SHL mourns loss of Jason Cotsmire

As the Sport Corner Siam Hockey League moved towards its mid-season holiday break, the on-ice action continued to impress. However, it was off-ice events that made headlines during the past month. 

On December 1, the Thai hockey community suffered a huge loss with the sudden passing of Jason Cotsmire. “Cots” suffered a heart attack while playing the game he loves during a SHL match. He was a huge part of the origins of the Thai National Team, played in the Siam Hockey League, and was always involved with the Flying Farang Hockey Club.

The Thai hockey community honoured Cots and his family at a memorial hockey game on December 18. Visit the SHL website (www.siamhockeyleague.com) to see where friends and hockey fans can donate to a fund set up to help the Cotsmire family.

We all know Cots would have been so proud with what transpired on December 8, as the Thai National Team won the Southeast Asian Games championship with a resounding 8-0 win against Singapore. It was a week of dominating performances by Thailand, led by head coach Juhani Ijas; the team showed why they have quickly become the best hockey program in the region. The SHL was well represented as many league players were instrumental in Thailand capturing the gold.

The SHL was also very proud to be involved in the inspirational journey of Ryan Straschnitzki. Ryan was one of the Humboldt Broncos seriously injured when their team bus was hit by a semi-truck back in Canada, April, 2018, killing 16 players, coaches, and staff, while also injuring 12.
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Straschnitzki was paralyzed in the crash, and underwent a special experimental surgery in Thailand. He took a major stride in his journey this past month when he returned to the ice and put on an amazing show of stickhandling skills with a group of SHL players. 

On the ice, the SHL standings are a logjam at the top, with Novotel, Hertz and Peak all sitting tied with identical 6-4 records. Aware, at 2-8, sits in fourth place, losers of five straight. Aware’s Corry Day is the league’s leading scorer with 14 points followed closely by Peak’s Jesse Starosta with 13.

With the final games of the SHL season on December 15, the league will break and return with games commencing on January 12.

Check out the SHL BigChilli podcast here: https://siamhockeyleague.com/week-8-news/