Died suddenly: Canadian firefighter and ex-NHL player Raymond Sawada, 38

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 13, 2023

Raymond Sawada, a Burnaby, British Columbia firefighter and former professional hockey player, collapsed and died suddenly while playing in a recreational hockey league. He was 38.

Raymond Sawada

According to multiple online reports, Sawada suffered a heart attack while playing rec-league hockey just outside of his native Vancouver.

Sawada leaves behind a wife and two daughters, ages 9 and 6.

As a firefighter for the City of Burnaby, Sawada was pressured to be fully vaccinated against the Covid virus.

“Ray was passionately driven and motivated in everything he did, and the surrounding community will be left with a void,” notes a fundraising campaign for the family, Canada’s National Post reported.

In his lone season with the Nanaimo Clippers, a Junior A team in the British Columbia Hockey League, the then 18-year-old right-winger notched 52 points in 54 games.

After playing four years of hockey at Cornell University, Sawada went on to play for the Dallas Stars, who drafted him in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He made his National Hockey League debut, and scored his first goal, on his 24th birthday. Sawada would play 10 more games in the world’s top ice hockey league before embarking on a career that included stops in Finland, the U.K. and Asia. Sawada also played for several teams in the American Hockey League.


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