15 years ago the NHL suffered it's first and only fan fatality.

A dark time in the NHL's history.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
15 years ago the NHL suffered it's first and only fan fatality.

The idea of a player being killed during a sporting event is terrifying enough, but the thought of the fans being harmed as a result of the game is something that is almost unthinkable for many.

Unfortunately 15 years ago one innocent young woman's life was cut short after she was struck by an errant puck while attending a National Hockey League game. On March 16th 2002, Brittanie Cecil was just 13, and she was attending the game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames as part of an early birthday present for her 14th birthday.

In a terrible freak accident a shot from Columbus Blue Jacket Espen Knutsen went off the stick of Calgary's Derrick Morris and struck Brittanie directly in her left temple, resulting in a skull fracture. Despite the severity of the injury Brittanie was able to walk to an ambulance under her own power, but eventually suffered a seizure when she reached the hospital.

Brittanie was treated and appeared to be on her way to recovery, however a CT Scan failed to reveal a torn vertebral artery and it went untreated. This resulted in swelling of the brain and, after being afflicted with a fever, Brittanie succumb to her injuries. It has to be said that hospital error likely played a significant role in her death, had the torn artery been treated Brittanie may still be alive and well today.

As a result of Brittanie's death the NHL now uses netting around it's playing surface to prevent such an injury from taking place again. Today the Brittanie Nichole Cecil Memorial Scholarship Fund continues to collect donations in her honor at every Columbus Blue Jackets home game. Those donations have contributed multiple scholarships to "to graduating seniors of  Hilliard Darby and Twin Valley South High Schools
who wish to become the best person they can be" 
since 2003.

The incident also had a big impact on both players involved in the incident, and they both admitted to Sports Illustrated in 2002 that it was something they couldn't just shake off. From Sports Illustrated:

For Knutsen and Morris, the knowledge that pucks flying into the stands is a common occurrence was small consolation. "You try to say, 'It happens all the time,' but you can't," Morris says. "I don't know how many times pucks get deflected over the glass, but it doesn't make it any better. You can always say, 'It's not my fault,' but you always feel like it is, a little." Blue Jackets coach Dave King gave Knutsen the option of sitting out the March 20 game against the Minnesota Wild, the first match following Brittanie's death. Knutsen chose to play, but he has had trouble sleeping since the incident. "I think about it all the time," he says. "It was a terrible accident, and I cannot get it off my mind."

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