STAVELY \u2014 Three players on an Alberta junior hockey team killed in a crash while heading to practice are being remembered as exceptional young men who had a spark in their eyes for the sport.<\/p>\n
The Southern Alberta Mustangs in the small town of Stavely announced the deaths in a Facebook post Monday.<\/p>\n
“There are no words that can adequately express the depth of our grief,” the team said.<\/p>\n
“These young men were more than hockey players \u2014 they were teammates, sons, brothers, friends, and deeply loved members of our Mustangs family and the communities we call home.”<\/p>\n
RCMP said officers responded to the Monday morning crash at an intersection with Highway 2 in the town, about an hour’s drive south of Calgary.<\/p>\n
It involved a northbound semi truck hauling gravel and a small passenger vehicle that was heading east.<\/p>\n
JJ Wright and Cameron Casorso, both 18 and from Kamloops, B.C., and 17-year-old Caden Fine from Alabama were killed.<\/p>\n
The driver of the semi, a 40-year-old man from Stavely, received minor injuries, Mounties said.<\/p>\n
A photo posted on a Facebook page of a family member of one of the players showed a memorial at the town’s arena \u2014 three white and red jerseys with the last names of the players draped over a table, along with three upright hockey sticks.<\/p>\n
The Mustangs play in the U.S. Premier Hockey League’s Premier Division, which the league describes as being “known for developing players into college-ready athletes.”<\/p>\n
Mike Gilroy, a former player co-ordinator with the Mustangs, worked with the three players last summer.<\/p>\n
He also spoke with Fine’s father before the player was looking at moving to Alberta from Alabama.<\/p>\n
“That was his dream — to play in Canada,” said Gilroy, adding all three were excited about playing hockey and where the sport might take them.<\/p>\n
They were inspiring, he said.<\/p>\n
“They had the spark in their eyes and the fire in their hearts every day and enjoyed being a part of a team and took the time to put in the extra work to be successful.<\/p>\n
“It is far too soon for young, talented people like this.”<\/p>\n
Blake Linquist, who played with Wright in Kamloops, said his former teammate was a great player who had a good sense of humour and cared for those around him.<\/p>\n
“He would always like to throw jokes and make everyone else laugh,” the 16-year-old said. “He was honestly a best friend on and off the ice.<\/p>\n
“He was the best person you\u2019d ever meet.”<\/p>\n
Thunder Camille, another former teammate, said he met Wright six years ago and remembers the player always wearing a smile.<\/p>\n
Wright once dislocated his knee during a game, but he got right back up to support his team from off the ice, Camille said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when he wasn\u2019t able to be on the ice, he still had our backs,” Camille said.<\/p>\n
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a social media post, offered condolences to the families and teammates.<\/p>\n
“The whole Alberta hockey family is standing with you in sorrow and in prayer,” said Smith.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney also said he was heartbroken by the news.<\/p>\n
“Canadians are keeping the entire Southern Alberta Mustangs community in our thoughts as they face this unimaginable grief,” he said on social media.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Although their journeys began here in Kamloops, they found a second hockey family and a new bond with the Southern Alberta Mustangs,” it said. <\/p>\n
“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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Calgary Flames, with the National Hockey League, also offered support on social media: “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who knew them.”<\/p>\n
For some, news of the crash evoked memories of another deadly crash involving a junior hockey team.<\/p>\n
Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured when a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League crashed in April 2018. The team had been on its way to a playoff game when a semi truck blew through a stop sign and into the path of the bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask.<\/p>\n
The Broncos posted condolences for the Alberta team on social media.<\/p>\n
“There are no words \u2013 only heavy hearts … we stand with you. We mourn with you. We are with you.”<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u2014 By Dayne Patterson in Calgary and Nono Shen in Vancouver<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STAVELY \u2014 Three players on an Alberta junior hockey team killed in a crash while heading to practice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,83,47,82],"class_list":["post-451048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-disaster","tag-national","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}