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“You admire his physique, his fitness … and then you get a call like this,” Daryl Sitler said
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August 10, 2022 • 46 minutes ago • 4 minutes read • 31 comments Borge Salming is honored as the next statue in the line of legends during the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on November 14, 2014. Photo by Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun
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Considered the ageless leaf, at 71, he is often seen pursuing outdoor pursuits like a man more than half his age.
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“We get together every March or April and it looks like he can still play,” Darryl Sitler marveled. “You admire his physique, his fitness … and then you get a call like this.”
Three weeks ago, Borge Salming shared the stunning news with the tight-knit family of the 1970 Maple Leafs. Mysterious problems the Hall of Fame defenseman was experiencing throughout his body sent him to a specialist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
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“The symptoms turned out to be ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease,” Salming said Wednesday in a release via the Leafs. “In an instant, everything changed. I don’t know what the next few days will be like, but I understand that there will be challenges greater than anything I’ve ever faced.
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“I also realize there is no cure, but there are numerous trials going on around the world and one day there will be a cure. In the meantime, there are treatments available to slow the progression and my family and I will stay positive.”
Borge Salming (right) celebrates with Darryl Sittler after Sittler scored five goals in the Maple Leafs’ 8-5 playoff victory over Philly in 1976.
Salming last played for the Leafs in 1989, but he never parted ways with his lifelong friends in the Gardens era led by captain Sitler, Lanny McDonald and Tiger Williams. Yet one he played with so briefly, Mark Kirton, will be a formidable ally in the battle ahead.
Curton was also diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2015, and despite being almost confined to a wheelchair, he quickly connected with Salming through Sitler. Since Salming received his diagnosis on July 25, Curton, 64, has helped him deal with the shock in his immediate family and introduced him to his group, ALS Action Canada.
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“I told him that. ‘King, the name of the game is survival until they find a cure,'” Kirton said Wednesday. “You have a great support system here and with your family.”
Former NHLer Mark Kirton has ALS and still runs his real estate business in Oakville. Photo by Submitted /Toronto Sun
Curton, Sitler, Leafs alumni and club president Brendan Shanahan worked for the past few days to create Wednesday’s release, simultaneously in Canada and Sweden, in which Salming requested confidentiality.
“Right now I’m sure I have my loving family around me and the best possible medical care.” Please keep us in your prayers.”
A pioneer of European migration to the NHL along with Swedish teammate Inge Hammarström in 1973, Salming became a local favorite, one of the few bright spots in years in which the team rarely went deep into the playoffs. Salming has earned respect far and wide for withstanding punishments, from hitting blocks to enemies determined to bash him as a perceived pacifist in a violent era of the sport.
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Yet he played more than 1,000 games in Toronto and kept himself in such good shape that he was often compared to the jovial 60-year-old Swede in government participation ads, who was in equal or better shape than younger Canadians.
Borge Salming is honored as the next statue in the line of legends. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins at Air Canada Center in Toronto on Friday, November 14, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency
“The good news is he doesn’t have genetic (familial ALS), which is 5 percent of cases,” Kirton said. “The most important thing now is to take all the drugs available to slow the progression as quickly as possible at an early onset.”
The sporadic ALS patients treated by Kirton and Salming typically have a life expectancy of two to five years, although progress is being made in this area. Curton suffered muscle spasms while on vacation in the Bahamas in 2015 and was devastated when told of his condition, but vowed not to let it cloud his mental outlook.
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He convenes regular Zoom calls with 25 to 30 ALS patients of all ages.
“I reminded Borge that he taught me the can opener move one day at practice to take out the center going to the corner,” Kirton laughed. “He taught me well and now I said ‘don’t worry, we’ve got that too.’
Toronto Maple Leaf legend Borje Salming with his Legends Row statue in front of Scotiabank Arena on September 12, 2015. Photo by Dave Thomas/Toronto Sun
SALMING’S FULL STATEMENT
“I received news that shook my family and me.
“The signs that something was wrong with my body turned out to be ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. In an instant, everything changed. I don’t know what the next few days will be like, but I understand that there will be challenges greater than anything I’ve ever faced.
“I also realize there is no cure, but there are numerous trials going on around the world and one day there will be a cure. In the meantime, there are treatments available to slow the progression and my family and I will stay positive.
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“Since I started playing ice hockey as a little kid in Kiruna and throughout my career I’ve given it my all.” And I will continue to do so.
“Right now I’m sure I have my loving family around me and the best possible medical care.”
“I understand that there are many of you who would like to get in touch, but I kindly ask that you respect our privacy during these difficult times. Please keep us in your prayers. When the time is right and I know more about my condition and future travel, I will be in touch. So until then we kindly refrain from any contact.
“I hope you understand and respect our decision.
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