Don Sanderson dies after fight

[henkka 0]

Canadian 21y old Don Sanderson has passed away early friday morning after being in coma for 3 weeks. Whitby Dunlops -defender was fighting his opponent 3rd period of the game, played on 12. december. Don had taken his helmet of and fell, hit his head and was diagnosed with brain injury. Brain operation was attempted, and after that he fell in to coma.

this is just sad :(

sorry no english link, and sorry for the fin-eng translation :|

[jds 20]

Here's a link:spec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/489744

[mrusse01 0]

Link

Very sad story, but it wasn't in the AHL so you might want to change the title of the thread.

[roadrunner 12]

I'd like to see fighting and the icing rule abolished in hockey. Finesse players greatly outnumber goons in today's game.

[mattzilla 0]

just because you fight does not mean you're a goon. fighting is part of hockey. if you want a pure finesse game, play soccer or lawn bowling.

[shades9323 0]

I'd like to see fighting and the icing rule abolished in hockey. Finesse players greatly outnumber goons in today's game.

He could have lost his helmet on a check, fell down and had the same thing happen. The fight didn't cause his death. A very violent sport caused his death. You can't blame the fight.

[KryptOng 9]

RIP Don

My condolences to his friends and family and those affected by this

on a side note: let's keep this thread clean and respectful in memory of Don Sanderson

[mrusse01 0]

The fight didn't cause his death. A very violent sport caused his death. You can't blame the fight.

Actually the fight did cause his death, and you can blame fighting. Is that justification to remove fighting from the game completely? I'm not sure.

[#44wannabe 4]

RIP Don

[Jason Harris 31]

just because you fight does not mean you're a goon. fighting is part of hockey.

If you fight because somebody gave you a cheap shot like an elbow to the face, and you want to draw a line in the sand, then you are no more of a goon than batters who charge the mound or b-ballers who shove after an elbow. If your skill levels are such that your only reason for being on the team are to occasionally inspire the home crowd or defend the manhood of your skill players, you're a goon. No sport needs goons.

That said, I agree his helmet could have come off elsewhere.

[JPB_69 0]

My heart goes out to his family, may he rest in peace.

As sad as it is, it was an accident... A flukie one at that. Fighting is part of the game and should remain so. To Ban fighting is over the top. Look what happened to Clint Malarchuk and Richard Zednik. Hockey's a fast paced game and sometimes terrible things can happen.

[aliebe 0]

Assuming it's like most leagues today, I would bet a visor was required equipment. If he and his opponent had a fair square-off, chances are, both players removed their helmets before engaging. You see this all the time in Juniors, the AHL and even in the NHL. Watch some of Iginla's fights.

[psh 25]

The fight didn't cause his death. A very violent sport caused his death. You can't blame the fight.

Actually the fight did cause his death, and you can blame fighting. Is that justification to remove fighting from the game completely? I'm not sure.

Apologies if this is a double post:

I'm not sure if Sanderson instigated the fight, or if he wears a visor, but I think this tragedy should cause the league to look at rule 56 and fighting in general. It should be noted that rule 56 requires the instigator of a fight to remove his helmet if it has a visor. Therefore, if Sanderson was the instigator and wore a visor, you could conclude that the combination of the rule and the fight did, in fact, cause his death. I doubt that is the case here (and I recognize that this was not an NHL game), but I do think this incident should force the league to examine fighting and rule 56 very seriously this coming off-season.

[aliebe 0]

It goes beyond rule 56. Go to hockeyfights.com and watch any of the junior/minor league fights. 95% of the times, helmets are intentionally removed before engaging. I'm not going to say visors should not be mandatory or anything like that, but they remove their helmets because visors are mandatory. To fight with a visor on goes against the "code."

[pwrfwd26 0]

A sad sad day.

R.I.P

Don

[greech 4]

If you fight because somebody gave you a cheap shot like an elbow to the face, and you want to draw a line in the sand, then you are no more of a goon than batters who charge the mound or b-ballers who shove after an elbow. If your skill levels are such that your only reason for being on the team are to occasionally inspire the home crowd or defend the manhood of your skill players, you're a goon. No sport needs goons.

I totally agree with you, there is no need for goons anymore. That being said, condolences to the family for this tragic loss. His father said something along the lines of 'you expect a cracked ankle or a bruise here and there, but never a call like this.' Just tragic.

[LkptTiger 1]

It goes beyond rule 56. Go to hockeyfights.com and watch any of the junior/minor league fights. 95% of the times, helmets are intentionally removed before engaging. I'm not going to say visors should not be mandatory or anything like that, but they remove their helmets because visors are mandatory. To fight with a visor on goes against the "code."

I know of a few Junior leagues that have been handing-out (relatively minor) fines when guys take their helmets off before a fight. That being said, the owners/management don't mind giving-up the cash, so it makes no difference to us; they still come off.

Definitely a sad situation. My best to his friends, family/teammates.

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

Saying that fighting caused his death is like saying a spoon caused Michael Moore to be fat. With that logic, you might as well say that hockey caused his death. It has just as much to do with his death as fighting.

[CTK30 0]

I'd like to see fighting and the icing rule abolished in hockey. Finesse players greatly outnumber goons in today's game.

I believe thats called roller hockey

RIP Don

[roadrunner 12]

just because you fight does not mean you're a goon. fighting is part of hockey. if you want a pure finesse game, play soccer or lawn bowling.

I do play and watch soccer religiously. Hockey should learn from some of their rules. Most leagues don't tolerate any b.s. Those who want to be a bully will get a red card and sit out the next match as well as put their team at a serious disadvantage for the rest of the game. Its as simple as that.

Mike Bossy never believed that fighting should be a part of sports. He hardly ever fought back..Some may call him a pussy but to me that's true class...not trying to knock out a fellow player who is just doing the same thing he loves doing as you. We'll see what happens from this.

R.I.P. Don

[M.W. 0]

This is obviously a horrible thing to happen, and I feel for his family and teammates, as well as the guy he was fighting.

For what it's worth, he played in a league where a fighting major came with an automatic game misconduct, and from what I understand, he didn't remove his own helmet prior to the fight.

[KevinVu19 0]

this is really sad, standing up for a teammate, and dying because of it, this is just f***ing sad

according to tsn, he protected his teammates, and is a good guy.

[dcdot377 0]

My condolences to his family and friends.

I cannot see fighting being banned. however, with some leagues switching to a mandatory visor rule, this brings up problems with a fight. If you are fighting a guy with a visor, he has half of his face covered, so most guys try to remove the helmet to get in a clean shot. Most fights end up with either someone on the ground or someone withouta helmet or both. You cannot stop that, fact is, that will happen. His death was clearly an accident and cannot be blamed on someone or something. It was a rare accident.

RIP Don

[Rick 0]

Its a shame and my heart goes out to that young mans family. As for fighting in hockey I'm still up in the air on that subject. I used to love to watch Probert and Domi and the rest of those guys go at it but it really is a wonder more of these deaths haven't happened and I really do think it is only a matter of time before someone dies in a fight or from a hit from behind right in front of 20 thousand fans and on national TV. And the facts are that most people that don't follow hockey will tell you that they don't understand all of the fighting and why it is allowed to happen. Even though I myself enjoy watching a good hockey fight and understand why it happens and why it is a part of the game a lot of people will tell you that to them it makes hockey like pro wrestling and they steer their kids clear of it because of the violance. I have had guys tell me that they believe most of the fights are staged and that it makes the sport bush league. I think for hockey to really grow we will have to get in tune with what people outside the sport percieve whether we like it or not.

Rick

[biff44 0]

If you read the link, it says his helmet came off during the fight, not before it. It is common for a helmet to come off during a fight. Nobody in major junior takes off their helmet first, they have visors and fight with them. One of your goals in the fight is to KEEP your helmet on, while you knock the other guy's off. I am sure in this league the same deal applied--helmets with visors.

For the family, my deepest condolences. Your son was obviously one tough man who really loved hockey. He will be missed.