Robert Larry Mickey was a Canadian professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 right winger

Winger (ice hockey)

Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...

 who played in the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 (NHL) with the Chicago Black Hawks

Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...

, New York Rangers

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

, Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

, Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

, Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...

, Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 and Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...

. Mickey started his NHL career with the Black Hawks during the 1964–65 season.

Mickey's life included both successes and tragedy. While playing with the Omaha Knights

Omaha Knights

The Omaha Knights were a minor league professional ice hockey team from 1959 to 1975, based in Omaha, Nebraska at the Ak-Sar-Ben arena. The Knights were founded in 1959 as members of the International Hockey League...

, Mickey was named to the first team of the Central Hockey League All-Stars during the 1966-67 season, and his team advanced to the Adams Cup

Adams Cup

The Adams Cup was awarded annually to the championship team in Central Hockey League.The CHL was a top-tier minor professional league that operated in the United States from 1963 to 1984. It was owned and operated by the National Hockey League...

 finals that same year. But tragedy struck 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

Oklahoma City Blazers

The Oklahoma City Blazers were a professional ice hockey team that played in the Northwest Division of the Central Hockey League. The Blazers played at the Ford Center, located in downtown Oklahoma City. Their colors were burgundy, gold and white...

.

Mickey was driving with his wife, Eleanor, on a country road near Seward, Nebraska

Seward, Nebraska

Seward is a city in Seward County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,133 at the 2000 census...

 late on the 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 Mickey's wife was killed in the crash.

Mickey committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 on July 23, 1982 by sitting in his car with the engine running in his garage.

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