- Bob Gassoff
Bob Gassoff (
April 17 ,1953 inQuesnel, British Columbia –May 27 ,1977 ) was a professionalice hockey player. He played four seasons in theNHL for the St. Louis Blues. He was killed in a motorcycle accident on the country property of his friend and team-mateGarry Unger nearGray Summit, Missouri ; his number 3 was subsequently retired by the Blues.His son, Bob Gassoff - "Bobby" (Lt.Jg. Robert Gassoff) is an officer in the United States Navy Seals. Fact|date=August 2007
Gassoff was killed in a motorcycle accident on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in 1977. He and his pregnant wife, Diane, had been invited to a postseason barbecue at teammate Garry Unger's convert|200|acre|km2|sing=on farm near Gray Summit, Mo. At roughly 6 p.m., Gassoff joined several others in riding motorcycles around Unger's property. Unger would later say he remembered wondering if it was a good idea for Gassoff to ride the motorcycle because he had been drinking and didn't have any riding experience. Gassoff drove out of Unger's property on a gravel road that merged into to a winding road leading up a hill to Villa Ridge, Mo. Gassoff wasn't wearing a helmet and had no license plate on his motorcycle, so he decided to take a short run up the hill and come right back. On his way back down the hill, he collided head-on with a car driven by a man named Douglas Klekamp. The crash killed Gassoff, although Klekamp walked away uninjured. In October 1977, Gassoff's widow filed a $3 million lawsuit against Unger, his wife, and Klekamp, whom the suit alleged was one of Unger's employees running an errand for the Ungers. Unger describes Gassoff's death as one of the most devastating moments of his life, and it played a major role in Unger's decision to embrace Christianity.
Gassoff's brother, Brad, was also an NHL hockey player.
ee also
*
List of ice hockey players who died young External links
* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid%5B%5D=1859 Stats at HockeyDB]
* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1973/73048.html Story of his accident]
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