Why are these cardiac episodes more common in hockey?

[Pookie]

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?

Use of Stimulants ( What Are Heart Rhythm Disorders (Arrhythmias)? )

This is from 1998 and demonstrates how common stimulants were and how common they are within the culture. Stimulants increase the risk of your heart going into an arrhythmia. Some of which can be very dangerous.

Jari Kurri, Mark Recchi, Brian Savage, 3/4th of the Red Wings in the late 90's, the late 80's Oilers.... if you've never learned of the hockey culture... and the NHL drug policy that never tested for them... here you go

Hockey's Little Helpers The legal drug of choice in the NHL is Sudafed--not for cold relief, but for the on-ice boost it offers

 

[doublechili]

I wonder if anyone has ever tracked heart rates of athletes while participating in different sports? My extremely uneducated guess (not a doctor, although I did once pass out and get an ambulance ride due to dehydration) is that soccer incidents are tied more to dehydration combined with exertion and heat, whereas hockey incidents are tied more to high heart rates causing/triggering some irregularity.

 

[JerseyMike34]

I wonder if anyone has ever tracked heart rates of athletes while participating in different sports? My extremely uneducated guess (not a doctor, although I did once pass out and get an ambulance ride due to dehydration) is that soccer incidents are tied more to dehydration combined with exertion and heat, whereas hockey incidents are tied more to high heart rates causing/triggering some irregularity.

That would be my uneducated guess as well.

 

[dustybreaks]

Underlying issues period.

 

[LeHab]

Watching hockey is stressing your heart out, Canadian study warns

Those cardiac Habs...

 

[jaywills1020]

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.

Football is once a week? It has nothing to do with how frequent you’re playing. It just takes one game, one play for it to happen.

 

[Krewe]

PEDs

 

[Terry Yake]

it's happened in basketball as well

reggie lewis and hank gathers in the 90s

 

[WingsMJN2965]

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

When you watch a guy literally just get carried off the bench by teammates, you can't help but think he'd probably still be alive if that happened in North America.

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

... I mean, Eddie was still an athlete and still had a heart attack.

 

[jniklast]

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

Yes, but a soccer player is usually on the field for the whole 90 minutes, while hockey players take shifts.

Let's put it this way: there is a reason while there is always at least one - almost always two days - between soccer games worldwide, while in hockey back-to-backs are not uncommon. An that reason is not because all soccer players in the world are weak p***yes...

 

[Kuznetsnow]

Sprinting in the cold is about as good a recipe for a heart attack as you can get

 

[Satire]

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

Nah it's not - at least not for these guys who live the life. Your heart is pretty resilient and the more you practice that activity the better and more efficient you get at it. If I did a spartan workout I'd probably end up in ICU with Rhabdo, but these guys would tolerate it just fine because they've worked at it for years. Obviously assuming a perfectly healthy heart here.

I don't think cardiac issues are any more or less prevalent in hockey. The majority of incidents of sudden cardiac death in athletes are caused by genetic or structural disorders that were present from birth - many of which are progressive in nature. Playing a really intense sport or doing intense exercise just pushes the heart into the territory where it can't handle what's being asked of it because of an already pre-existing condition. I don't think hockey is unique in this sense.

For reference - causes of sudden cardiac death in 1300+ athletes:

 

[snopro31]

Its just luck when it comes to this. The sample size is extremely small so when 1 person has it happen on the bench then its a "big deal".
In the realm of things theres probably on average 10 people that collapse the same way per day in city centers (im thinking of stats where i am) but they aren't on camera.

 

[Appleyard]

It has happened quite a lot in top level soccer over the last 20 years.

One of my favourite players Marc-Vivien Foe died during a game...

there is generally a case every year or so at a good level. Ofc soccer has a lot more pro players with a lot more leagues. But it is not infrequent there.

 

[Karma Police]

Kris Letang also suffered from cardiac problems but was diagnosed before a game. They found out he had a birth defect in his heart which they solved.

 

[57special]

Reminds me of the on ice passing by cardiac arrest of Dan Achen, guitarist for Junkhouse in 2010. Just rec hockey. He was 51, but thin as a rail.

It was way too early, but there are worse ways to go. RIP.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I feel like Hockey involves more intense cardio than many other sports.

 

[Panteras]

Happens way more often in soccer. Actually, this thread got me thinking as I’ve played both sports in amateur teams. From my own personal experience and opinion, I definitely had a higher cardio exertion while playing soccer. At least for me, if I skipped even 1 half -2 weeks of the usual soccer routine (practice/games) I’d be feeling it next time I played. Hockey definitely gasses one out just like soccer can but then just go sit in the bench drink Gatorade. I did not feel the pronounced difference in tiredness or cardio exertion if I skipped the same amount of time in playing hockey.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Kris Letang also suffered from cardiac problems but was diagnosed before a game. They found out he had a birth defect in his heart which they solved.

Peverly had heart surgery a year before his collapse and he still had a cardiac event.

Also, AFAIK, Fischer was never diagnosed with any underlying condition or pathology and same with Craig Cunningham who had to get his leg amputated. Scary stuff.

 

[Curufinwe]

Football is once a week? It has nothing to do with how frequent you’re playing. It just takes one game, one play for it to happen.

American football doesn't require as much sustained cardio as soccer cause there's a break between plays, and all those TV timeouts.

 

[nshlphoenix]

Yes, but a soccer player is usually on the field for the whole 90 minutes, while hockey players take shifts.

Let's put it this way: there is a reason while there is always at least one - almost always two days - between soccer games worldwide, while in hockey back-to-backs are not uncommon. An that reason is not because all soccer players in the world are weak *****es...

Uhhh why does every soccer video include someone rolling around like they got their leg chopped off?

 

[Sugi21]

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

He did have a heart attack while wrasslin it’s onYouTube. Although wrestling is scripted/fake it’s still a very physically demanding performance and in Eddie’s case his heart was also worn down through years of drug/alcohol abuse.

 

[Sugi21]

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

It is! I’d rather do 10 laps around the gym than do suicide runs lol

 

[IamNotADancer]

It's your perception. It's not more frequent than in any other sport that requires your heart to carry a heavy workload for extended periods of time.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

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

He died of cardiac arrest and was an athlete so whats the problem?