Dr. David Mulder's first hockey patient was Bobby Orr at the Forum

Longtime Canadiens team physician, Dr. David Mulder (MD'62), recalls future Hall of Famer cleaning his own blood off the floor after getting stitched up as a junior.

By Stu Cowan | Montreal Gazette

Dr. David Mulder (MD'62) will never forget the first hockey player he ever stitched up, as reported by the National Post.

It was 1963 and Mulder was a team physician with the Junior Canadiens, who were playing the Oshawa Generals at the Forum.

"You know who my first patient was? Bobby Orr," the 81-year-old Mulder said about the future Hall of Fame defenceman during an interview last week in his office at the Montreal General Hospital. "He was playing for Oshawa and he got quite a big cut in his forehead. Scalp wounds really bleed. In those days, the corridor to the clinic was lined with battleship linoleum -- red, white and blue, of course. Anyways, by the time we got him to the clinic there was blood all over the floor, particularly on the white part.

"So I sutured him up, three or four stitches, stopped the bleeding, and I said: 'Bobby you're ready to go," Mulder added. "He said: 'I'd like a wet towel.' I said: 'It's OK, I wiped your face off.' But he insisted on a wet towel. Then he got down on his hands and knees and washed the floor."

Mulder and Orr would become friends over the years and still get together sometimes during the summer to go fishing.

"He tells the story and says: 'My mother always said that cleanliness was next to godliness," Mulder said with a chuckle.

Mulder worked his way up to become the Canadiens' team physician, a position he has held for the last 50 years. Mulder attends every game at the Bell Centre and also keeps a busy schedule at the Montreal General Hospital, where he is the hospital's former surgeon-in-chief and now holds the title of H. Rocke Robertson Professor of Surgery.

Mulder will be the honourary co-chair -- along with former Canadiens defenseman Patrice Brisebois -- for the inaugural Cedars Hockey to Conquer Cancer three-on-three tournament that will be held on April 5 at Hockey Etcetera in Town of Mount Royal. There is room for 16 teams with a goal of raising $250,000.

During a 30-minute interview in his hospital office last week, Mulder spoke about some of the more memorable moments and people in his long career with the Canadiens.

Read more at https://nationalpost.com/.