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."

A brutal job
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.

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