George Congrave recently joined the University of Denver Sports Hall of Fame.
He would be the first to tell you he’s lucky his induction last month as a member of DU’s first NCAA hockey championship team wasn’t posthumous.
Congrave was a sophomore on the 1957-58 team, arriving the year before from Edmonton, Alberta, to play for coach Murray Armstrong. Freshman weren’t eligible to play on the varsity team in those days, so Congrave was preparing for his first season as the Pioneers were in preseason practice sessions.
On Nov. 17, 1957, Congrave’s life changed forever at practice. He was injured that day, and the accounts of it underlined the seriousness.
One report read: “During a preseason workout, a player was hit with a hard body check, went somersaulting through the air. As he came down, the protruding back end of his skate, two inches long, caught defenseman George Congrave on the head.
“It gouged a jagged hole about the size of a silver dollar in the left side of his skull, above and forward of the ear, and tore out a piece of his brain.”
Goalie Rodney Schneck saw the accident unfold in front of him.
“We were scrimmaging on a Sunday night,” Schneck said. “It’s funny how you remember things like it being Sunday, but I remember the accident vividly. Everybody started over there, and I knew right away that it was serious. It’s a miracle he lived.”
Congrave remembers going to dinner with some teammates before practice. He doesn’t remember the accident.
“I woke up a couple of weeks later in Craig Hospital,” Congrave said. “I think I was in and out of consciousness before that. I remember Murray talking to me, but everything was really fuzzy.”
Once conscious, he wasn’t encouraged when he learned of the details of his prognosis. He was paralyzed on his right side, couldn’t speak, had pneumonia and was in critical condition.
The road back was long, painful and frustrating at times. Congrave’s progression went from being bedridden, to a wheelchair, to leg braces, to surgeries.
“I started back from scratch,” Congrave said. “I couldn’t move my right foot for a long time. There were times I was scared and nervous to try to move my right leg. I was able to return to DU in June and spent four hours a day at the speech and hearing clinic.”
He returned to classes in 1961 and graduated from DU in 1983.
“I graduated from DU on the 25-year plan,” Congrave jokes.
“It was a testament of him as a person and his willingness to overcome the problems,” said Schneck, who was an instructor in a business management class when Congrave returned to classes.
“There has been a lot of progress in treating the type of injuries he had. It was remarkable what they accomplished in those days,” Schneck said.
Congrave went into accounting and worked for a time in the banking business, where he met his wife, Margaret. He moved on to real estate, then returned to DU, where he worked in the athletic department.
“I always had a positive attitude,” Congrave said. “It was a slow process, but I was willing to work at it. I got to the point where I could snow ski, but that was some years ago. I still have some problems. I’m walking almost normally, but I have trouble writing and holding a golf club with my right hand.”
Congrave doesn’t look back too much. When he gathers with his hockey teammates, they rarely discuss the injury.
“I was so very fortunate to recover as I did,” Congrave said. “The accident was 51 years ago, and I’m not a hockey player anymore. I’m alive and kicking, but I’m over the hill now.”
Congrave wasn’t able to attend the induction ceremony with other members of the 1957-58 team because of a prior commitment, but the award still is cherished even though it takes him back to a harrowing time in his life.
“I’m just so very fortunate to be aware of the honor,” Congrave said.
Congrave bio
Born: Aug. 20, 1936, in Edmonton, Alberta
High school: Westland High School, Edmonton
College: University of Denver
Family: Wife Margaret, mother Rachel
Hobbies: Golf, working in disabled skiing program.
Advice: Keep pushing forward.
