MOSCOW (AP) — A player in the Kazakhstani ice hockey league has died, several days after receiving a violent hit to the head during a playoff game.
Dmitri Uchaykin, a Russian forward for the Ertis Pavlodar club, was 32. His club announced the death on its website, but did not give further details.
Uchaykin took a hard hit from Arystan forward Donatas Kumeliuskas during their semifinal on Wednesday, but Russia’s Sovetsky Sport newspaper said the player left the ice on his own and went home after the game. It said he then lost conscience the next day and was rushed to a local hospital, where he died of a stroke early Sunday.
Uchaykin had spent most of his career with Russian club Amur.
