Pelle Lindberg Death 30 Year Anniversary

[911nut]

Not sure how many hockey fans are on the board but we are approaching the 30th anniversary of the death of Philadelphia Flyers goalie Pelle Lindberg. He died as a result of injuries suffered in a single car accident while driving his RUF Porsche 911 Turbo. He was impaired at the time of the accident.

HockeyBuzz.com - Scoop Cooper - Triumph and Tragedy: The Life and Death of Pelle "Gump" Lindbergh

It's hard to believe that it's been 30 years. In some ways it feels like yesterday. I remember where I was when I got the news about the accident and that Lindberg was on life support.
Ultimately it is a tragic reminder that alcohol and high performance cars are frequently a fatal mix.

[Hams930T]

Alcohol + Porsche is never a good mixture. Most recently I thought of Ryan Dunn who killed himself and his occupant in his GT3. Stupid.

I wouldn't dare drive one of these cars after having a drink. High power 930's are sobering as-is.

[kycarguy 935]

I have the original steering wheel out of his car. I guess he didn't like it back in 1985 and replaced it.

I have an 87 factory slant that is red with BBS wheels just like his was. I have a tan interior and think his was black.

[patkeefe]

I still remember Ranger fans chanting "buy a Porsche" to Hextall.

[trader220]

I grew up in South Jersey and I know the spot where Lindbergh’s accident occurred, I have driven it probably hundreds of times. At 51 years old and still playing in 2 over 40 leagues I am a hockey guy. My family moved to the Philly area in 1968 and promptly bought Flyers season tickets (we missed the first year they were in town). I saw Lindbergh play live probably a few dozen times including the playoff run and Stanley Cup Finals where they were trounced by the Oilers who were in the middle of their dynasty. I regularly played pickup with Flyers of that era at their practice facility. Although not a goalie, he was among my favorites simply because he was fan friendly and an outstanding player.

It certainly was a tragedy, it’s ashamed that a generally good well liked promising player was cut down in the beginning of what should have been a fantastic career. I was obsessed with 911’s back then too. There are all sorts of local stories about how and why the crash occurred. The most repeated one we used to hear is that the woman crammed in the back seat was scared to death over the way he was driving reached forward and turned off the ignition and pulled the key. I remember waking up the next morning and walking out on the porch of our fraternity house where a couple other of my fellow brothers and who played hockey with me for my U were discussing the accident. Details were sketchy and we didn’t know the extent of the accident other than both legs were broken.

Number 31 does not hang in the rafters of the Flyers building but no one has worn the number since then. Everyone who met Pelle never had a bad word about him. He was not known as a heavy drinker. I know that DUI is a major offense in Sweden taken much more seriously than here, especially back then.

I can’t say that I have never been behind the wheel when I shouldn't have been. In my youth I did it more than I should have gotten away with. It’s just a reminder of what a bad mix an extreme sports car (or any car for that matter) is with alcohol. There is no question that beer is part of playing men’s league hockey. I still play with a couple guys I played in college with and having a couple of suds after the games is part of the fun. As much as Lindbergh’s death is a tragedy it’s still a reminder of what foolish and selfish act it is to drive when you’ve had too much.