The horror that swept across the NFL when Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a game this week in Cincinnati was all too familiar to members of the hockey community.
Five players in the NHL over the past 25 years who collapsed during a game—terrifying scenes that stopped play while people scrambled to help—were diagnosed with a heart-related issue of some kind.
Big defenseman Chris Pronger went down after taking a puck to the chest. Jiri Fischer, Rich Peverley, and Jay Bouwmeester all collapsed on the bench. Ondrej Pavelec went down on the ice….