Clint Malarchuk's battle with depression now life-saving inspiration

Ex-NHL goalie Clint Malarchuk's battle with depression has become life saving inspiration nearly 25 years after his near-fatal skate blade accident.

The young man stood in the bookstore in an Edmonton-area mall and waited until the book signing was over before he approached Clint Malarchuk. He wanted a minute alone with the former NHL goaltender, who’s just written an autobiography called A Matter of Inches: How I Survived in the Crease and Beyond, in which he details the two near-death experiences that have pretty much defined his life.

“I’d say he was 20 or 21 years old,” Malarchuk said, his voice wavering a bit as he recalled the conversation. “And he came up to me and said, ‘I want to thank you for saving my life.’”