‘Gentle large boy’ who died at hockey tryouts grieved at school: principal

BATHURST, N.B. – A school principal says a junior hockey player who died suddenly at a training camp Monday was a large but gentle boy with a big smile who impressed teachers with the academic progress he made.

Paul Kitchen, the head of school at Rothesay Netherwood in New Brunswick, says staff and students at the 270-student prep school have been hit hard by the death of Jordan Boyd.

Boyd died after collapsing during a skating drill at tryouts for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

A spokesman for the league says a physical therapist provided CPR after Boyd fell, lost consciousness and stopped breathing.

The league says results from an autopsy on the cause of death are expected later this week.

Kitchen says the school in Rothesay is doing all it can to support Boyd’s parents, who had been thrilled by their son’s academic progress at the private school.

He says during the 2012-13 academic year, the Grade 10 student’s hockey skills blossomed as the team took the silver medal at the World Sport School Championships in Calgary.