Three teenage junior hockey players, including a 17-year-old from Alabama, were killed in a car crash while traveling to practice in Canada.
“It is with unimaginable heartbreak that we confirm three players from the Southern Alberta Mustangs were killed in a motor vehicle accident earlier today while traveling to team practice,” the team posted on Facebook Monday.
A car carrying Southern Alberta Mustangs players JJ Wright, Cameron Casorso, and Caden Fine collided with a gravel-hauling semi-truck in Stavely, about 10 miles south of Calgary, around 11 a.m., the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said, according to CTV News.
The 40-year-old semi-truck driver suffered minor injuries, police said.
Casorso, a goaltender, and JJ Wright, a forward, were both 18-year-old residents of Kamloops, British Columbia. Fine, 17, was a forward from Birmingham, Alabama.
All three teens were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the investigation into the deadly crash is ongoing.
“There are no words that can adequately express the depth of our grief,” the team wrote. “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.”
The organization said it is working closely with authorities and will continue supporting its players, staff, and families.
“We are a family, and today our family is hurting,” the team added.
The Kamloops Minor Hockey Association echoed the Mustangs’ message of devastation, saying the loss has deeply affected the hockey community.
“These three young men were teammates and friends to many,” the association said. “We are grieving together as one hockey family.”
The Mustangs are based in Stavely and are competing in their first season in the US Premier Hockey League’s Premier Division, the Calgary Herald reported.
A memorial featuring the three players’ jerseys and sticks was set up Monday evening at the Stavely Arena.
Following the tragedy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X that his “heart breaks for the families of the three young hockey players.”
“Canadians are keeping the entire Southern Alberta Mustangs community in our thoughts as they face this unimaginable grief,” he wrote.
The Calgary Flames held a moment of silence Monday night before their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.