This is a truly awful, awful story. From the Daily News:

Nick Bond, the captain of his hockey team, had scored a goal during the game Sunday morning, but he left the rink after telling his coach — who was also his father — that he had a headache.

Moments after leaving the ice at the Wissahickon Skating Club in Chestnut Hill, the Springfield (Montgomery County) High School senior collapsed and was taken to Einstein Medical Center, where surgeons operated to relieve pressure on his brain.

Bond died Monday afternoon. Coaches and parents said that they did not see Bond take any blows to the head and that he did not tell anyone he had been hit, but he died from complications from blunt-impact head trauma, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday. The office ruled his death an accident.

This hits a little too close to home. Having grown up playing hockey, my biggest fear was always a neck injury or freak skate laceration. Youth and high school hockey typically isn’t played at a high enough rate of speed to lead to serious, emergency head trauma what with helmets, face masks and mouth guards. This is all the more disturbing because no one seems to know what exactly happened.

The president of Nick’s hockey club called him an “amazing young man who was courageous both on the ice and off” and cited the fact that his teammates and coaches continuously voted for him to be captain as evidence of how well-liked he was by his peers. He also played football and lacrosse.

Nick was 18 years old. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.