Kirton, who was prominent figure in fight against ALS, dies at 67

Mark Kirton, who played six seasons as a center in the NHL and was a board member of ALS Action Canada, died on Sunday. He was 67.

Kirton was diagnosed with ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2018. ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing the loss of muscle control and eventually leading also to the loss of mobility, the ability to eat and speak, paralysis and respiratory failure.

The average lifespan of a person with ALS is 2-5 years.

Despite the debilitating disease, which confined Kirton to a wheelchair, in September 2020 he met a group of PALS (people with ALS) who had come together to create a patient-led initiative (ALS Action Canada) to find a cure. A little more than three years later, in December 2023, following a relentless seven-month process by Kirton, the seven Canadian NHL franchises -- the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks -- united in their support to raise funds and awareness for research to solve ALS.

Just nine months after that, in September 2024, at the prestigious Wellington Building on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Kirton's longtime friend, Hockey Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler, announced that the ALS Super Fund had reached "an incredible milestone of $1 million."

At that same event, Wayne Gretzky described Kirton as "a hero to me."

In the last few years, ALS has claimed a number of notable figures from the hockey world, including Hall of Famer Borje Salming, a former teammate of Kirton, on Nov. 24, 2022; Calgary Flames assistant general manager Chris Snow on Sept. 30, 2023; and former Senators assistant coach Bob Jones on July 26, 2024.

When Salming was diagnosed with ALS in April 2022, it was Kirton who helped provide guidance for the former defenseman and his family.

“We've been living this nightmare for what, a few years now, and I can tell you, it's horrific, it's cruel, it's torture,” Kirton said in September 2024. “The challenges are not daily challenges, they’re like hourly challenges.”

As a player, Kirton was selected by the Maple Leafs in the third round (No. 48) of the 1978 NHL Draft. In parts of six NHL seasons, Kirton recorded 113 points (57 goals, 56 assists) in 266 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Canucks.