{"id":4010,"date":"2022-01-12T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CAIiEAwi_MlObKZ6f43cWnzZEW0qFwgEKg8IACoHCAowjuuKAzCWrzwwt4QY"},"modified":"2022-01-12T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T08:00:00","slug":"death-of-high-school-hockey-player-renews-debate-on-neck-guards-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=4010","title":{"rendered":"Death of High School Hockey Player Renews Debate on Neck Guards &#8211; The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/01\/12\/sports\/12hky-neckguards\/12hky-neckguards-facebookJumbo.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Expressions of grief after the death of Teddy Balkind, a high school hockey player in Connecticut, have spanned the ice hockey world, from pregame moments of silence in New England to tributes on \u201cHockey Night in Canada\u201d broadcasts to hockey sticks set tenderly on porches from Manitoba to Minnesota to Maine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Balkind, 16 and a sophomore at St. Luke\u2019s School, in New Canaan, died after a player\u2019s skate blade cut his neck in an on-ice collision during a game last Thursday in Greenwich, Conn. Such fatal accidents are rare, but when they happen they horrify and evoke a powerful \u201cbut for the grace of God\u201d feeling, chiefly among hockey parents. Few know the feeling the way Dr. Michael Stuart, the chief medical and safety officer for U.S.A. Hockey, does.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Stuart helped write the organization\u2019s policy on neck protection. He also watched his son sustain a similar injury as a defenseman at Colorado College 24 years ago. Mike Stuart survived after 22 stitches closed what his father described as an \u201calmost ear-to-ear\u201d gash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cIt could have been the same result for our own son,\u201d the doctor said of Balkind\u2019s injury. \u201cI wish this young man had the injury our son had. This brings back very vivid memories, and this is very near and dear to my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The death of Balkind, a 10th grader, has refocused scrutiny on the use of neck protection in amateur hockey in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">U.S.A. Hockey, the national governing body for the sport, recommends players wear neck guards that cover as much of the neck as possible, but it does not mandate they do so, making the United States somewhat of an outlier on the international hockey scene, despite having done considerable research on the topic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The governing bodies of hockey in Canada and Sweden mandate neck guards for amateurs, as do many European leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In the United States, whether players must wear neck protection is left up to individual hockey associations and oversight boards. The result is a patchwork of policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Balkind\u2019s school, St. Luke\u2019s, and the team\u2019s opponent in the game, Brunswick School, of Greenwich, play under the rules of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council, which does not require players to wear neck guards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">By contrast, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/content.ciacsports.com\/tp\/ihoc.pdf\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">which sets rules<\/a> for high school hockey in the state, but not for prep schools, mandates that all players wear \u201ccommercially manufactured throat guards designed specifically for ice hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cEvery single hockey player in the United States should be wearing one because U.S.A. Hockey recommends it,\u201d Stuart said, adding that instituting a mandate is a regular agenda item at the organization\u2019s annual conference \u2014 and will certainly be again \u2014 when the conference begins on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is very well that a mandate could come forward,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cWhether or not that can prevent this from ever happening, whether it will have any effect, I guess will remain to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Neck guards may be the most disliked piece of hockey equipment among players. They are typically made of Kevlar or nylon, foam and Velcro, and players, particularly children, complain that they are hot and cumbersome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">It is not clear whether Balkind was wearing neck protection when he was injured. Michael West, the athletic director at St. Luke\u2019s, and a school spokeswoman, Nancy Troeger, declined to comment, saying they were focused on giving their community the privacy to mourn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Nor is it clear whether a neck guard would have prevented his injury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Still, more than 63,000 people have signed <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/hockey-neck-guards-mandatory-to-play-hockey?fbclid=IwAR0fSvLzHmRSWGGmTNcu1CYrgHtZMWSOTZE0peGgA8xDPK_-whq6P9ulveE\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">an online petition<\/a> started by a friend of Balkind\u2019s to make neck guards a mandatory piece of equipment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cIt feels like there\u2019s no reason not to have neck guards required in the United States, and it feels like we had to lose a young hockey player to bring awareness to the topic,\u201d said the petitioner, Sam Brande of Wayland, Mass., who attended summer camp with Balkind for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Brande, 16 and a serious hockey player, said he began wearing a neck guard last week after Balkind died. \u201cAn injury like that seemed impossible to me,\u201d Brande said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Skate lacerations are among the most gruesome injuries in sports. But they are relatively rare, and skate lacerations to the neck are rarer still.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">A <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usahockeymagazine.com\/article\/2008-09\/guarded-response\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">U.S.A. Hockey survey<\/a> in 2008 found that just 1.8 percent of players reported ever being the victim of, or the witness to, a cut to the neck from a skate during play. Thirty-three players who reported being cut on the neck sustained wounds that were not life-threatening. About one in four who were cut, 27 percent, were wearing neck protection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Overall, 45 percent of the 26,342 respondents reported regularly wearing a neck guard, according to the survey, which U.S.A. Hockey has described as the most extensive one conducted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">However, the organization subsequently concluded that the survey did not provide enough information to support mandating neck guards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cTo date there is sparse data to describe the prevalence of such an occurrence, the severity, or whether or not a neck laceration protector (neck guard) reduces risk or severity,\u201d reads U.S.A. Hockey\u2019s \u201cneck laceration protector\u201d policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">It also says: \u201cU.S.A. Hockey recommends that all players wear a neck laceration protector, choosing a design that covers as much of the neck area as possible. Further research and improved standards testing will better determine the effectiveness of neck laceration protectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Since then, U.S.A. Hockey has documented 13 incidents of neck lacerations caused by skates in the course of play, or about one a year, according to data provided by the organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The organization\u2019s philanthropic arm, the U.S.A. Hockey Foundation, has also funded a handful of studies that have been published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine on various aspects of neck guards, including their <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.lww.com\/cjsportsmed\/Abstract\/2015\/05000\/The_Most_Cut_Resistant_Neck_Guard_for_Preventing.6.aspx\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">effectiveness at preventing cuts<\/a> and their <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.lww.com\/cjsportsmed\/Abstract\/2017\/03000\/Influence_of_Neck_Laceration_Protectors_on.4.aspx\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">impact on a player\u2019s range of motion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Almost all the neck guards tested prevented cuts in low-force simulations, but all of them failed in high-force simulations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cIf U.S.A. Hockey is an outlier, it\u2019s in that we\u2019ve done more research and spent more time and effort on trying to make neck lacerations less of an issue than anybody else in the world,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cThere\u2019s not much other research going on about this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Before Balkind\u2019s injury, the two most prominent cases involved N.H.L. players, both of whom survived.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Buffalo Sabres goalie <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/radio\/thecurrent\/the-current-for-january-17-2019-1.4979517\/clint-malarchuk-suffered-a-horrific-sporting-injury-but-ptsd-put-his-life-in-peril-again-decades-later-1.4980926\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Clint Malarchuk<\/a> was slashed in 1989 when an opposing player, Steve Tuttle of the St. Louis Blues, crashed into the goal crease and his skate blade sliced Malarchuk\u2019s carotid artery and nicked his jugular vein.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In 2008, Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik sustained a <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2008\/02\/12\/sports\/hockey\/12zednik.html\" title>similar injury<\/a> when his teammate Olli Jokinen lost his balance during a battle for a loose puck along the boards and his skate caught Zednik\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In 1975, another New England school player, the 18-year-old defenseman <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/clip\/25894658\/the-boston-globe\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">James Dragone Jr.<\/a>, bled to death when the skate of an opposing player cut his neck during a game in Boston. Nearly 3,000 people <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/clip\/25894406\/the-boston-globe\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">attended<\/a> his funeral.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In 2017, in a girls\u2019 game in Guelph, Ontario, 16-year-old Cassidy Gordon <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/prince-edward-island\/pei-neck-guard-hockey-1.3924633\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">escaped serious injury<\/a> after another player\u2019s skate hit her in the neck. She was wearing a neck guard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cIt may have value in protecting from a neck laceration or the severity of a neck laceration,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cAlthough that is unproven, it certainly has enough logistical sense that U.S.A. Hockey recommends it for all players, and if mandating it would even save one potentially catastrophic injury or death, then I think U.S.A. Hockey would be the first to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expressions of grief after the death of Teddy Balkind, a high school hockey player in Connecticut, have spanned the ice hockey world, from pregame moments of silence in New England to tributes on \u201cHockey Night in Canada\u201d broadcasts to hockey sticks set tenderly on porches from Manitoba to Minnesota to Maine. Balkind, 16 and a sophomore at St. Luke\u2019s School, in New Canaan, died after a player\u2019s skate blade cut his neck in an on-ice collision during a game last Thursday in Greenwich, Conn. Such fatal accidents are rare, but when they happen they horrify and evoke a powerful \u201cbut&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut-cbd-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}