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14-year old hockey player dies after collapsing during Minnesota youth tournament

Sean Leahy
Contributing writer

The 2014 Battle for the Blue Ox youth hockey tournament in Brainerd, Minnesota was canceled Friday after a 14-year old player collapsed on the ice during a game and later died.

The player was identified as Patrick Schoonover, a member of a Bantam AA tean who was playing for Eastview High School. According to police, an on-site paramedic attended to the unconscious 14-year old before EMS workers arrived to begin CPR. He was eventually transported to a local Brainerd hospital but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Eastview High School Athletics and the Minnesota Wild were among those who Tweeted their condolences:

The Schoonover family posted a statement Saturday morning on the Eastview Hockey Association website:

We lost our son Patrick last night. He passed away unexpectedly playing the game he loved so much. We appreciate the outpouring of support from the Eastview and MN hockey communities to our family. We want to thank his coach, first responders and the staff at St. Joseph's for doing everything they could to help Patrick and for providing comfort to our family. We appreciate all of you.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Patrick's coaches and team mates.   He loved all of you.

We ask for our privacy from the media at this time.

Thank you

The Schoonover family

A cause of death has not been released at this time.

UPDATE: According to the boy's family, he died due to an undiagnosed heart defect.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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