Deaths in Adult Hockey Leagues

[RecLeagueHero 0]

I know this may seem like a morbid question, but I'm just curious if other adult rec leaguers have experienced this: for about the last 3 years the adult league I play in has had a player die on the ice per year. All three of heart attack and all three in their late 40's or early 50's. Granted it's one of hte larger leagues in the US, so that may be a factor, but as I've become more active in running aspects of the league I am concerned about potential libility lawsuits down the road. So I was just wondering if this had happened in other leagues and if it is also a rather frequent issue.

[RadioGaGa 162]

I edited the topic to soften it a touch. It's a valid discussion, but doesn't need to be opened that way.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Sorry, I meant to change that before posting it. Also, while I'm here I was curious if anyone plays in a league that requires a doctor's physical or anything like that attesting that you're in generally decent shape before you play?

[Guitarmy 0]

I knew a guy that died (heart attack) at my local roller rink years ago. I've heard of a few cases at my ice rink too. Seems like most of these guys are older and already have some health problems (overweight, high cholesterol, etc) that contribute to their deaths. The past year or so I've began to noticed an ambulance parked outside the rink almost all the time.

Our league requires everyone to have USAH membership and to sign a form waiving your rights to sue in case anything happens.

[fieldofdreams 0]

Just out of curiosity, what league/area are you in that this keeps happening?

[number21 3]

i believe i have always had a rink/league waiver too.

if you're involved with the rink, maybe petition for one or more defibrillators in your rink and training by all staff on how to use them.

[Ngo_35 1]

All which goes to show in most cases...you have to get fit to play hockey, not play hockey to get fit.

Luckily in my rink we haven't have a preventable death happen however we did have some kid die of heart failure due to some unforeseen circumstances. It's always good to know when your on the ice that the staff are trained with AED's and could get to your ass asap.

[lee92 2]

Me and my prof were talking about this the other day in my fitness assessment class. In most cases it's a simple answer. You get these weekend warriors who hardly do any physical activity outside of the once or twice a week hockey, and then plug them into high intensity work. In most cases these individuals never do a proper warm-up prior to playing. Throw in smoking and/or drinking before/during/after the game, and it's a recipe for a heart attack.

[duch 0]

Had a guy go down last year in my league. Seems he had a minor heart condition he was unaware of and he blanked out along the boards. Luckily he wasn't flying down the wing at a high rate of speed or it would have been a lot worse. He was only out for about a minute and when he came to we had him stay on the ice until an ambulance came put him on a board with a neck brace and hauled him to the hospital. Thank the Lord he didn't go into cardiac arrest because it was traumatic enough with his wife tearing downstairs from the lounge when she saw him go down. Don't want a repeat of that event thank-you.

[RadioGaGa 162]

You get these weekend warriors who hardly do any physical activity outside of the once or twice a week hockey, and then plug them into high intensity work. In most cases these individuals never do a proper warm-up prior to playing. Throw in smoking and/or drinking before/during/after the game, and it's a recipe for a heart attack.

One of the reasons I recently got a gym membership...to do something other than hockey 1-2 a week. And, I figure if I improve my cardio/strength and flexibility I will be able to play longer.

[interpathway 9]

We had a young kid die on the ice of our club team's rink of a heart failure. Young kid, definitely still early in his teenage years. Within the past year I have noticed that the rink has posted signs on locker room doors that I had never seen before..."Please note that an Automatic Emergency Defibrillator is located at the front desk". Not sure if any specific incident caused them to post this publicly all over the rink or if it was just a good safety measure. Either way, a change in the right direction.

[Tikkanen 1]

Me and my prof were talking about this the other day in my fitness assessment class. In most cases it's a simple answer. You get these weekend warriors who hardly do any physical activity outside of the once or twice a week hockey, and then plug them into high intensity work. In most cases these individuals never do a proper warm-up prior to playing. Throw in smoking and/or drinking before/during/after the game, and it's a recipe for a heart attack.

Couldn't agree more. I heard a guy died on the rink of a heart attack at 1 of the places I play last year. He seemed like he was in decent shape but you never know what these guys are doing outside of playing hockey. I'm sure this happens all over the world in every physical activity we do but since we all play hockey we hear about it for just this sport. On the other hand, perfectly healthy athletes drop dead all the time, way too many factors to pin it on 1 thing like weight/drugs/alcohol.

[theWB 2]

A young guy I played with a couple times passed away on the ice a little over a year ago. During a beer league game, went down to block a shot, got hit right in the chest. It wasn't a very hard shot but it hit him at just the right time that his heart stopped. He was only 24 and in great shape. The worst part has to be being the guy who took the shot. I know him better than the kid who died and he was just torn up about the whole thing. He went to the funeral, didn't play hockey for almost a year. Horrible thing to happen to two great people.

[HattrickSwayze 3]

A young guy I played with a couple times passed away on the ice a little over a year ago. During a beer league game, went down to block a shot, got hit right in the chest. It wasn't a very hard shot but it hit him at just the right time that his heart stopped. He was only 24 and in great shape. The worst part has to be being the guy who took the shot. I know him better than the kid who died and he was just torn up about the whole thing. He went to the funeral, didn't play hockey for almost a year. Horrible thing to happen to two great people.

I'm just curious, was he wearing shoulder pads?? I used to like to play with no pads at all, but I was afraid of getting hit in the chest. That's why I atleast wear a set of SP50's when I play, because they have some sternum protection.

[DoublinUp 0]

it can happen to anyone! that kid (rangers prospect) that died a few months ago was like 19 and wasnt that from a heart attack!

[LkptTiger 1]

Not exactly...

[DoublinUp 0]

Not exactly...

oh...my bad!

[theWB 2]

A young guy I played with a couple times passed away on the ice a little over a year ago. During a beer league game, went down to block a shot, got hit right in the chest. It wasn't a very hard shot but it hit him at just the right time that his heart stopped. He was only 24 and in great shape. The worst part has to be being the guy who took the shot. I know him better than the kid who died and he was just torn up about the whole thing. He went to the funeral, didn't play hockey for almost a year. Horrible thing to happen to two great people.

I'm just curious, was he wearing shoulder pads?? I used to like to play with no pads at all, but I was afraid of getting hit in the chest. That's why I atleast wear a set of SP50's when I play, because they have some sternum protection.

Yes he was wearing shoulder pads. Not something high end like a jofa but something a little more than your average beer league shoulder.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Just out of curiosity, what league/area are you in that this keeps happening?

Seattle/Tacoma area.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Me and my prof were talking about this the other day in my fitness assessment class. In most cases it's a simple answer. You get these weekend warriors who hardly do any physical activity outside of the once or twice a week hockey, and then plug them into high intensity work. In most cases these individuals never do a proper warm-up prior to playing. Throw in smoking and/or drinking before/during/after the game, and it's a recipe for a heart attack.

This is largely my thinking as well. From what I know of the people involved all three had office jobs and were not especially active outside of the weekly league games. I'd like to see the rinks start to carry the defibs that can be used by anyone, but not much we can do about that. I was thinking of printing some material on the danger presented by sitting around all week and then just hoping into a hockey game. Requring physicals as come to mind, but we have enough trouble getting teams to pay their dues on time and provide USAH registration numbers, so I'm not sure that's really a practical solution. In general I'm just concerned that the league could be looking at lawsuits the next time this happens, we certainly can't claim it's unforseeable at this point.

[HattrickSwayze 3]

Just out of curiosity, what league/area are you in that this keeps happening?

Seattle/Tacoma area.

Do you play GSHL then??

[djosbun 0]

I've never heard of an adult player passing away in any of the leagues here in Cincinnati.

[Law Goalie 147]

A young guy I played with a couple times passed away on the ice a little over a year ago. During a beer league game, went down to block a shot, got hit right in the chest. It wasn't a very hard shot but it hit him at just the right time that his heart stopped. He was only 24 and in great shape. The worst part has to be being the guy who took the shot. I know him better than the kid who died and he was just torn up about the whole thing. He went to the funeral, didn't play hockey for almost a year. Horrible thing to happen to two great people.

I'm just curious, was he wearing shoulder pads?? I used to like to play with no pads at all, but I was afraid of getting hit in the chest. That's why I atleast wear a set of SP50's when I play, because they have some sternum protection.

Yes he was wearing shoulder pads. Not something high end like a jofa but something a little more than your average beer league shoulder.

It almost doesn't matter what you're wearing. It's killed a few goalies, and will kill more through even a really solid C/A. Adding extra floating protection to the sternum (eg. a breastplate) only reduces the likelihood that the puck will hit in that tiny little myocardial window by dampening the impact and spreading its force out over a wider area and timeframe.

If you get hit in the chest, there's always a chance. It's one of the reasons I religiously catch pucks in front of my body.

[jrhky36 1]

had an older guy die of a heart attack on the bench. it was right after jiri fischer had his heart attack. even though we had some firefighters playing with us there was nothing that could be done to save him. ad a result the rink has an aed at each scorers station and one in the office and another at the snack bar.

anytime you see someone die in front of you it makes you take a step back and realize how percious life realy is.

on a side note, after jiri fischer went down the nhl mandated that each bench have an aed on it in case this happens again.

[Fletch 219]

It happened to an adult league player at a rink in Lakewood, CA - about 20 miles from here. The rink had no AED on site, now they have one and make sure everyone knows they have one. I personally think ALL rinks that are "complexes" (i.e., not outdoor rec rinks) should have AED's on site.