Death after being hit with a stick: The saddest day in domestic ice hockey

A striker runs towards the opponent's goal without a target and wants to be able to pass the ball. The defender stops him and the two then exchange some pleasantries. What sounds like a normal scene in ice hockey and happens thousands of times a year led to a catastrophe on January 14, 1992: The striker named Jim Boni, captain of the then HC Courmaosta, lost his temper and swung his stick and hit the 19-year-old HC Gherdëina defender, Miran Schrott, in the chest. The young athlete from Ortisei collapsed to the ground - and then died in Chamonix hospital. Ice hockey enthusiast Schrott, born on December 26, 1972 in Bolzano, signed up for the local ice hockey club at the age of nine. Since then, his passion for the fastest team sport in the world has burned within him. The youngster's talent emerges early on, and his call-up to the youth national teams is not surprising. Schrott takes part in a total of five international tournaments with Italy and is already one of the top performers in the ranks of HC Gherdëina despite his young age. With teammates like the current HCG President Walter Ploner, he wants to build on at least a little of the Ladin team's former glory days.

With Dave Pasin, who is well known in Bolzano, the HCG should achieve exactly this. The Furies won the championship of the then Serie A1992 in 2, but lost a teammate in Courmayeur: Miran Schrott. Although he was treated immediately after the above-mentioned caning, the doctors at the Chamonix hospital could only determine his death. Cause: cardiac arrest. As the autopsy revealed, Boni's actions coupled with "pre-existing cardiac problems" led to his sudden death.

Jim Boni was active as a trainer for decades. © APA/epa / EXPA/REINHARD EISENBAUER

As a result of the death, which attracted attention far beyond the country's borders (major media outlets and the American ice hockey associations got involved), the Italian public prosecutor's office charged Boni with intentional bodily harm resulting in death. Ten to 18 years in prison were threatened. Because the World Cup took place in Italy in 1994, a diplomatic conflict arose, the core of which was the participation of these nations in the World Cup. Ultimately, this was averted and Boni was sentenced to one year in prison on probation for negligent homicide. The Schrott family's planned civil proceedings were discontinued. Boni becomes a successful trainer Boni was suspended for two years by the Italian ice sports association FISG after Schrott's death. This ban was lifted under pressure from other Italian clubs and the major American associations. Boni played in Italy until 1995, then moved abroad and began a glorious coaching career, which he ended with the Vienna Capitals in 2016. Scrap was remembered with a tournament in Val Gardena. But the wounds never healed.

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Death after being hit with a stick: The saddest day in domestic ice hockey

January 14, 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of ice hockey player Miran Schrott. The dramatic events of that time are still omnipresent.

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