02/03/26 09:53:00
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02/03 09:51 CST 3 Alberta junior hockey players killed in crash heading to
practice
3 Alberta junior hockey players killed in crash heading to practice
STAVELY, Alberta (AP) --- Three Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey players
were killed Monday in a vehicle crash while heading to practice.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it responded to the crash at an
intersection with Highway 2 in Stavely --- about an hour's drive south of
Calgary. JJ Wright and Cameron Casorso, both 18 and from Kamloops, British
Columbia, and 17-year-old Caden Fine of Birmingham, Alabama, were killed.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a social media post, offered condolences to
the players' families and teammates.
"The whole Alberta hockey family is standing with you in sorrow and in prayer,"
Smith said. "In the days ahead, I know Albertans will wrap these families and
this team in love and support as they navigate a pain no one should ever have
to bear."
RCMP said the crash involved a northbound semi truck pulling gravel and a small
passenger vehicle going east. The driver of the semi, a 40-year-old man from
Stavely, sustained minor injuries.
The U.S. Premier Hockey League team said on Facebook that it is working closely
with authorities and is asking for privacy for the players' families.
"There are no words that can adequately express the depth of our grief," the
team said. "These young men were more than hockey players --- they were
teammates, sons, brothers, friends, and deeply loved members of our Mustangs
family and the communities we call home. We are a family, and today our family
is hurting."
At the town's arena, three white-and-red jerseys with the last names of the
players were draped over a table, along with three upright hockey sticks.
The Kamloops Minor Hockey Association said in a statement that Casorso and
Wright grew up in the B.C. organization. Casorso played from 2012 to 2025 and
Wright from 2011 to 2025.
"Although their journeys began here in Kamloops, they found a second hockey
family and a new bond with the Southern Alberta Mustangs," the statement said.
"These three young men were teammates and friends to many. We are grieving
together, as one hockey family forever changed by the loss of these young men."
The Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League also offered support on social
media: "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who knew them," the team
said.
News of the crash evoked memories of another deadly crash involving a junior
hockey team.
In April 2018, 16 people were killed and 13 injured when a bus carrying the
Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League crashed. The team had
been on its way to a playoff game when a semi truck went through a stop sign
and into the path of the bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Saskatchewan.
The mayor of Humboldt expressed condolences to the Alberta team on Facebook.
"We stand with your community as you mourn this tragic loss, and our thoughts
are with all those affected," Mayor Rob Muench said.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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