St. Paul hockey community remembers young player who passed away after stroke

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - There are some heavy hearts in St. Paul after a teen hockey player passed away on Christmas after suffering a stroke.

The death of 16-year-old Cormick Scanlan is being felt across the hockey community. Only two days removed from the loss of their teammate, Cormick's team Cretin Derham Hall was back on the ice Tuesday for a tournament.

It was hard to miss the #17 stickers, that were placed earlier this month as a sign of support but will remain as a remembrance.

"We went from a Monday practice where he was sitting on the player’s bench," recalled coach Derek Weinke. "I just said, 'Hey, what’s going on?' His leg was bothering him."

Cormick suffered a stroke three weeks ago, as documented on his CaringBridge site, and was later diagnosed with a rare condition called moyamoya disease, which predominantly affects children.

After surgery on December 15, hopes were high for recovery and rehabilitation.

"We kind of thought, 'Hey now we know what it is, they’re going to do this procedure and he’s going to battle back,'" said Weinke. "We don’t know what it’s going to look like on the other side, but it’s Cormick, he’s going to battle through this and then things took a turn and then it got worse."

For these few weeks, support ran high from his hockey stall to players and coaches getting their heads shaved in support. Then came another stroke, affecting more of his brain. Cormick passed on Christmas night.

"This is a kid who lived what we talk about every day," added Weinke. "The values of selflessness, of hard work, integrity... these are all things that this young man had."