Darryl Sittler – Standing up to ALS in Honour of Salming

Sittler and Salming make a surprise appearance. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/VRqXDYqijR

— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) January 19, 2020

In November of 1996, Salming became the first Swedish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, followed by having his No. 21 retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs ten years later on Oct. 4, 2006. But the cherry on top was in 2017 when the NHL itself named Salming as one of the “100 Greatest Players” in league history. Moments that the best-friends celebrated together.

We had an open, honest conversation with Sittler about the realities of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) in hopes to bring more education, awareness, and ultimately more funding to ALS research. It’s important to continue to honour Börje's legacy and tell his story because ALS can strike anyone, of any age, at any time.

From watching his best-pal Salming go through the mutliple soul-crushing stages of his diagnosis, Sittler described ALS as a death sentence. Börje, the man who was once as healthy and as fit as an ox was imprisoned within his own body.

“Once you get ALS, you know it’s a death sentence number one and then there’s a process you go through where you need to convert your house to wheelchair access, your bathrooms, all that sort of stuff,” shared Sittler. “Your mind is all there, but you can’t speak, move, feed yourself, swallow, and you just keep deteriorating until something gives out like your heart or lungs.”

In the early days of Salming’s diagnosis, Sittler reconnected Börje and Mark Kirton, a former Maple Leaf who was also diagnosed with ALS, over a zoom call. Kirton was selected 48th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1978 NHL Draft, just briefly crossing paths with Börje in the late seventies.

“Mark’s ALS started in his legs and now he’s paralyzed from waste down,” shared Sittler. “Mark’s younger than Börje, has three children, and was losing his voice too. But because Mark has had it [ALS] for five years and is an AWESOME guy, I had to reconnect them”.

Börje and Kirton began video chatting one another every week, discussing medications and what to expect in the next stages of the battle. Throughout their zoom conversations, Börje and Kirton ended up becoming very close. But the first time they met in person since their diagnoses was at a Leafs game when Brendan Shanahan, President and alternative governor for the Toronto Maple Leafs, offered the group his private box. 

“When Mark and his wife reconnected with Börje for the first time in-person it was so emotional because here you have two ex-teammates who both know they have a death sentence,” said Sittler. “It was moving stuff. My wife Luba, who’s friends with both Mark and his wife, caught the whole thing on video”.

Last year, Kirton’s fundraising team raised more than $100,000 for Sunnybrook research and the ALS Society of Canada. A portion of the money raised went to a world first ALS clinical trial at Sunnybrook, which was moved into Phase 2 this past fall (source: Peterborough Examiner).

ALS awareness and research funding should not just be an initiative in hockey, but rather a pursuit all of humankind pays more attention too. Sittler mentioned that he’s aware of at least 50 ex-NFL players who have been diagnosed with ALS and believes that we have much more work to do in studying the potential link between concussions and issues such as ALS. However, Sittler detailed one case about a woman he met who was a great tennis player, ran regularly, ate all the right things, but was diagnosed with ALS at 52 years old.

“Börje had six concussions [that he knew of] throughout his career” commented Sittler. “There’s something that happens in the brain to change the cells to not work or function properly anymore”.

The final on-ice tribute to Salming took place in his home nation during a game on February 11, 2023, more than 50 years after his pro hockey career first took off in Sweden. Among the 8,000 fans in the building watching his banner get raised to the rafters were some of Salming’s teammates throughout his 16 years in Toronto.

All proceeds from the game, which was televised in Sweden, went directly to support ALS research and funding, the disease that took Salming in late November at age 71.

“When I left, I think we had raised $1.4 million, Canadian”, said Sittler. “Börje captured the hearts and emotions of everybody, and that’s why we raised so much money.”

ALS requires more research and funding so we can find an affordable and accessible treatment for all those who get diagnosed by providing support throughout the early stages, recovery, all while helping them return to living a life closer to what they had considered more normal prior to their diagnosis. Sittler shared the Toronto Maple Leafs organization will incorporate ALS awareness throughout their seasonal campaigns and continue to participate in and lead social activities and programs that support ALS funding and research. If you would like to learn more or donate towards ALS research, see below for some additional resources.

Börje Salming ALS Foundation – facilitates medical scientific research to increase awareness and improve treatment options for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS.

ALS Action Canada (ALSAC) - a patient-lead organization that advocates directly to the federal and provincial government for faster access and approvals to promising drug therapies.