Wayland hockey player Sam Brande starts petition for use of neck guards after friend's death

Sam Brande wants to be the change.

So the Wayland High sophomore has sprung into action.

After a Connecticut high school hockey player died from a neck injury on Jan. 6, Brande created a petition to make neck guards mandatory across USA Hockey.

The hockey player’s petition on Change.org – which has over 96,000 signatures – reads:

“I lost one of my best friends due to lack of player safety rules in USA hockey. Please consider signing this so we can raise awareness and nobody needs to lose a loved one or a life in a avoidable accident. Thank you.”

Brande is currently working on a written plea to send to USA Hockey.

See: Sam Brande's petition to make neck guards mandatory to play hockey

“This is a real issue and people around the country care,” Brande said. “I need to make sure I do everything in my power to make this happen.”

Sticks out for Teddy

Brande returned home from hockey practice on Jan. 6 when the 16-year-old received a phone call from one of his former counselors at Camp Awosting, located in Morris, Connecticut.

That’s when Brande heard the tragic news. A 10th-grader, Teddy Balkind died while playing hockey for St. Luke’s School (New Canaan, Connecticut) in a game at Brunswick School in Greenwich. He was cut by another player’s skate, and Balkind wasn’t wearing a neck guard.

He and Brande had been old cabin mates and camp friends for six years.

“There wasn’t a thing he did without a smile on his face,” Brande said of Balkind.

Balkind’s death hit the hockey community hard and drew immediate international support. Many players and teams took pictures of their hockey sticks being left outside of their homes or facilities with the slogan “Sticks out for Teddy” posted on social media.

“The Boston Bruins are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Teddy Balkind,” @NHLBruins wrote in a tweet. “Our hearts are with Teddy’s family, friends, teammates and the entire Connecticut hockey community.”

After receiving the sad news about his friend, Brande wanted to enact change. Currently, USA Hockey recommends players wear neck guards, but does not mandate the practice.

That leaves the decision of wearing neck guards up to individual hockey associations or athletic associations.

As of right now, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) doesn’t mandate the use of neck guards as they follow the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) guidelines, which doesn’t authorize the use of neck guards in hockey. And while the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference requires all hockey players to wear neck protection, the rules don't apply to private schools such as St. Luke's or to youth hockey programs.

'We all played for him': Teddy Balkind inspires Concord-Carlisle boys hockey

Brande hopes going to USA Hockey with a plea will work.

“My petition is for USA hockey to notice that there are gaps in their safety protocols,” Brande said. “One of those gaps was majorly exploited on (Jan. 6) and I would like USA Hockey to notice that and see that there are ways to make hockey safer for young athletes.”

In response to Balkind’s death and Brande’s petition, Connecticut State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria said she has spoken with various legislators and local hockey coaches who support the concept of mandatory neck protection. Details of the bill are still being discussed. The General Assembly is scheduled to convene Feb. 9, according to the Associated Press.

Grafton High athletic trainer Sarah Mealy helped save a Milford High hockey player’s life earlier this winter when he was cut on the wrist by an opponent’s skate. Mealy said she’s in favor of Brande’s petition, despite these instances being “incredibly rare.”

See how: This local hockey player is thankful to be alive after having his wrist cut out on the ice

“Particularly in a sport where every player has a sharp blade on their footwear, though, it isn’t too ridiculous to ask and support players to wear a piece of equipment that protects the most vital area of the body; the neck and associated carotid artery,” Mealy said. “I can’t speak to whether this piece of equipment would have changed the outcome for the CT player, but I’d like to think it would have.”

Be The Change

In his Instagram bio, Brande writes “TB4L” with a heart emoji and “1/06/22” with a white dove emoji. At the end of his profile, he has “Be The Change” written.

“It should serve as a reminder to whoever sees it if you don’t like something that’s important to you that there’s nothing stopping you,” Brande said. “I just feel very strongly that if you feel strongly about something that should be changed, you should be the one to change it.”

Brande’s older brother, Max, who plays hockey at the Hoosac School in Hoosick, New York, is proud of his little brother’s initiative.

“He’s taking a terrible situation and making a good cause out of it,” Max said.

For Brande, even though he’s secured over 95K signatures on his initial petition, it’s important to him that he see the process through and create a neck-guard proposal for USA Hockey.

He wants to ultimately change the rule and make the game safer for hockey players across the United States.

“I’m going to do my best to make sure his name is remembered,” Brande said. “… I’m going to get the rule changed.”

Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44. Tim Dumas and the Associated Press also contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hockey player starts petition for neck guards after friend's death