06:43 AM
11/21/24
11/21/24
August 23, 2018
Finding Murph: He was the first overall pick in the 1986 NHL Draft. His name is engraved on the Stanley Cup. Now, Joe Murphy is living homeless on the streets of Kenora, in Northern Ontario. Rick Westhead searches for Murphy, as the close-knit hockey fraternity asks, “what can be done to help?”
posted by tommytrump to hockey at 07:03 PM - 1 comment
Really hope he can get some help although it appears as if the NHL and the organizations he played for ignored the signs that he needed help which ultimately led to the lifestyle he has been living for over a decade.
I travel to Kenora 3 or 4 times a summer as it about 45 minutes from a family cottage in North West Ontario. While it is a beautiful location it is essentially a town with no middle class. There are the extremely rich athletes including current and former NHL players, movie stars, and business owners who own $10M+ properties on Lake of the Woods with the remainder of the population basically trying to scratch out a living in the service industry supporting tourism during the spring and summer months. The current labor statistics list 8,300 of the town's 13,500 people as being currently employed; this rate decreases drastically each year at the end of August. The town has a huge addiction problem with alcohol and inexpensive drugs being the substances of choice.