HAVERHILL — A Pentucket Regional High School ice hockey player died at the end of hockey practice yesterday.
Pentucket Hockey Coach Bill Burns said senior captain Matt McCarthy of Merrimac collapsed on the ice at Veteran's Memorial Skating Rink on Brook Street.
Burns talked to the captains at center ice after practice, like he usually does, and they were all sharing a joke, Burns said.
"He just collapsed," the coach said.
Rescue crews treated the 17-year-old at the scene around 5 p.m. and took him to Merrimack Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead, said police Lt. Joe Florent.
Burns said hockey players have to pass a physical to be on the team.
"There was no pre-existing medical condition that we knew of — not that I know of," Burns said.
The defenseman didn't act differently during practice and didn't complain of anything, Burns said.
"Worked as hard as he always does," said the coach.
John Gavin, an 18-year-old senior forward and captain on the team, said the meeting at center ice was "just a normal talk."
"We were all laughing and stuff, and I don't know what happened," Gavin said.
Tim Cosgrove, an 18-year-old senior and captain who plays center and wing, said McCarthy had complained that his lungs hurt.
"We did warm-ups and everything. We were joking around... . He was just saying that his lungs kind of hurt and I didn't think anything of it," Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove said he thought McCarthy's pain was caused by the amount of skating he and the other players were doing.
Cosgrove said he was standing around with McCarthy and other players when McCarthy collapsed.
"He just was talking and all of a sudden he collapsed," Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove said McCarthy was unresponsive and didn't appear to be breathing.
Florent said there was no indication of foul play in the teen's death.
Gavin said the practice was fairly light because the team doesn't have a game until Jan. 6.
A parent rushed to McCarthy and performed CPR on him before the ambulance crew arrived, Gavin said.
McCarthy played defense with his younger brother, Ryan, a sophomore who was present when McCarthy collapsed, Gavin said.
Cosgrove said that if someone ever hit Ryan during a game, McCarthy would find the player and hit him back.
"He stood up for his brother," Cosgrove said.
"Great role model for everyone on the team," Cosgrove said. "I don't think you could find one person who would say anything bad about him."
"He was always that kid that was just having a good time, laughing," Gavin said.
Burns called McCarthy a "hard-working kid."
"Played with me for four years. Wonderful kid. Wonderful family," Burns said.
Another friend, 17-year-old Tyler Atkins, said McCarthy planned to play hockey in college next year.
"Awesome kid. He'd do anything for you, never looked to get in trouble, always looking to the future, always could put a smile on your face," Atkins said. "He just had the best sense of humor. He always had a smile on his face. Nothing could get the kid down."
McCarthy's friends created two groups dedicated to McCarthy on the social networking Web site facebook.com last night. By about 10:45 p.m., one of the groups already had 352 members and the other had 211 members.
Alex Farese, a 17-year-old track co-captain at North Andover High School, collapsed and stopped breathing after running the 400-meter event on April 14, 2008. His mother, Rosanne Farese, is an advocate of heart screenings for student athletes.
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