Funeral services announced for Connor Kasin, Massapequa hockey player who died after collapsing during charity game

Funeral services for Connor Kasin, the Massapequa High School senior who died after he collapsed from a "sudden medical event" during a charity ice hockey game, will be held later this week.

The Massapequa Funeral Home in Massapequa Park announced on its website that visitation services for Kasin will be held Wednesday between 7 and 9 p.m., and Thursday between 2 and 4 p.m., and 7 and 9 p.m. A funeral Mass will take place Friday at 9:30 a.m. at St. William the Abbot R.C. Church in Seaford with a burial to follow at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

Kasin, 17, was playing in a game Saturday in honor of a Syosset High School graduate who died in a car crash last year, when he lost consciousness on the ice during intermission, according to Nassau County police. Medics and officers arrived at the Town of Oyster Bay Ice Skating Center in Bethpage, where people were performing CPR on Kasin around 9 p.m., according to police, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Kasin, a defenseman, was starting his third season playing with Massapequa's varsity ice hockey team, and he also played for the Long Island Sharks Elite 18UAA travel team. 

In an interview with Newsday Sunday, his head coach with the Sharks, Jeff Tempone, called Kasin "a coach's dream." 

"He played hard, he was well-respected throughout the league," and his family, particularly his younger brother, loved watching him play, Tempone said. "Connor was his little brother's hero."

An obituary posted to the funeral home's website said, "Connor left us too soon, doing what he loved most, on the ice playing hockey surrounded by his teammates ... his love for the sport was only rivaled by his love for, and from, the people in his life."

When reached by telephone Monday afternoon, a woman who identified herself as a relative of Kasin said his family would not like to comment "at this time."

Several of Kasin's friends posted photos and other tributes to him on social media over the weekend, some saying they loved him, considered him a brother and will remember him for his kindness.

Members of the larger online hockey community also posted images of their hockey sticks placed out on their front porch, some along with Sharks or Massapequa jerseys, with the hashtag #sticksoutforconnor in what has become a tradition whenever a player dies. Most recently, similar tributes were shared across social media following the sudden death of NHL player Johnny Gaudreau.

Massapequa schools Superintendent William Brennan described what happened to Kasin as a "sudden medical event" in a letter to the community, adding, "Connor was a cherished member of our school community, known for his kindness, positivity, enthusiasm, and big smile. He had a way of bringing light and joy to those around him, and his absence will be felt deeply by all of us."

With Bahar Ostadan