Russian Goaltender Passes Away After Collapsing During Warm Ups

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Graham Montgomery
November 27, 2023 (11:58 PM)

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As we all know, hockey is a dangerous sport. Another tragedy has struck the hockey community after Russian goaltender Nikolai Kuznetsov passed away during warmups in an armature Russian league.

Russian Goaltender Passes Away During Warmups

62-year old armature goaltender Nikolai Kuznetsov reportedly passed away recently after he collapsed during warmups. Kuznetsov's cause of death is unknown.

What is the cause of death? We don't yet have all the information ourselves. I personally wasn't here at the game. It happened late. Goalkeeper Nikolai Kuznetsov was 62 years old. We are in touch with the hockey player's relatives. We will help them in everything." Director of SHL (Russian amateur league) Sergei Stolyarov

The armature league he played in did not have medical staff or ambulances on hand. This seems to have played a critical role in the player's death. The league noted that the players themselves voted to not have medical staff at games as it would make running the league's championship too expensive.

"We talked with the teams before the season. They refused to take ambulances because it would make the championship more expensive. We will gather the division council. We are definitely in favor of ambulances being present at matches."

Medical professionals eventually arrived on the scene but it was too late to save the 62-year old.