Darren McCarty files for bankruptcy

[DEAD!]

Hey, Ralph Wilson, here's someone that's crying poverty....

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...th=Sports/Index

Flames' McCarty files for bankruptcy

Apr. 12, 2006. 12:22 PM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT ? Former Detroit Red Wing Darren McCarty, one of the city's most popular professional athletes in recent years, has filed for bankruptcy.

In documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit, McCarty listed assets of $1.9 million and debts of $6.2 million (all figures U.S.).

In addition to at least $185,000 owed to casinos in Detroit and Las Vegas, he listed debts to banks, credit card companies, friends, utilities, law firms and a roofing company.

McCarty, 34, said in court filings that many of his assets are tied up in insurance polices, his NHL pension and $490,000 in business loans that are unlikely to be repaid.

McCarty played 11 seasons for the Red Wings. The rugged winger's combativeness, charitable work and project as a rock guitarist made him a fan favourite. McCarty also scored the winning goal in the clinching game in 1997 as Detroit won its first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

The Red Wings bought out McCarty's contract in July after a lockout of NHL players canceled the 2004-2005 season. He currently plays for the Calgary Flames.

McCarty listed his income as $2.1 million in 2003, $1.5 million in 2004 and $193,959 in 2005. According to court documents, McCarty received $538,729 from the Red Wings when they bought out his contract, but his ex-wife Cheryl received 75 per cent of that ? $404,046.

Marty Fried, McCarty's lawyer, blamed the bankruptcy on last season's NHL lockout, the divorce that was finalized in February 2005 and a smaller contract with the Flames.

"He's not making the money he used to make," Fried told the Detroit Free Press in a report published Wednesday. He said McCarty now makes about $850,000.

Nothing indicates McCarty's financial problems are linked to the McCarty Cancer Foundation, the Oakland County-based charity he and his family founded in honour of his father, Craig, who died from multiple myeloma in 1999. McCarty serves as an unpaid director of the foundation, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years.

The Free Press said it could not reach McCarty for comment.

[NJTank]

Wow how can someone who made that much money spend it all and go bankrupt.

[BCBoy]

Wow how can someone who made that much money spend it all and go bankrupt.

gambling, spending too much money on his band...

[Cujo]

Claude Lemieux has yet to be reached for comment as well.

[spyboy1]

I'm sorry to hear that he's so screwed up financially. He's a true working class guy who works hard every shift.

It's one thing to keep spending money after you stop playing at a rate you are used to but cannot sustain, but to be that much in debt while your are still playing is a bit shocking to me.

[DGivens87]

Not that I'm rich by any stretch of the imgaination, but the old saying "the more money you have, the more you find things to spend it on" is true.

[Mac6674]

he seems like a nice enough guy and all, and having to give the ex 75% seems unfair, but when I see numbers like that compared to the money I make and have to struggle with, my sympathy dries up pretty quickly.

[Shumway]

I'm very sad to see this, mainly because Mac is my favorite player. A week or so ago, I he was selling a bunch of stuff on ebay from the McCarty Cancer Foundation. It's gonna be rough for him for the next few months/years.