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A southern Alberta junior hockey team said three of its players died in a motor vehicle collision on Monday while they were travelling to a practice.
The Southern Alberta Mustangs, a United States Premier Hockey League team based in Stavely, Alta., posted a statement to social media confirming the deaths.
“There are no words that can adequately express the depth of our grief. 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 team’s statement said.
“We are a family, and today our family is hurting.”
Claresholm RCMP said it responded to a collision just before noon between a semi truck pulling gravel and a small passenger vehicle at the intersection of Highway 2 and 55 Avenue, at the north entrance to Stavely. The semi was travelling north on Highway 2, and the passenger vehicle was travelling east at that intersection.
All three occupants of the passenger vehicle — two 18-year-olds from Kamloops, B.C., and a 17-year-old from Alabama — were declared dead at the scene of the crash.
The truck driver, a 40-year-old man living in Stavely, received minor injuries that were treated at the scene.
Stavely is a town about 115 kilometres south of Calgary.
Police said they’re continuing their investigation into the collision.
They added the scene is now clear and normal traffic has resumed.
The Mustangs team said it is working with authorities, and continuing to support its players, staff and families.
The USPHL is an amateur hockey league that fields more than 150 teams across multiple divisions. The Mustangs are made up of players ranging from 16 to 20 years old.
The Mustangs were one of five new Alberta-based teams that joined the league’s Premier Conference last year. The current 2025-26 season is its inaugural year in the league, alongside the Bassano Beavers, Three Hills Titans, Hanna Havoc and Diamond Valley Rockies.