The Last Helmet-Less NHL Player - The Craig MacTavish Story 

In Canada, not wearing a condom during sex is called MacT'n it, famously after Craig MacTavish being the last known NHLer to not wear a helmet. The more you know.

The last year Craig was with the Oilers, he was telling me how he was in contract negotiation. His contract had a bonus clause whereby he'd get a bonus if he scored between 15 and 25 goals; a bigger bonus if he scored between 25 and 30 goals; and an even bigger bonus if he scored over 30 goals. He told his agent to get the 15 moved to 10, the 25 moved to 20, and the 30 moved to 50! Craig's sense of humour is legend in the league.

do "the longest NHL shift"

My first live NHL game was at the Buffalo Auditorium between the Sabres and the Nordiques. Guy Lafleur, with no helmet was amazing to as a 7 year old. I miss the magic of the old days.

When ya don’t wear a rubber , it’s known as doing “ the Mac-T”

Man, I knew about the grandfather clause... but I didnt realize it was so recent that someone was still going bucketless in the leauge. Just blew my mind lol.

What the hell kind of name is Soap?

Crazy how he killed someone and pretty much just got a slap on the wrist for it ...... And like the guy in the video said, went on to continue his career as if nothing happened... SMH

I remember watching MacTavish on the Rangers as kid and he always stuck out because he didn't use a bucket. I had no idea about his DUI incident. He definitely made good on his second chance.

As a Canadian who works for one of the biggest hockey academies in the world. lol Literally all my co workers are ex NHL players. I played major jr. Kamloops Blazer Alum. It was weird listening to a brit explain Canadian hockey history. But hey dude we actually have one of our academies in the UK. ;) I cant name drop but I'm sure I just gave it away lol. I also recruit players to our main location from all over the globe. You did an alright job mate ;) Much love from Canada

11:31. He’s so amazing he time traveled 100 years in the past just to coach 8 years in the KHL! 1920 lol

Even though I remember him from the later part of his playing career, likely due to his lack of a helmet, I think his most memorable moment came from his coaching career. While with Edmonton, there was one night when they were on the road in Calgary, when Flames mascot Harvey the Hound was trying to mess with MacTavish a bit. Unfortunately for Harvey, he leaned a bit too much over the glass, allowing MacTavish to put out his long cloth tongue, tossing it into the crowd in the process.

awesome choice of video. i remember watching highlights of 1994 seein mctsvish on the rangers with no helmet and i kept sayin wow how doee this one dude KEEP losing his helemt on every shift. i had no idea it was still legal all the way in 94!....

@4:15 he was charged with vehicular manslaughter not murder VERY different crimes with VERY different punishments.

Imagine a player not wearing a helmet in today's NHL.

Mandatory visors is just dumb. Sticks get stuck up there and it can cut you if someone punches you. It should be up to the player

Thats crazy i used to have his hockey card he was always my favorite card i didnt know he killed somebody though

My dad actually played with Craig Mctavish at a pro ambitions hockey camp a while back and played a few scrimmages on his line until he broke his knee.

Can’t understand how people thumbs down odd mans videos. Top notch as per!

I don't what is more surprising? the fact that he played helmetless until 96-97 or the fact that a 9th round pick played 1000+ nhl games and won 3 stanley cup?

You deserve over a million followers🙏 your stuff is amazing. Keep up the great work

Good seeing Blair Riley in the Spengler cup pic with this guy as coach!

Early rules of hockey did not allow the puck to come off the ice during play. The curved stick blade and slap shots came around in the 60's. And lightweight, stiff-bodied hockey skates were revolutionized by the Bauer Tuuk in the 70's: all increased the speed of players, the energy in the puck, the speed of the game, and the risks involved. Nice Patrick Roy ref there at the end.

Great vid, OMR. Tip: when saying Lowell, you gotta say it like "Lol-ll". That's how I learned how to say it, as I live near that campus

I like these vids. And I always like to hear a non-North American accent from hockey fans. Good video (y) I always thought MacT taking his helmet off after the vehicular homicide was a form of penance.

He stayed in the dorm named after my great grandfather at ULowell 😂

5:24 - nice old shot of Edmonton except for that bridge that opened in 2017 and the high-rises in the background.

Most players don't wear their helmets in pre-game warmup. They just grease up their hair and look good for the chicks. Should helmets be mandatory in pre-game warmups?

crazy to imagine that I was alive when this happened, 6 days old tho...

He may be responsible for someone’s death but he sure as shit isn’t a murderer. I’d consider correcting that at some point.

I saw him play when he was with the blues, he stuck out to say the least

Rememeber seeing him play in person, easy to remember the only guy not wearing a helmet

So he did wear a helmet when he started. Oh dear, he was even dumber than I thought.

Ryan OReilly and Jamie Benn will prolly be the last to have no visor.

Always liked seeing the few remaining helmetless players back then. I'm glad he got a second chance.

he killed someone and only spend a single year in prison? wtf he should have spent his whole life in prison

it is always about who you know. I have experienced this personally

he was born in London ontario Canada! nice!

I wish you could show footage!

Looking solely at MacTavish’s point total shows quite a lot about this dude’s severe lack of hockey knowledge. This guy didn’t play an important role on 4 Cup winning teams with sub 50 point seasons.

Never knew of McT’s vehicular homicide conviction. I respected him. Now I don’t.

What a beauty

The 1980s Edmonton Oilers were such a strong dynasty that their players helped the Rags win a cup long after in 1994 MacTavish, Messier and Tikkanen that's why Gretzky had the stats he had he was always surrounded by the best. Lemieux was better imo because he wasnt on a dynasty like Wayne Jagr and the others didnt show up till like 7 years into his career and when they did he was out a lot too

Having to live in edmonton was the real punishment

Anyone can return to work after they have served their sentence. Why did you make such a big point about this?

To be fair, curved blades elevated the puck which is a more recent modification to sticks. Rumor has it that players did have teeth which is just as good.

I played hockey with a guy names Craig MacTavish in the late 70's and early 80's....used to bug him about it but he never seemed to get the joke.

Who will be the last player without visor?

What did he mean by no touch icing?

Who is the guy on the right at 1:14? He looks like he's 60!

Although MacTavish was the last player to not wear a helmet, he wasn't the last eligible player with the option. Mark Messier signed his first contact in 1978 and could have played without a helmet. He retired in 2004.

In Canada, anyone who wears a helmut is known as "a little girly man".

Wow I didn’t know Craig MacTavish was a murderer.

Used to be able to kill someone and still play in the NHL now you can't even bully someone

Craig was drunk but he didnt mean to kill anyone. He deserved a second chance.

I thought Andy Brown was the last player to play without a helmet playing goal!.

4:17 He was NOT convicted of Murder. He was convicted of Manslaughter. Meaning he has no intent to kill the person... where if he had the intent and motive to... then THAT is murder. I get so tired of people not knowning the damn difference. There is also involuntary manslaughter (which is pretty much what he did) where you accidently killed someone. And there's manslaughter where your intent was to hurt the person... but you had no plan to murder/kill them. There's other types too but im too lazy to google them right now.

That has to be the most Scottish name I ever heard

I love how he says National Hwockey League

i believe the visor rule is a joke. im 40 and still old school. even player that wear a visor still get high sticks and cuts to the face because every injury come from up under. the visor should not have been mandatory, just make the player wear fun cages then. i still believe visors and helmets should be to the player discretion. shots are harder yes but the respect level is gone. people had more respect back in the day. you implement for safety but players take less regard for safety. all in all visor rule is pointless. just my opinion

This may be controversial but I think MacTavish deserves his number retired by the Oilers. He easily gave the Oilers the push in 1990 to win the cup, not to mention he helped them in still having strong playoff runs even when they had mucky seasons. I personally respect him for the 2006 run, probably one of the best cup finals I've ever watch imo.

I can't take this guy seriously with the accent. That's like a Canadian guy talking about footy.

This dude played in the 1920 season what a g

Whoa, I watched him play many games as a Blue there near the end, never knew he killed a guy until today.

1:39 ,,pick143 Rick Simpson is from hay river n.w.t

the players had a code where you dont go for the head, or so they said :P

It’s not like he did it with a gun. How many young people drink and drive. Not caring about the consequences that could happened. If I took a poll I bet it would be 95% even though it is illegal. Everyone should get a second chance. Ray Lewis did. He did his time. Paid his debit to society as to the courts.

Next last goalie without a mask plz

This guy knows where some dead bodies are buried or something! People just love giving him opportunities

This article contains a few inconsistencies and inaccuracies. MacTavish spent the first three seasons or so wearing a helmet, but then discarded it in about 1981-82 during a stint in the minors. At the time, many on the Bruins did not wear helmets at all (same as with many other teams in the league) and many more did not bother with them in the warm ups or practices, therefore MacT simply signing a waiver to go bareheaded really was not that sort of an issue at the time. He, like that number of other veterans in the league who elected to continue playing without a helmet, were quite well aware of how helmets may offer that protection from an awkward fall or errant puck or stick, but still encouraged more careless or deliberate behaviour. This is why as helmets and shields became more commonly worn, that's when the stickwork and blindside hit offences got far, far worse than ever before. And this is why ones like Joe Murphy and many others have had these very serious problems related to brain damage and related injuries as they were far more likely to take these sorts of hits than someone like MacTavish or Guy Lafleur or Rod Langway and other such players.

Wow dude was just lucky he didnt get seriously injured... and I'm surprised that the NHL players dont have face masks like Football players.

Flyers had the last 2 players to be helmetless. MacTavish and Brad Marsh.

The side effects of him playing without a helmet were the poor decisions behind the bench and in the front office for the Oilers

I hate to be that guy but it’s not Umass “Low-el” you pronounce like saying “lawl” but replace the a w an O

Best insult, ”Hey MacTavish! Your helmet needs a haircut!”

The theory is that he took off the helmet after getting out of jail because initially he didn't really care if he lived or died, then after a while he became known as the no helmet guy and just kept doing it.

My wife and I were coming home from visiting late one night and went by a bad accident just after it happen. We both rubber necked to see what was going on and found out the next day it was the crash of Mactavish on the northshore of boston we were amazed to had been there just after it happen. It was as we say " wicked".

Wait, how did he kill someone and only serve a year??

Thats why soap McTavish doesn't where helmet in military missions

What a scumbag. Didn't realize he killed someone.

You should do a video on Billy Tibbetts, the first convicted rapist to sign an NHL contract.

I know this was the same guy who yanked the tongue out of the Flames mascot.

I now know why I hated this guy so much. He played for Boston and the New England area. They seem to get away with everything including murder in this case.

Goes to jail Next year:F@ck this helmet.

Excuse me , but the CM Story is far beyond playing without a helmet. He was figuratively doing that way back. Lets start with the dead people and work our way to the cup, ok?

Making helmets mandatory was a great move. I understand the logic for not wearing a helmet, but it doesn't wash; helmets made the Game safer. There's no way we could tell how many head injuries were avoided because of mandatory helmets, but there are A LOT of players who are healthier after their NHL careers were over because they wore a helmet.

You do realize he isn’t a murderer right? I mean cmon. That isn’t fair to say.

What could he do in the KHL? Did he think he can earn something else there besides money?

He enjoyed a great life after killing someone

I take issue with something in the video, perhaps its just semantics but these sort of things matter to me. McTavish was not a convicted murderer. That is the word you used and it is slander. The word murder has a specific legal meaning, and it pisses me off royal when ppl ignorantly use words in order to be dramatic or hyperbolic.

Nick Fotiu never wore a helmet until 1989.

Hockey with hockey be like: dude I think you just killed a man yeah he’s dead welp that my 3rd this game bro.

Fuck I'm such a failure in life compared to this guy....I'm going to down a bottle of vodka now, head on out for a drive and hope to mow someone down. Maybe then my luck will change. :)

Don't you mean stick puck game on icy surface game

Why all the hate? He served his time..

The department of player safety is a fuckin joke

Only crybaby crosby can nutshot a hockey player and get away with it,no fines,no suspension

With vehicular homicide on his resume, I'm surprised he didn't become a Senator

Wtf? Convicted murderer? Seriously? If you accidentally kill someone in a car crash, DUI or not, it never can be murder, as there was no intent to kill someone, so it'll be manslaughter ... I'm kind of surprised you didn't get sued over that 'convicted murderer' line of yours tbh

Wow! Nobody EVER talks about how he was a convicted murderer. That is fucked up.