News staff and wire services
Former Red Wings forward Mark Kirton died on Sunday at the age of 67 after a seven-year battle with ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Diagnosed in 2018, Kirton, who had 75 points in 134 games in Detroit from 1980-1983, raised more than a million dollars by creating a patient-led initiative (ALS Action Canada) along with a group of PALS (people with ALS).
ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing the loss of muscle control and eventually leading also to the loss of mobility, the ability to eat and speak, paralysis and respiratory failure.
In a Detroit News story in 2021, Kirton said it was important for him to use his platform, to raise awareness and fundraising for ALS.
“I know there’s no cure,” Kirton said at the time. “But I’m not dying of ALS. I’m living with it. When you get told something like this, you can bury your head, get depressed and cry it out. Or you say, ‘Hey look. It’s what I’ve been dealt with and I’ve got to make the best of it and I’ve got to deal with it.’ So I chose the second way.”
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Kirton advanced to the 1978 Memorial Cup with the Peterborough Petes and was drafted 48th overall by the Maple Leafs in 1978.
In 266 career NHL games, he scored 57 goals with Toronto, Detroit and Vancouver.
For six straight games from Oct. 22-Nov. 1, 1981, Kirton’s high-energy, checking line with Paul Woods and Brad “Motor City” Smith either scored or assisted on the Red Wings’ first goal of the game during a 3-2-1 stretch.
“He (Kirton) was a coach’s dream,” said Smith, now the head of pro scouting for the Colorado Avalanche. “He was underrated as a two-way center who could score a key goal, check the other team’s best player or win an important faceoff in your own end.”
Plymouth’s Porter leads U.S. to title
Plymouth coach Kevin Porter led Team USA to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup title for the first time since 2003.
The U.S. beat Sweden, 5-3, in the final on Sunday in Trencin, Slovakia. Bloomfield Hills’ Nick Bogas scored one of the five goals for the U.S.
Brighton’s Brooks Rogowski, a 6-foot-6 forward who scored 11 goals in 66 games with the Oshawa Generals last year and is committed to Michigan State in 2026-27, was also a member of the team.
“It’s amazing,” Porter said. “Our guys battled hard, and our power play was great. It’s a great feeling to win that one. These players came to play every night. It was awesome to see. We’re champions now.”
Also on Sunday, the U.S. women’s U18 team beat Canada, 3-1, in the third of a three-game series at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. Team USA won two of the three games.
The U.S. collegiate team lost 7-6 to Canada in a shootout on Sunday. South Lyon’s Cassie Hall scored a goal for Team USA, which won the first two games of the series.
Blue Jackets sign veteran Fasching
The Columbus Blue Jackets signed veteran forward Hudson Fasching to a one-year, two-way contract on Monday.
The 30-year-old winger had two goals and four points in 43 games with the New York Islanders ast season, adding one goal and an assist in seven games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders.
“Hudson Fasching is a hard-working, responsible winger with size who plays with a great deal of energy,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said. “His high character, experience and versatility strengthens our organizational depth up front and we’re happy to welcome him to the Blue Jackets.”
Selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft by the Los Angeles Kings, Fasching has 17 goals and 40 points in 175 career games with the Islanders, Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres.
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