Update regarding the death of 14-year-old Eastview Bantam player

Update (November 18, 2014):

According to kare11.com, the cause of Patrick Schoonover's death was "pointed to two genetic heart defects that lead to an aortic aneurysm." 


Original Article


Yesterday, I posted about the tragic news out of an Eastview Bantam AA player who collapsed and later died while playing in the Battle of the Blue Ox tournament in Brainerd, MN.  

Here's an update...

The Eastview Youth Hockey Association identified the player as 14-year-old Patrick Schoonover of Eagan, MN. Patrick's family released this statement Saturday afternoon:

""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." (youthhockeyhub.com)

Patrick collapsed while on the ice with his Eastview team while they were playing against Wayzata. As stated previously, he was taken to Essentia Health St. Joseph's Hospital by being air-lifted there, where efforts to revive him failed. 

The Eastview Youth Hockey Association made this statement on twitter last night:

The Minnesota Wild issued a statement upon hearing of Patrick's death:

"The Minnesota Wild joins the state of hockey in mourning the tragic passing of a Bantam hockey player today in Brainerd. Our hearts and prayers go out to the player’s family, friends and teammates."

Other people had posted on twitter a show of support for Patrick, his teammates, and his family: 

This afternoon, a moment of silence was held in honor of Patrick before the start of the Alexandria and Rosemount pee wee game I attended at the Rosemount Community Center. The Eastview AA Bantam team has asked to share the "Play for Patrick" theme in honor of their fallen teammate. 

Along with everybody else from the State of Hockey, I extend my thoughts and prayers to Patrick's family, teammates, and friends. 

(Picture of the patch, twitter posts, and statement from the Minnesota Wild courtesy of kstp.com)

Tragic News out of Brainerd, MN 2014 Battle of Blue Ox tournament

Tragic news out of Brainerd, MN and the Battle of the Blue Ox tournament:

It was announced tonight that a 14-year-old boy playing for the Eastview Bantam AA team collapsed Friday (11/14) afternoon while playing in a game during the Battle of the Blue Ox tournament. He was transported to a hospital in Brainerd, where he died. As a result of the tragic events, the remainder of the tournament was cancelled.

This statement was issued on the Youth Hockey Hub Website:

“Hockey is a wonderful game. As a player, volunteer, parent, coach, and founder of Youth Hockey Hub, I look forward to each weekend where I get to be a part of such a special game.

While we may be competitors, ultimately, we are one community. One family. Tonight, our hearts are heavy. 

We’re still working on learning exactly what happened today ourselves. Soon, we’ll learn together what happened, but we’ll wait for the appropriate people to share that news. 

The Battle of the Blue Ox will be back next year. After consultation with the Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association, we believe the best course of action is to cancel the rest of the 2014 Battle of the Blue Ox so we can reflect on what happened today.

Tonight, we need to rally around each other. We need to take a moment to say a prayer, we need to give those closest to us an extra hug.

-Tony and the Youth Hockey Hub Family” (http://www.youthhockeyhub.com)”

I would like to extend my condolences to the Eastview Bantam AA hockey team, family, and friends of the 14-year-old who passed away. 

At the time this blog post was posted, that is what is known at this time. No further details have been released.