the former Washington Capitals forward died after he was injured in an accident 2 weeks ago former Washington Capitals forward Steven Pete died on Thursday September 12th he was 44 the NHL alni Association revealed the news in a September 12th post on NEX formerly known as Twitter announcing that the retired NHL enforcer died after he succumbed to his injuries following a tragic accident just over 2 weeks ago no further details about the incident were provided however then L confirmed Steven will be helping to save numerous lives through organ donation we send our deepest condolences to Steven's family friends and former teammates during this difficult time then La said the capitals also expressed their heartfelt condolences to Pete's family and friends our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time read the teams X poost born March 10th 198 in Princeton British Colombia Pete began his career at 15 years old and played for 5 years in Canada's Western Hockey League he was drafted third overall in the 1995 WHL Bantam draft per hockey draft central he later played for the Red Deer Rebels Tri City Americans and Calgary Hitman for Sports Net during his W8 shell tenure he scored 11 goals and made 36 assists in 203 games the NHL veteran joined the league in 1998 after the Anaheim Ducks drafted him with the 32nd overall pick he then spent a year with the Portland Pirates in the American Hockey League AHL Pete was traded to Washington where he played for the capitals from 2001 to 2005 and made eight goals and two assists in 130 games Pete ended his professional career after one game with the Albany River Rats a former AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils in 2006 while Pete earned a reputation on the ice he claimed the sport affected his well-being in a 2016 interview with the New York Times he spoke about possibly suffering from chronic traumatic enopi CTE CTE is a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head that cannot be accurately diagnosed until death for the Mayo Clinic at the time Pete and his father Walter were concerned the NHL player could suffer an early death like other NHL enforcers hockey's been the greatest thing in my life but it's also been the worst thing in my life Pete told the times it was great while I was playing but what has it done lately my peers of enforcers have become statistics and the NHL is in denial they denying that the job I did even existed even though I sacrificed my quality of life my my well-being and my future greatly by being there for my teammates in the present in the same time article Pete and Walter discussed when Pete pleaded guilty to Asen by negligence in September 2015 the charge was in connection with a fire that occurred at his father's house in March 2015