Hockey Player, 19, Killed by Puck

A 19-year-old Russian hockey player has died after being hit in the head by a puck, his team announced Tuesday. Defenseman Timur Faizutdinov of the Dynamo St. Petersburg's junior hockey team was struck in the head by a puck hit from center ice during a Friday playoff game against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, CBC News reports. Yaroslavl's Dmitry Tyuvilin was trying to dump the puck into St. Petersburg's zone over the defense. It instead hit Faizutdinov at the blue line, some 25 feet away, per Global News.

Faizutdinov—who was wearing a helmet—grabbed his head, spun, then collapsed to the ice, per Global. He was treated by the team doctor and paramedics before being taken to a hospital in Yaroslavl. "The player was hospitalized in serious condition. Doctors fought for his life for three days," reads the Dynamo statement, which does not give a cause of death. The team noted upcoming games would include a minute of silence for Faizutdinov, who was in his fourth season with St. Petersburg. "Forever at Dynamo. Forever in our hearts," the team wrote. (More Russia stories.)