Montreal Canadiens doctor saw some of the game's most brutal injuries in 60-year career

There's no shortage of legendary figures in Montreal Canadiens lore.

But this season, the NHL team had to say goodbye to one of its most unsung icons.

In September, after 60 years of service with the organization, thoracic surgeon Dr. David Mulder retired from his role as the team's head physician. (As an emeritus, he can still act as an advisor.)

As a member of the Canadiens, Mulder has seen it all, from eight Stanley Cup championships to potentially life-altering injuries for players like Trent McCleary and Max Pacioretty. 

With all the successes and surgeries, Mulder says he couldn't have achieved anything without his medical team.

"Maybe the biggest lesson that I've learned from playing team sports … and from looking after the Montreal Canadiens, is that I treat every operation now as a team sport," he told White Coat, Black Art's Dr. Brian Goldman.

"We have an anesthesiologist, we have a circulating nurse, and nothing gets done well unless we have the whole team onside. So there's nothing more important than the team concept."

Mulder grew up playing hockey himself in the small town of Eston, Sask., and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1962. He did his training in general surgery at Montreal General Hospital from 1963 to 1967, and earned a master's degree in science from McGill University in 1964.

His sporting career as a physician began with the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1963. He then joined the Montreal Voyageurs — the Montreal Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate — before being promoted to the NHL team as an assistant physician in 1969.

In 1999, he succeeded Dr. Douglas G. Kinnear as the team's head physician.

Mulder has treated some of the team's greatest players and been a part of eight Stanley Cup championships.

"He's set the bar," said Trent McCleary, a former Canadiens player. "He's the standard. He's the template for doctoring in the NHL."

Hockey has always been a dangerous sport, but it was especially true when Mulder first joined the Habs organization in the late '60s.

"They wore no helmets, no masks, no visors. They had shin pads and shoulder pads. Those were the basics," he said.