Catastrophic tragedy as a goaltender loses his life on the ice

Published November 28, 2023 at 6:38 PM
BY DAVID ST-JEAN

It's truly tragic what happened this weekend. In the SHL, a hockey league in Russia, 62-year-old goaltender Nikolai Kuznetsov lost his life during warm-ups.

It seems he collapsed, and rescuers arrived too late to revive him. We still don't know the health reasons that led to this.

Here's what Sergei Stolyarov, the league director, had to say:

"What is the cause of death? We don't have all the information yet. Personally, I wasn't present at the game. It happened late. Goaltender Nikolai Kuznetsov was 62 years old. We are in contact with the player's family. We will support them during this difficult time.


"We talked with the teams before the season. They refused to use ambulances because it would make the championship more expensive. We will convene the division council. We are fully supportive of having ambulances at games." - Sergei Stolyarov

The death might have possibly been prevented if there had been paramedics on site. The league and players will look into the matter and make a decision to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

It remains that a man pursuing his passion died on the ice, something that should not happen. Our thoughts are with Nikolai Kuznetsov's family.

*Out of respect for the goaltender's family, we are not sharing any photos of the incident, even though they are circulating online.

Source: Let's go Habs
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