Why are these cardiac episodes more common in hockey?

[dtones520]

After the Jay Bouwmeester incident last night it got me thinking about how we seem to see these type of incidents way more frequently in hockey than other sports. Why do you think that is?

Is it the high intensity of the shifts in the sport? Are heart issues not being monitored as much for guys coming into the league?

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[WATTAGE4451]

After the Jay Bouwmeester incident last night it got me thinking about how we seem to see these type of incidents way more frequently in hockey than other sports. Why do you think that is?

Is it the high intensity of the shifts in the sport? Are heart issues not being monitored as much for guys coming into the league?

I have a few ideas.
1.Intensity of shifts.
2.Cold environment adding more stress
3. Compared to the nfl there is also just more opportunity for it to happen since season is much longer. 82 games instead of 16. While mlb has an even longer season, baseballs not nearly as strenuous though theres been a couple incidents there as well.

 

[deeb]

I doubt it's any more frequent then in the past.

Problem is the amount of cameras and media coverage now drawing more attention to the issue while in the past it was probably kept private.

Also, the last incident happened in 2014 I believe which isn't that recent...

 

[supsens]

After the Jay Bouwmeester incident last night it got me thinking about how we seem to see these type of incidents way more frequently in hockey than other sports. Why do you think that is?

Is it the high intensity of the shifts in the sport? Are heart issues not being monitored as much for guys coming into the league?

Soccer players die running around, I don’t think it happens in hockey all that often, heart problems happen.

 

[DearDiary]

Are they? It seems to happen way more in soccer

 

[mouser]

After the Jay Bouwmeester incident last night it got me thinking about how we seem to see these type of incidents way more frequently in hockey than other sports. Why do you think that is?

Is it the high intensity of the shifts in the sport? Are heart issues not being monitored as much for guys coming into the league?

Are you sure they’re more common in hockey?

We’ve seen quite a lot in many other sports including soccer and basketball.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Hockey is anaerobically a very challenging sport. That kind of exertion on and off can be quite taxing on the heart.

I dunno if it's really more common in hockey though. Heart health is often something people don't monitor until they have to.

 

[General Disarray]

It happens in soccer quite a bit too. Which probably answers your question. Hockey (and soccer) require a lot of high intensity running. Baseball players just stand there. Basketball player run a lot but don't have to really sprint. And football is once a week.

 

[Kcoyote3]

I don't think there's much evidence it occurs more commonly in hockey to be honest

 

[Trap Jesus]

I would think because hockey is more about endurance than a lot of other sports. Just a guess though

 

[MinimaMoralia]

Maybe you just don’t pay as much attention to other sports?

 

[Knave]

Run a google search on "sideline", "collapse" and "football".

 

[Advanced stats]

How many do you remember OP?

Fischer and bouwmeester are the only recent ones that I remember..

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Fischer - 2005
Cherepanov - 2008
Peverly - 2014
Cunningham (AHL) - 2016
Bouwmeester - 2020

So that’s 5 pro hockey players and 3 NHL players who have collapsed due to cardiac related events during a game in 15 years.

Are there other examples in other sports? I follow the other major 4 sports prettty closely. I can’t recall one NFL, MLB or NBA player collapsing during a game due to cardiac event.

People are mentioning soccer but I don’t follow soccer at all, are there recent examples like there are in hockey?

The sample size of hockey players is still incredibly small on its own.

 

[Sam Spade]

Alan Thicke.

 

[nshlphoenix]

Hockey players actually exert themselves over the course of the game, more so than other sports.

 

[Claypool]

Still can't believe Cherepanov died due to the KHL's incompetence.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

Hockey players actually exert themselves over the course of the game, more so than other sports.

Then soccer? Idk.....

 

[Imnotagoodposter]

Stopping and starting over and over is insanely hard on the heart.
I think

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

This just makes Duncan Keith's 2015 playoffs that much more incredible.

23 games where he averaged over half the game on the ice. Quite possibly the greatest playoff performance of the cap era

 

[nshlphoenix]

Then soccer? Idk.....

Watch a game and count how many players are moving at any given time?

 

[Oan]

People are mentioning soccer but I don’t follow soccer at all, are there recent examples like there are in hockey?

The sample size of hockey players is still incredibly small on its own.

Sudden cardiac death of athletes - Wikipedia

That's almost 30 deaths in soccer alone in past 20 years.

 

[JerseyMike34]

Are they? It seems to happen way more in soccer

I don't know why this seems to be something that hockey deals with more then other sports.
I was mulling about this topic last night...

While it seems that deaths, yes, do happen all over the soccer world.

List of association footballers who died while playing - Wikipedia

You have to keep in mind this is the most popular sport in the world, with games happening all over all the time with millions? of players.....I would also imagine that there are many a collapse as well..... but.... this doesn't seem to translate to the MLS. Where a quick google search seems to not show me anything.

 

[XX]

Blood doping

 

[JerseyMike34]

Sudden cardiac death of athletes - Wikipedia

That's almost 30 deaths in soccer alone in past 20 years.

That list has Eddie Guerrero.
I don't know why, but I suddenly feel I can't use it as a source.