Fansided

The mysterious disappearance and death of NY Islanders draft pick Duncan MacPherson

A 1984 draft pick of the NY Islanders at the start of their post-dynasty years, Duncan MacPherson went missing in the Austrian Alps, with his body being discovered 14 years after disappearing.

By Michael Stahurski |
The Tragic Tale of Duncan MacPherson
The Tragic Tale of Duncan MacPherson / Beyond The Bench
1 of 2
Next

The NY Islanders have had some wacky stories during their 52-year history, whether that be a broke businessman John Spano purchasing the team, or playing in the Barclays Center with a car in the corner of the ice and fans unable to see a quarter of the ice from their seats from behind the goal.

But perhaps the craziest story of all, unknown to most, is the disappearance and death of Islanders draft pick Duncan MacPherson.

The Islanders' official X account posted something regarding MacPherson in June of 2010, with @NYI_Insider reposting today, resurrecting the story.

After losing the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals to the Edmonton Oilers, narrowly missing out on their fifth straight Stanley Cup, the Islanders selected defenseman Duncan MacPherson of the Saskatoon Blades 20th overall in the 1984 NHL Draft.

After playing one more season of junior hockey, MacPherson joined the Islanders AHL affiliate, the Springfield Indians. He played three seasons of minor league hockey, but multiple injuries cut the Saskatoon natives playing career short, released by the Islanders in 1988.

MacPherson was offered a job in Scotland as a player/coach with the Tayside Tigers in 1989. Scheduled to meet with owner Ron Dixon on August 12, 1989, MacPherson made a pit stop at the Stubai Glacier in Austria to have a go at the new sport of snowboarding.

Three days later, MacPherson never showed up for his meeting with Dixon. Dixon contacted MacPherson's parents in Saskatoon to let them know their son had never arrived.

After attempts by MacPherson's parents and Austrian authorities to locate Duncan, he or his body were never found - that is, until 14 years later.

In 2003, a snow groomer at Stubai Glacier noticed a glove sticking out of the snow. Thinking it was just a lost glove, he pulled it out of the snow, only to find a hand still attached.

MacPherson's body was found frozen in a crevasse along the glacier, with an arm and leg amputated and another arm severely broken.

According to John Leake, author of Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery, the damage to MacPherson's body and snowboard is consistent with rotating machinery.

One theory of what happened to MacPherson that day was a snow groomer was unable to see the former NHL draft pick through thick fog, accidentally hitting and killing him. Panicking in the situation, the groomer dumped MacPherson's body in a crevasse and took off. Another theory is that he was a CIA operative. Shortly before he left his home in Saskatoon, MacPherson mentioned to his parents that he was being recruited by the CIA - something the family never took seriously.

"We're just starting to deal with the pain of his death," MacPherson's mother Lynda told Eric Adelson of ESPN in 2004. "I didn't give myself permission to grieve. I thought if we worked hard and long enough we would find the answer and know what it is we're grieving. I see all that as wrong now. It was all a big mistake."

The cause of MacPherson's death was never determined and we may never know what happened but his mystery goes down as one of the Islanders and hockey's most peculiar stories.

feed

Next
Home / NY Islanders News

Schedule