Three junior hockey players killed in crash in Alberta - ESPN

TAVELY, Alberta — Three Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey players were killed Monday morning in a vehicle crash while heading to practice.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said it responded to the crash at an intersection with Highway 2 in Stavely — about an hour's drive south of Calgary — and that two 18-year-old men from Kamloops, British Columbia, and a 17-year-old from Alabama were killed.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a social media post, offered condolences to the families and teammates of JJ Wright, Cameron Casorso and Caden Fine.

«The whole Alberta hockey family is standing with you in sorrow and in prayer,» Smith said in part. "… 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 semitruck 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 was working closely with authorities and asking for privacy for the families of the players.

«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.