On October 24, 1998 an incident at a Junior Game played at the Bartlett Memorial Arena (Bell Island) nearly took the life of a young hockey player.

Bell Island star player Dion Durdle collided with a player from the opposing team and fell to the ice. The blade of the opposing player's skate cut Dion's chest, just below his arm, severing a major artery. Blood instantly spurted from the injured area.  As luck would have it, there was nurse present at the game and she immediately recognized the seriousness of the situation. She hurried to Dion and applied pressure to slow the bleeding. An ambulance, that was already at the rink attending to another player, rushed Dion to the boat which just happened to be at the Bell Island Ferry Dock. Dion was raced to St. John's for emergency care with the nurse at his side applying pressure on the wound. Through a combination of bad luck, followed by good luck, Dion made it to the hospital where the Dr's took over and his life was saved. Before the season was over Dion returned to play a few more games for the Jr. Blues. Tonight being the 21st Anniversary of that tragic night, we thought we'd share this story to demonstrate how fast things can happen.