Boy dies after being struck in neck by puck at hockey practice in Quebec

[dalewood12]

Very sad news from Quebec.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/11-year-old-intensive-care-hockey-practice-1.7060294

Click to read more...

 

[Golden_Jet]

That is very sad to hear.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Absolutely terrible

 

[Yukon Joe]

Yeah that's a gut-punch. One of my sons is 11, and I assistant coach his hockey team.

I mean I'm sure there will be an inquiry, and maybe they will find either recommendations of something that could be done better, or that something wasn't followed.

But my general understanding is that this is one of those kind of freak accidents that can just happen. The human body is just weird sometimes - it can take ridiculous violence and be fine, or what can seem like a minor injury can be fatal.

Here's a story from 2011 of almost the exact same thing happening:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/teen-hockey-player-dies-after-puck-hits-throat-1.1066488

My oldest kid plays for the same club. 12 years later the kids all wear a sticker on their helmets in remembrance of Kyle, and his number 11 is not handed out.

The one thing noted is that a neck guard is designed to stop cuts, and would have no effect on this kind of impact.

 

[Another Empty Netter]

Awful. Hard to imagine 11 year olds able to shoot that hard

 

[WarriorofTime]

The one thing noted is that a neck guard is designed to stop cuts, and would have no effect on this kind of impact.

No effect is probably not accurate, but we also don't know if the deceased was wearing a neck guard when this occurred.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

That is nightmarish for any family to endure such a sickening tragedy.

 

[Yukon Joe]

No effect is probably not accurate, but we also don't know if the deceased was wearing a neck guard when this occurred.

No effect is probably not entirely true, but a neck guard is designed to prevent cutting, not blunt force.

 

[ClasslessGuy]

Awful. Hard to imagine 11 year olds able to shoot that hard

Very sad story, about an hour from where I live.

I told myself the same thing but in our system, if the bot is already 11 that means he would be in the peewee division (u13) so kids could be a bit older than 11.

My son is a December boy, he’s still 8 ywars old and plays in u11 with kids turning 11 early in the new year

 

[deleted user]

Messed up hearing about such a young loss of life. That's horrible. Thoughts to his family.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Terrible. I know the details will probably never come out but they might be helpful. Either to improve equipment or to give context of the risk

 

[JMCx4]

Terrible. I know the details will probably never come out but they might be helpful. Either to improve equipment or to give context of the risk

The context is already there: Hard rubber disks struck by flexible composite sticks yield high impact forces that can kill humans. Textbooks boil it down to "F=ma".

 

[Frank Drebin]

The context is already there: Hard rubber disks struck by flexible composite sticks yield high impact forces that can kill humans. Textbooks boil it down to "F=ma".

honestly man why did you bother with this post?

 

[JMCx4]

honestly man why did you bother with this post?

Death is tragic, but hockey is risky. Don't forget either one.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Death is tragic, but hockey is risky. Don't forget either one.

I realize that. I didn't think that 11 year olds could shoot the puck hard enough to cause death though.

 

[JMCx4]

I realize that. I didn't think that 11 year olds could shoot the puck hard enough to cause death though.

I'm sure the victim's grieving parents didn't think so, either.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I'm sure the victim's grieving parents didn't think so, either.

Good chat bud.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Very tragic and very alarming.

I wonder if there is any way to mitigate this risk? Is it possible to protect the neck better through redesign of the cage/fishbowl? Or by incorporating at least some resistance into the neck guard (without making it uncomfortable)? Hopefully this death will leave a positive legacy of increased protection for players.

 

[Richard]

The problem is the pucks can be directed literally up or sideways. Hard to account for every angle and still be able to play the game.

 

[Yukon Joe]

I realize that. I didn't think that 11 year olds could shoot the puck hard enough to cause death though.

So as I said I coach that age, and it can be surprising on the one hand how hard some of those kids can in fact shoot.

But it also reflects just the craziness of human biology. The original article doesn't say where the kid was hit other than "the neck" but it seems most likely it hit the carotid artery. Carotid artery injury is an unlikely but possible outcome of blunt force trauma to the neck and can indeed cause death.

Management of Carotid Artery Trauma

With increased awareness and liberal screening of trauma patients with identified risk factors, recent case series demonstrate improved early diagnosis of carotid artery trauma before they become problematio. There remains a need for unified screening ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Frank Drebin]

So as I said I coach that age, and it can be surprising on the one hand how hard some of those kids can in fact shoot.

But it also reflects just the craziness of human biology. The original article doesn't say where the kid was hit other than "the neck" but it seems most likely it hit the carotid artery. Carotid artery injury is an unlikely but possible outcome of blunt force trauma to the neck and can indeed cause death.

Management of Carotid Artery Trauma

With increased awareness and liberal screening of trauma patients with identified risk factors, recent case series demonstrate improved early diagnosis of carotid artery trauma before they become problematio. There remains a need for unified screening ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Hm. I never considered artery damage. When I think blunt force to the neck my initial thoughts are always the airway.

If you were to put a number on it Yukon, you think the elite 11-12 year olds are slapping the puck at 70-75 mph?

 

[Yukon Joe]

Hm. I never considered artery damage. When I think blunt force to the neck my initial thoughts are always the airway.

If you were to put a number on it Yukon, you think the elite 11-12 year olds are slapping the puck at 70-75 mph?

So the kids I'm coaching are not what I'd call elite! Probably slightly better then average for their age at best.

Can an elite 11-12 year old hit 75 mph? Probably. For our kids we really don't work on or practice slap shots anyways, but their writers are probably more like 40 mph. But that's still a fair bit of force. When coaching I have to remind myself NOT to stand near the net when they're doing any drill that involves shooting.

 

[JMCx4]

 

[Squiffy]

Some kid that is naturally big that has hit puberty a bit early for a boy, that is playing a high-ish level.. I can for sure see a 70mph shot. There's a couple of kids in my sons loop also u12, that I sure as heck wouldn't want to stand in front of shooting, even full equipment. And that's just A level.

Really sad to hear, obviously my son is the same age and that is gut-wrenching.

 

[WarriorofTime]

This almost certainly has to do with getting hit in the exact wrong spot more so than any particular speed at which the puck was traveling.

While unlikely, it's certainly not unheard of and no less tragic. A big reason why players shooting directly a puck at an opponent in frustration should always be punished sternly. It's a risky enough sport even with accidental contact (like here) and shot-blocking (like the one from a decade or so ago) that any intended contact has no business in the game.