4th round draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, Malarchuk played for the Nordiques, the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres, posting a good record of 141 wins, 130 losses, 45 ties, 12 shutouts, and a 0.885 save percentage. A similar incident occured in 1995 when Bengt Åkerblom died in a similar incident in the Elitserien and in 2008 when Richard Zednik of the Florida Panthers had his carotid artery accidentally slit by teammate Olli Jokinen's blade. Zednik was more fortunate than Åkerblom and healed.