Nearly 40 years after the stunning upset victory over the Soviet Union by the U.S. Olympic hockey squad dubbed the "Miracle on Ice", one of the squad's key members, Mark Pavelich, has been committed to a secure psychiatric facility by a Minnesota judge. The ruling follows one month after the 61-year-old Pavelich was found unfit to stand trial in a case resulting from a serious assault in August of this year. Accusing a long-time friend and neighbour of spiking his beer, Pavelich had then assaulted him with a metal pole resulting in multiple fractures and a bruised kidney. He was charged with multiple felonies: second- and third-degree assault, possession of a short-barreled shotgun and possession of a firearm with a missing or altered serial number. A psychiatric evaluation determined that Pavelich was "incapable of participating in the defense due to mental illness or deficiency" and that he needed, "some assistance to fully understand" the charges and the criminal proceedings he was facing. case was then put on hold while the state moved to civilly commit him to treatment.
He has since been seen by two clinical psychologists who declared him to be "mentally ill and dangerous." Along with cognitive issues such as aphasia, he was also diagnosed him with posttraumatic stress disorder and being incapable of recognizing his mental health issues, including paranoid delusions that family members were trying to poison him. Family members insist that Pavelich has undergone a "total change" in personality and isolated himself from friends and family since retiring from hockey. They allegedly have urged him to seek help over the past few years but he has refused any sort of treatment. They also argue that he is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) resulting from repeated blows to the head sustained during his long hockey career.
A neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated concussions, symptoms of CTE can include behavioural and emotional problems, cognitive dysfunction, and dementia in extreme cases. Numerous documented cases have been reported in professional and amateur athletes, especially in contact sports such as boxing, American football, wrestling, and ice hockey. It has also been diagnosed in members of the military and domestic abuse survivors though a definitive diagnosis is only possible following an autopsy.
Pavelich was one of the star of the 1980 U.S. Hockey team and assisted with Mike Eruzione's winning goal in the stunning semifinal upset of the Soviet Union. He also played 355 National Hockey League games with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, and San Jose Sharks between 1980 and 1992. On February 23, 1983, Pavelich became the first and only American ever to score five goals in a single game. He retired from hockey in 1992 but became even more reclusive after the accidental death of his wife in 2012. They had no children. Two years later, he sold his Olympic gold medal for more that $250,000 in an auction.
He is scheduled for a second hearing in February to determine whether his commitment should be indefinite.
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