2024 Paris summer games.
How does Roy reflect on 84/85 season?
He told us he still suffers from back issues.
But he is grateful that the injury did not impact on his quality of life.
The Flyers won the British Championship at Wembley in 1985.
This marked the end of the Rockets’ period of unprecedented success in the 1980s but Roy is one of life’s glass-half-full characters.
He would rather reflect on being once, twice, three-times a champion…
“This was one of the most successful teams in British hockey – if not the most,” he said, adding that a “fourth-year demise should only be a blip in our whole”.
“The fact is: we are champions, we are a dynasty, we are strong and we are fulfilled in hockey and personal terms.
“Even the 84/85 Rockets continue to be champions to this day.
“Legends never die.”
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