‘AN UNIMAGINABLE TRAGEDY’
New Canaan student who died of injury after Greenwich school hockey game identified
NEW CANAAN — The St. Luke’s School hockey player who died from injuries suffered during a game at Brunswick School in Greenwich on Thursday afternoon has been identified as 10th grader Teddy Balkind.
“There are no words adequate to this moment, and I know all of us will support each other as best as we can,” St. Luke’s Head of School Mark Davis wrote to the school community Thursday evening. Davis said Balkind died as “a result of an injury suffered” in a hockey game at Brunswick. While school was closed because of the weather Friday, Davis said that once roads were cleared, students and staff could gather to grieve.
“While nothing can take away the pain, just being together can provide com
fort and a way for us to absorb the unimaginable,” Davis wrote.
Greenwich police said the injury took place on the ice during a 5 p.m. game at Brunswick.
During the game, “a player from the other team fell to the ice,” according to a statement from Greenwich Police Capt. Mark Zuccerella released Thursday night.
“Another player who was near the downed player was unable to stop, and collided with the player who fell,” Zuccerella said.
The downed hockey player was rushed to Greenwich Hospital, and “died as a result of the injury,” Zuccerella said.
Brunswick Head of School Thomas Philip told Hearst Connecticut Media that the school community was devastated, calling the accident “an unimaginable tragedy.”
He also released a statement Friday to school alumni about the tragic incident.
“During a JV ice hockey game last night against St. Luke’s, a member of the opposing team’s neck was accidentally cut by a skate. All who witnessed the play (from both schools) apparently described the play as entirely normal and unremarkable in the game of hockey.
“The boy was immediately treated by our medical staff (the boy’s father was present throughout) and was eventually transported to Greenwich Hospital, where he was treated in the ER and then operated on.
“Tragically, he did not survive the operation,” Philip said
According to Philip, he and Davis, along with coaches from both teams, were at the hospital Thursday evening.
“I want to commend our medical, coaching and security staff for all that they did in the most terrible of circumstances to sustain the boy until the ambulance arrived,” Philip wrote in his letter.
On Friday, Davis told Hearst Connecticut Media that the community was in mourning.
“Yesterday, we lost a precious young man in a tragic accident,” he said. “Both St. Luke’s School and Brunswick School are in shock as we work to support our students and families. St. Luke’s singular focus at this moment is to care for our devastated community.”
A sophomore at St. Luke’s, Balkind attended New Canaan public schools for elementary school.
“Many of our students were friends with this student and his family,” New Canaan Superintendent Bryan Luizzi said in a statement. The district’s counselors were available to provide help and support to anyone who might benefit, Luizzi said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the entire St. Luke’s community,” he said.
Balkind also skated for the New Canaan Winter Club throughout his youth hockey career, New Canaan police said on Instagram.
He “was known to all as an all-around incredible young man, son and brother,” the post said.
In an email to the hockey community, the Darien Youth Hockey Association described the teen as “a wonderful friend and teammate.”
“The hockey community is a close-knit one and many of the players involved in the game played on DYHA, NCWC and Greenwich Skating Club teams,” DYHA President Dave Kreppein wrote. “This tragedy affects all of us and reminds us how precious life is.”
In memory of Balkind, DYHA said teams will begin home games with a moment of silence and encouraged residents to put hockey sticks outside their front doors.
Darien players were not the only ones to show their support with hockey sticks. By 5 p.m. Friday, sticks had also appeared on porches and outside doors across New Canaan.