Player Dies On The Ice

[hip check 0]

A truck driver who comes into our shipping dept. was talking with me yesterday and told me the story:

He (the truck driver) has organized pick-up hockey with the same basic bunch of guys for 15 years. Last Sunday, one of the players was feeling tired during the game and had a guy take his shift a couple of times. Near the end of the ice-time, this player falls on the ice on the way back to the bench after a stoppage, and doesn't get up. After a couple of moments the other players get concerned and crowd around to check him out. He's turning purple and not breathing, someone starts CPR, someone else rushes off to call 911, get arena staff, etc.

EMS shows up and send the players off the ice, to start working on the guy right on the ice. They cut his jersey and shoulder pads so they can de-fib, reviving him 3 times, but he still flat-lines. The load him up - backed the ambulance right onto the ice - and rush him to the hospital. He dies (officially) on the way.

Hockey is apparently one of the highest risk sports for heart attacks. This player was 49, a smoker, slightly over-weight, with who-knows-what other ailments.

A shame to lose a friend that way. The guys were going to have a family skate the next Sunday morning instead of playing. They were all pretty shaken by it, as you could imagine.

Stories like this aren't unheard-of, but a bit of a shock when they strike closer to home. Most of us aren't anywhere near that age, but a 17 yr. old died in August or September during try-outs - massive heart attack again.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Was he from Hamilton? Same thing happened here (Hamilton) Sunday and our practice was delayed a few hours.

[Dan_The_Man_16 0]

Alot of the young guys you see dying of heart attacks out there is because they have taken drugs to get their heart pumping. My Uncle is the team cardiologist for the Hamilton Bulldogs and he said that Parazhogan (sp?) used to take drugs and his heart would pump rediculously fast, making it easier for heart failure to occur.

[bulletproof_funk 0]

Sorry to hear. This also happened in my city a couple of years ago to someone in his mid 40's playing pickup hockey. I'm probably stating the obvious when I say regular exercise of moderate intensity (cardio) would really help prevent hockey related heart attacks, not counting other heart conditions of course.

On the substance related note, a guy who came out to pickup one evening had taken some kind of booster pills beforehand. He was early to mid 20's. I'm guessing he hadn't exercised often let alone played hockey regularly. Anyways, after the game, he ended up going into some kind of seizure and passed out for half an hour in the change room. He was severely dehydrated as he didn't drink much water during the game. The pills, poor conditioning, and lack of water was a nasty combination. He came to eventually, but still scary when he blacked out.

[Fletch 219]

A truck driver who comes into our shipping dept. was talking with me yesterday and told me the story:

He (the truck driver) has organized pick-up hockey with the same basic bunch of guys for 15 years. Last Sunday, one of the players was feeling tired during the game and had a guy take his shift a couple of times. Near the end of the ice-time, this player falls on the ice on the way back to the bench after a stoppage, and doesn't get up. After a couple of moments the other players get concerned and crowd around to check him out. He's turning purple and not breathing, someone starts CPR, someone else rushes off to call 911, get arena staff, etc.

EMS shows up and send the players off the ice, to start working on the guy right on the ice. They cut his jersey and shoulder pads so they can de-fib, reviving him 3 times, but he still flat-lines. The load him up - backed the ambulance right onto the ice - and rush him to the hospital. He dies (officially) on the way.

Hockey is apparently one of the highest risk sports for heart attacks. This player was 49, a smoker, slightly over-weight, with who-knows-what other ailments.

A shame to lose a friend that way. The guys were going to have a family skate the next Sunday morning instead of playing. They were all pretty shaken by it, as you could imagine.

Stories like this aren't unheard-of, but a bit of a shock when they strike closer to home. Most of us aren't anywhere near that age, but a 17 yr. old died in August or September during try-outs - massive heart attack again.

For the guys that are in good shape and die of heart attacks, it's usually some form of congenital heart defect like arrythmia (i.e. Sergei Zholtok, Hank Gathers).

I'm not sure if the autopsy results for Michael Fogolin have been released yet, but I'm willing to bet he died from the same thing.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Was he from Hamilton? Same thing happened here (Hamilton) Sunday and our practice was delayed a few hours.

Yeah, has to be from the double rinks, other wise that would be wierd as hell. Two in the same week? I talked to the one guy who was on the ice with him and he didn't know anything, just that he collapsed and he was the one who was getting the arena people to call the ambulance.

[LetsGoWings13 0]

does red bull speed up your heart rate?? if it does im never drinking it before a game again. It sucks to hear somthing like that tho

[asdfa 0]

redbull dehydrates you a little (from what i heard, it sucks the water out of your muscles), so drink it well in advance of a game/practice (i have it about 30 min-40 min and make sure i get in about a bottle of water after i drink it)

[cgin6 0]

redbull is full of caffeine which does speed up ur heart rate. just like coffee.

[Harrage12 0]

redbull dehydrates you a little (from what i heard, it sucks the water out of your muscles), so drink it well in advance of a game/practice (i have it about 30 min-40 min and make sure i get in about a bottle of water after i drink it)

if u drank it well in advance would it have used all the energy before u even got to play?

[hip check 0]

Yes, it was the guy in Hamilton. Apparently a wife of one of the guys due to go on the ice next hour wouldn't let her husband play. She was kinda freaked out by it, which is understandable.

[Accord 0]

Wow, i'm very sorry to hear about this. It's actually pretty scary, I do almost no physical activities at all besides playing hockey a couple times a week.

One of the guys on my beer league team is actually a cariologist.