FURUDAL, Sweden -- Mike Danton played the hero in his opening game of the Swedish league.
The former NHL player, who served five years behind bars for a failed murder-for-hire plot, rushed to the aid of IFK Ore teammate Marcus Bengtsson, who was convulsing on the ice after a hard hit in Sunday's season-opener.
Danton, 30, was released from prison in 2009 and then played two seasons with Saint Mary's Huskies in Canadian university hockey before signing this summer with IFK Ore, which plays in the third tier of Sweden's pro system.
"One of the luxuries of my prison experience afforded me to take a first aid course and become certified in first aid response," Danton wrote in his blog on the website of DT, a Swedish newspaper.
According to Danton's blog, Bengtsson took a late hit with about 14 minutes left in the game against Soderhamn/Ljusne. He lay on the ice suffering convulsions for six or seven minutes.
"As his eyes continued to roll into the back of his head, his mouth finally opened a bit," wrote Danton, who is captain of the Swedish team. "It was at that time that I jammed my fingers into his mouth and clawed his tongue."
Bengtsson was taken to hospital in Mora, about a 35-minute drive from Furudal. Danton wrote that Bengtsson was alert in hospital but had no memory of the incident.
IFK Ore went on to win the game 4-3.
Danton scored nine goals in 87 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils. He helped Saint Mary's win its first Canadian university hockey championship while maintaining a straight A average.
The Brampton, Ont., native had hoped for a return to the NHL after his parole ended in January, which lifted his restrictions on travel.
U.S. prosecutors said Danton's intended target in the murder-for-hire plot was David Frost, who was his agent at the time. However, Danton suggested to the National Parole Board in 2009 that the target was his father, with whom he has been estranged.
