Tragic death of Connecticut high school hockey player calls new attention to the importance of neck guards

The E.O. Smith-Tolland hockey team gathered to talk about the tragic event in their sport last week, the event that hit so close to home.

The room fell silent. Then came the most important message the young players could receive following the death of Connecticut high school hockey player Teddy Balkind on Jan. 6.

“When we have talked about it, it’s an opportunity to remind kids,” E.O. Smith-Tolland coach John Hodgson said. “Here is something you think is extra that you don’t need, it’s very rare that something like this happens, but when it does happen, it could be fatal. We had a moment of silence, and then, ‘so lets make sure we have all our gear on.’”

Balkind, 16, was playing in a junior varsity game for St. Luke’s, a New Canaan-based prep school, last Thursday at Brunswick School in Greenwich when he fell to the ice. Another player who was near him was unable to stop and collided with him. Game play was stopped and 911 was called. The 10th-grader was transported to Greenwich Hospital where he died as a result from the injury.

The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Balkind died of an incised wound of the neck and ruled the death an accident, according to multiple media reports.

Balkind’s death has brought forth waves of sympathy and support from the global hockey community but has also brought calls for change. In the case of the E.O. Smith-Tolland team and other CIAC schools, rules aimed at preventing such a tragedy have been in place since 2001.

“Commercially manufactured throat guards designed specifically for ice hockey are required for all players, including goaltenders during regular season and tournament play,” the CIAC rules state.

St. Luke’s and Brunswick play in the Fairchester Athletic Association, which, like most prep school conferences, follows the policy of USA Hockey and the NCAA, which recommend rather than require the wearing of neck guards.

“The NCAA does not require neck gear on the ice,” said John Hissick, who coaches at Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford, a Fairchester and New England Prep School Athletic Conference member. “And, so up until this point in time, I can’t honestly say it’s ever been an issue or even been discussed.”

This much has changed. Hissick, whose child wears neck gear as required by youth hockey in Connecticut, said conversations are already taking place within the prep school conference.

“I honestly can’t see how it can’t change,” he said. “... As a coach I don’t have the authority to make those calls, even though I have to go by the rules that are given to me.”

Over the weekend, Sam Brande, a high school player in Massachusetts and a close friend of Balkind’s, began a Change.org petition asking USA Hockey to make neck guard mandatory.

“I lost one of my best friends due to lack of player safety rules in USA Hockey,” Brande wrote on the site. “Please consider signing this so we can raise awareness and nobody needs to lose a loved one or a life in a avoidable accident.”

As of Tuesday morning, the petition had more than 50,000 supporters. Stores selling hockey equipment in the area have seen an increase in customers looking to buy protective equipment.

“There is definitely an influx of families coming in concerned about safety,” said Dan Larochelle of Pure Hockey in West Hartford.

Neck guard are generally made of a high impact plastic, such as lexan or Kevlar, or a ballistic nylon designed to resist cuts. They are lightweight and cover most of the neck, attaching with Velcro in the back. It is not known for certain whether Balkind was wearing a throat guard.

“They make us wear helmets, they make us wear gloves, they make us wear cups, they make us where shin pads,” Brande told News12 Connecticut’s Marissa Altar. “I don’t know why they don’t make us wear neck guards.”

In CIAC games, players not wearing proper neck protection are subject to penalty, usually after one warning. Referees will likely be reminded to watch more closely.

“I haven’t found it to be a big issue with kids,” Hodgson said. “It’s a minor inconvenience for a high school kid sometimes, but if you make it a part of the deal they just do it. You have something wrapped around your neck, most of us don’t go through the day like that, so you do feel it. But you have your body full of gear, so I don’t think it has a major impact.”

The danger of playing hockey without throat protection has been well known for more than 30 years. On March 22, 1989, Buffalo Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk nearly died when his throat was sliced by a skate, severing his carotid artery and partially cutting his jugular. The massive amount of blood on the ice caused several spectators to faint. Sabres athletic trainer Jim Pizzutelli, who had been an U.S. Army combat medic in Vietnam, pinched and held Malarchuk’s neck until doctors arrived, saving his life.

Bengt Akerblom, playing in the Swedish Elite League, died when his neck was slashed by a skate in 1995. In 2008, the Florida Panthers’ Richard Zednik suffered a similar, potentially life-threating injury, requiring emergency surgery to repair his carotid artery. Many NHL goalies now wear neck guards, but they are not mandatory equipment.

In 2017, a neck guard appeared to save the life of Canadian teenager Cassidy Gordon, who was injured but not severely cut she was hit in the neck by a skate.

“No matter how stupid or not cool you think it looks, it’s definitely an important thing to wear because it’s the difference between having an injury that can end your career, even your life, and just being safe,” Gordon told the CBC.

Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com