2011 - Wade Belak dies in an apparent suicide
Former NHL enforcer Wade Belak is found dead in an apartment complex in Toronto.
Belak's passing is treated as a suicide caused by asphyxiation, but authorities do not confirm the cause of his death. This unknown raises speculation about what actually occurred in his final moments, which CBC's PJ Stock fuels during a radio appearance:
Let's just call it an accidental death right now. But he did die of strangulation.
Stock would later apologize for his comments.
Belak's death further thrusts the fighter's role in hockey under the microscope; he is the third enforcer who battled depression that dies over a four-month span.
2004 - Canada beats USA 2-1 in World Cup opener
Martin Brodeur makes 23 saves and Martin St. Louis scores two points as Canada edges the United States 2-1 in the opening game of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
Unbeknownst to fans and players, the tournament isn't the tuneup it's billed as ongoing discord between the NHL and NHLPA eventually leads to the 2004-05 season's cancellation.
Birthdays
1931 - Jean Beliveau
1973 - Scott Niedermayer
1984 - Ryan Kesler
1986 - Blake Wheeler
