Two Men Die After Playing Beer League Hockey

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

My condolences to the families and friends of these players. Blue skies.

Two Men Die After Playing Recreational Hockey at Sharks Ice in San Jose

Two men die after playing recreational hockey at Sharks Ice in San Jose

By Elise Ackerman

Mercury News

Posted: 02/23/2009 08:20:15 PM PST

Two men collapsed on the ice while playing recreational hockey at Sharks Ice in San Jose and died within hours of each other on Sunday night.

Brian Kobata, 38, of Morgan Hill was playing with his team, Mug Shots, and had just scored a goal against the A Team, when he grimaced and fell down, Kobata's wife, Heidi, said.

Two teammates tried to save Kobata by giving him CPR and using a defibrillator, a San Jose Fire Department spokesman said. Paramedics were called at 9:06 p.m. and he was taken to a hospital.

In another game that started at 11:15 p.m., Kelly Calabro, 41, of Alameda was leading his team, Beer, in a comeback against The Shenanigans, when he fell on his back. Calabro's teammates also tried CPR but failed to revive their friend.

"It's a very unfortunate and tragic situation," said Ken Arnold, senior director of communications for Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, which operates the facility at Tenth Street and East Alma Avenue.

Sharks Ice, which is the official practice rink for the San Jose Sharks, is home to the largest adult hockey league in the nation, with 3,000 registered players. However, the strenuous sport can be hard on older players. Arnold said ambulances are called to the rink about once every 18 months.

The cause of death has not been determined for either man, family members said.

Heidi Kobata was at the rink watching her husband skate off the ice on Sunday night when he suddenly fell.

She is expecting the couple's first child in June and said her husband had not had any health problems.

She said Kobata loved hockey and electronics and his motorcycle. Born in Mountain View, Kobata attended Prospect High School in Saratoga and later graduated from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo with a degree in finance.

"He was a wonderful husband and he would have been a wonderful dad," she said. He was an internal auditor for Anritsu, a Japanese company with a manufacturing plant and U.S. headquarters in Morgan Hill.

Thad Leingang, a member of Beer, said Calabro had been captain of the team for 15 years. "Kelly's theme was once a Beer, always a Beer," Leingang said.

Leingang said the team all had nicknames and Calabro's was "Guinness." "He was 6-foot-4; when he's on the ice people feared him," Leingang said. Off the ice, however, Calabro was a soft-spoken computer nerd whose two passions were hockey and World of Warcraft, a popular computer game.

His mother, Patricia Calabro, said he graduated from Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek and received a bachelor's degree in computer science from California State University-East Bay. She said Calabro, who was living alone in Alameda, had high blood pressure but no other health problems. He worked at Schneider Electric in Alameda.

"One of his dreams was to play hockey," she said.

Memorial service: For information about a memorial service for Kelly Calabro, visit www.teambeerhockey.com.

[interpathway 9]

Wow, that is just horrible. Another reminder that this is only a game we are lucky to play every single time we step on the ice. God Bless.

[automorph 0]

condolences.........be careful out there

get fit to play hockey

dont play hockey to get fit

[sitzlejd 0]

Really sad...

I don't want to imply that these guys were involved in this, but just based on the alcohol-related themes in the story, people really need to realize that alcohol and hockey don't mix. Even at the beer league level, hockey is incredibly taxing on the body and we all need to respect that fact.

[Furyan 1]

I knew one guy who died after 2nd period in one of Moscow beer leagues

He just went to locker room, and died

Something happened with his heart

[RecLeagueHero 0]

I started a thread on this topic awhile ago. In the local beer league it seems about a player a year dies on the ice. Alcohol is probably a factor to some extent, but I think the bigger issue is people with office jobs that come out to their beer league game once a week and push themselves to their physical limits. Then go back to sitting on their asses the other 6 days.

[Trudy14 0]

Wow. Thoughts and prayers to the families.

[eric42434224 1]

I started a thread on this topic awhile ago. In the local beer league it seems about a player a year dies on the ice. Alcohol is probably a factor to some extent, but I think the bigger issue is people with office jobs that come out to their beer league game once a week and push themselves to their physical limits. Then go back to sitting on their asses the other 6 days.

Even if you dont excercise any other time, and are a few lbs overweight, playing Hockey once a week isnt going to kill you. You dont need to be in good or great shape to play hockey. It helps of course, and will prevent other issues such as injury, fatigue, etc. The people who died likely had some underlying cardio-vascular condition that caused their death. Those guys will probably be diagnosed with a serious murmer, valve leakage, long qt syndrome, heart disease, etc.

That being said, I agree that you should do other things to stay healthy besides Hockey, as it can only help....but heart attacks on the ice are not caused by a desk job and hockey only once a week. Absolutely there were other factors involved here.

In other words, if you have a healthy heart, and no other serious diseases, and you play once a week regularly, you arent going to die from a heart attack on the ice.

So many heart conditions go undiagnosed....until you die.

[eddyo57 0]

really sad to hear about it. but honestly 2 in one night. any mercy in the world right now?

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Even if you dont excercise any other time, and are a few lbs overweight, playing Hockey once a week isnt going to kill you. You dont need to be in good or great shape to play hockey. It helps of course, and will prevent other issues such as injury, fatigue, etc. The people who died likely had some underlying cardio-vascular condition that caused their death. Those guys will probably be diagnosed with a serious murmer, valve leakage, long qt syndrome, heart disease, etc.

That being said, I agree that you should do other things to stay healthy besides Hockey, as it can only help....but heart attacks on the ice are not caused by a desk job and hockey only once a week. Absolutely there were other factors involved here.

In other words, if you have a healthy heart, and no other serious diseases, and you play once a week regularly, you arent going to die from a heart attack on the ice.

So many heart conditions go undiagnosed....until you die.

Utter bullshit. As one ages tissue degeneration occurs throughout the body. When combine with the degenerative effects of the sedimentary lifestyle led by your average American one hardly needs rare undiagnosed heart conditions to die on the ice of a heart attack when the body is subjected to period of intense effort that it's simply not conditioned to accept. Given the rate of deaths in adult hockey when considering the small cross section of adult hockey players it's clear to any logically thinking person that uncommon vascular disease is not the issue. The reality is most middle aged people that led your typical office work life sytle do not have healthy hearts and do have heart attacks on the ice. They also have heart attacks in many other situations.

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

Calabro "had high blood pressure but no other health problems". Looking at the pics of the guy, he was obviously in the "overweight/obese" category. I agree with RecLeagueHero. You can't spend all week sitting on your ass, and expect that playing ice hockey once a week won't put a significant amount of stress on your body.

[fastbrother7 0]

Thats terrible.

[eric42434224 1]

Actually, I just deleted my long reply.

Rec, if you want to talk about logic, you really need to read up on Casuality. It will perfectly illustrate my point.

If Age and Sedentary Lifestyle is a necessary cause of Hockey Heart Attack Death, then the presence of Hockey Heart Attack Death necessarily implies the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle. The presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle, however, does not imply that Hockey Heart Attack Death will occur.

If Age and Sedentary Lifestyle is a sufficient cause of Hockey Heart Attack Death , then the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle necessarily implies the presence of Hockey Heart Attack Death . However, another cause, Undiagnosed Cardio Vascular Disease or Conditions may alternatively cause Hockey Heart Attack Death . Thus the presence of Undiagnosed Cardio Vascular Disease or Conditions does not imply the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle.

Your position falls apart as 99% of older adult leaguers with a sedintary lifestyle do not die on the ice.

Not to say that it isnt the cause, or one of the causes, when they do die....just that a mathematically insignificant number with those conditions end up dying.

[chippa13 1844]

Even if you dont excercise any other time, and are a few lbs overweight, playing Hockey once a week isnt going to kill you. You dont need to be in good or great shape to play hockey. It helps of course, and will prevent other issues such as injury, fatigue, etc. The people who died likely had some underlying cardio-vascular condition that caused their death. Those guys will probably be diagnosed with a serious murmer, valve leakage, long qt syndrome, heart disease, etc.

That being said, I agree that you should do other things to stay healthy besides Hockey, as it can only help....but heart attacks on the ice are not caused by a desk job and hockey only once a week. Absolutely there were other factors involved here.

In other words, if you have a healthy heart, and no other serious diseases, and you play once a week regularly, you arent going to die from a heart attack on the ice.

So many heart conditions go undiagnosed....until you die.

Utter bullshit. As one ages tissue degeneration occurs throughout the body. When combine with the degenerative effects of the sedimentary lifestyle led by your average American one hardly needs rare undiagnosed heart conditions to die on the ice of a heart attack when the body is subjected to period of intense effort that it's simply not conditioned to accept. Given the rate of deaths in adult hockey when considering the small cross section of adult hockey players it's clear to any logically thinking person that uncommon vascular disease is not the issue. The reality is most middle aged people that led your typical office work life sytle do not have healthy hearts and do have heart attacks on the ice. They also have heart attacks in many other situations.

Speaking as someone who, had I not heeded my one warning, would have wound up like the guys at Sharks Ice (yes, the ICU nurses name for my blockage is "widowmaker"), you are woefully uninformed.

[Darshu 0]

I'm kinda surprised how far this one got off the rails -- it sounds like none of us are 100% certain about the health issues surrounding this specific event, and barring specific knowledge, why would you rush to judgement? I think really the only thing you can do just express sympathy for these poor guys' families. Two deaths like this on the same day in the same place is really a enormous tragedy.

[eric42434224 1]

I'm kinda surprised how far this one got off the rails -- it sounds like none of us are 100% certain about the health issues surrounding this specific event, and barring specific knowledge, why would you rush to judgement? I think really the only thing you can do just express sympathy for these poor guys' families. Two deaths like this on the same day in the same place is really a enormous tragedy.

Exactly my point.

And yes it is a tragedy.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Actually, I just deleted my long reply.

Rec, if you want to talk about logic, you really need to read up on Casuality. It will perfectly illustrate my point.

If Age and Sedentary Lifestyle is a necessary cause of Hockey Heart Attack Death, then the presence of Hockey Heart Attack Death necessarily implies the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle. The presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle, however, does not imply that Hockey Heart Attack Death will occur.

If Age and Sedentary Lifestyle is a sufficient cause of Hockey Heart Attack Death , then the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle necessarily implies the presence of Hockey Heart Attack Death . However, another cause, Undiagnosed Cardio Vascular Disease or Conditions may alternatively cause Hockey Heart Attack Death . Thus the presence of Undiagnosed Cardio Vascular Disease or Conditions does not imply the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle.

Your position falls apart as 99% of older adult leaguers with a sedintary lifestyle do not die on the ice.

Not to say that it isnt the cause, or one of the causes, when they do die....just that a mathematically insignificant number with those conditions end up dying.

I never said it was the sole cause, I mentioned it was a significant factor. The vast majority of drunk drivers make it home, however, for the ones that do plow into a mini van and take out a family out it's stupid to say their drunkness wasn't a significant factor in doing so. As opposed to attempting to ferret out all of the other factors that lead to the crash. Thus if you pulled the tires off and discovered that the drunk's breaks weren't very good you could say that was part of the problem, and you'd probably be correct. Doesn't change the fact that the more significant factor was his alcohol consumption.

In this case if you take a study of people that drop dead on the ice due to heart attacks you'll find that they fall into the catagory of older and out of shape in the vast majority of cases. A minor heart mumer in a well conditioned person isn't going to cause a massive heart attack, in a person that sits around all the time it certainly could. The body is a machine, and it's designed to work (and well designed at that). Like any well designed machine minor defects do not lead to catastrophic failure in a well maintained machine. However, when that's not the case they can, but that still leaves the lack of maintainence the cause.

You also seem to be avoiding the fact that many of these undiagnosed vascular conditions develop because of the individual's poor condition. Thus we once again arrive at the fact that being in poor overall condition is what lead to the undiagnosed vascular condition that caused the massive heart attack. Equally so, just because they didn't have the heart attack on the ice doesn't mean the stress of hockey on such a person isn't a major factor in off ice deaths. Don't know about you, but I really don't have the interest, time, or resources to commit to funding a major medical case study of the issue.

End of the day, no matter how you want to excuse it, being in lousy shape and going out for a once a week session of hockey is a terrible idea. Even if it doesn't cause you do have a massive heart attack, it's a well known fact that poor conditioning, and the early fatigue it causes, is a major factor in injuries across the spectrum.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

I'm kinda surprised how far this one got off the rails -- it sounds like none of us are 100% certain about the health issues surrounding this specific event, and barring specific knowledge, why would you rush to judgement? I think really the only thing you can do just express sympathy for these poor guys' families. Two deaths like this on the same day in the same place is really a enormous tragedy.

It is a tradgic, and what's more so is that it may well have been preventable.

[eric42434224 1]

Actually, I just deleted my long reply.

Rec, if you want to talk about logic, you really need to read up on Casuality. It will perfectly illustrate my point.

If Age and Sedentary Lifestyle is a necessary cause of Hockey Heart Attack Death, then the presence of Hockey Heart Attack Death necessarily implies the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle. The presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle, however, does not imply that Hockey Heart Attack Death will occur.

If Age and Sedentary Lifestyle is a sufficient cause of Hockey Heart Attack Death , then the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle necessarily implies the presence of Hockey Heart Attack Death . However, another cause, Undiagnosed Cardio Vascular Disease or Conditions may alternatively cause Hockey Heart Attack Death . Thus the presence of Undiagnosed Cardio Vascular Disease or Conditions does not imply the presence of Age and Sedentary Lifestyle.

Your position falls apart as 99% of older adult leaguers with a sedintary lifestyle do not die on the ice.

Not to say that it isnt the cause, or one of the causes, when they do die....just that a mathematically insignificant number with those conditions end up dying.

I never said it was the sole cause, I mentioned it was a significant factor. The vast majority of drunk drivers make it home, however, for the ones that do plow into a mini van and take out a family out it's stupid to say their drunkness wasn't a significant factor in doing so. As opposed to attempting to ferret out all of the other factors that lead to the crash. Thus if you pulled the tires off and discovered that the drunk's breaks weren't very good you could say that was part of the problem, and you'd probably be correct. Doesn't change the fact that the more significant factor was his alcohol consumption.

In this case if you take a study of people that drop dead on the ice due to heart attacks you'll find that they fall into the catagory of older and out of shape in the vast majority of cases. A minor heart mumer in a well conditioned person isn't going to cause a massive heart attack, in a person that sits around all the time it certainly could. The body is a machine, and it's designed to work (and well designed at that). Like any well designed machine minor defects do not lead to catastrophic failure in a well maintained machine. However, when that's not the case they can, but that still leaves the lack of maintainence the cause.

You also seem to be avoiding the fact that many of these undiagnosed vascular conditions develop because of the individual's poor condition. Thus we once again arrive at the fact that being in poor overall condition is what lead to the undiagnosed vascular condition that caused the massive heart attack. Equally so, just because they didn't have the heart attack on the ice doesn't mean the stress of hockey on such a person isn't a major factor in off ice deaths. Don't know about you, but I really don't have the interest, time, or resources to commit to funding a major medical case study of the issue.

End of the day, no matter how you want to excuse it, being in lousy shape and going out for a once a week session of hockey is a terrible idea. Even if it doesn't cause you do have a massive heart attack, it's a well known fact that poor conditioning, and the early fatigue it causes, is a major factor in injuries across the spectrum.

Did you write that all just to paraphrase my causality example with a poor analogy?

Kind of pointless.

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

I'm kinda surprised how far this one got off the rails -- it sounds like none of us are 100% certain about the health issues surrounding this specific event, and barring specific knowledge, why would you rush to judgement? I think really the only thing you can do just express sympathy for these poor guys' families. Two deaths like this on the same day in the same place is really a enormous tragedy.

You're right, it is tragic, but if discussing this topic inspires somebody on here to take a serious look at their own overall health, then maybe something positive can come out of this horrible tragedy.

[Wolfpack_1986 149]

can everyone not be a douchebag?

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

How about it if you go troll in another thread? This ain't the thread for it. Thanks.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Did you write that all just to paraphrase my causality example with a poor analogy?

Kind of pointless.

Not nearly as pointless as twisting logical pretzels to try and get around the fact that being in terrible shape is killing people. Heart disease kills about 41,000 Americans yearly, most of that heat disease develops due to poor diet and exercise habits. Unless you're an idiot, you can't possibly believe that the taxing sport of ice hockey on a cardiovascular system of a middle aged, overweight, and out of shape beer leaguer isn't going to cause a heart attack now and again. But hey, stuff down that big mac and go play hockey, it's a great idea. After all, you probably won't have your heart attack on the ice.

[eric42434224 1]

Did you write that all just to paraphrase my causality example with a poor analogy?

Kind of pointless.

Not nearly as pointless as twisting logical pretzels to try and get around the fact that being in terrible shape is killing people. Heart disease kills about 41,000 Americans yearly, most of that heat disease develops due to poor diet and exercise habits. Unless you're an idiot, you can't possibly believe that the taxing sport of ice hockey on a cardiovascular system of a middle aged, overweight, and out of shape beer leaguer isn't going to cause a heart attack now and again. But hey, stuff down that big mac and go play hockey, it's a great idea. After all, you probably won't have your heart attack on the ice.

Logic is logic, plain and simple. I am not sure you read or understood my causality example, because if you did, you would see that I agree with many of your points. Sedentary lifestyle can and does create heart issues. But not always. The issues caused by the sedentary lifestyle can cause Hockey deaths, but not always. There are also other health problems that can contribute to Hockey deaths that are not related to sedentary lifestyle. And more importantly, you must look at the extremely small amount of these deaths happening. This shows that, even IF it was directly, and ONLY, caused from the sedentary lifestyle, it is not unproportionate to deaths occuring in any other activity, or even no activity at all.

I do not disagree with your assertion that the sedentary lifestyle can, and I repeat, can, cause heart issues....but not always.

You are creating a Straw Man arguement, or Red Herring if you will, by bringing up how many people are dying every year from Heart disease. That is an irrefutable statement, but is not relevant to this specific discussion

I do disagree with the leap you seem to make (if indeed that is what you are doing) that it is the cause of all these rare hockey deaths....and they are rare.

Regardless of the cause, it is still a tragedy.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Speaking as someone who, had I not heeded my one warning, would have wound up like the guys at Sharks Ice (yes, the ICU nurses name for my blockage is "widowmaker"), you are woefully uninformed.

What was your one warning ?

I'm an adult and it's a bit of a running joke on my teams as to how short my shifts are. They're not short compared to NHL-standards - anywhere from 45-sec to, say, 90-sec, but when I come off I am *tired*. Sometimes I'm downright nauseous.

A few months ago I started worrying. I was on the bench and felt like throwing up. My chest was tight and I was bent over trying to catch my breath. I got into the change room after the game and I started feeling faintly dizzy. Later on, getting into the car, one of the fingers on my hands started spasming slightly. In the past I had episodes (working out in the gym, running to catch a train) where I got so dizzy and nauseous I felt like throwing up and could not stand up. I do lead a sedentary life outside of my one night of hockey, but so too do the rest of the players on my team, and no-one seems to come off the ice feeling the way I do.

At the advice of an ER doctor who plays on my team, I asked my doctor to send me for an echo stress test (where they inject you with radioactive tracers to monitor circulatory function while you are running on a treadmill). He refused, saying he didn't think it was necessary, so I asked for a second opinion. The second doctor did send me for a full battery of tests including echo stress test, MRIs of my heart, etc, and they came back negative. I felt better about that until last week, when I was back to feeling like my chest was on fire while watching my fingers spasm.

Any advice here as to what symptoms one might look for, what the "widowmaker" blockage might be and how it was diagnosed, and other syndromes to ask a physician about would be much appreciated. Stories like these do make me worry.