Three junior hockey players mourned after crash in southern Alberta

STAVELY — Prime Minister Mark Carney joined members across the hockey community Tuesday in offering support to the families and teammates of three junior players killed in a crash in Alberta.

The crash happened Monday morning between a semi truck hauling gravel and a vehicle in the small town of Stavely, south of Calgary.

The Southern Alberta Mustangs in Stavely said the three players had been on their way to practice.

JJ Wright and Cameron Casorso, both 18, were from Kamloops, B.C., and Caden Fine, 17, was from Alabama.

“To every parent, every teammate, family, friends, and my heart goes out to the families of victims on the team,” Carney said Tuesday in Ottawa.

National Hockey League superstar Connor McDavid called the deaths tragic.

“Something that touched close to home,” McDavid said.

“Three guys heading to practice. Obviously just tragic. You’re thinking about their families, for sure,” McDavid said in Edmonton ahead of the Oilers’ game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said the team’s thoughts are with the victims’ families.

“Obviously in our sport, we do spend a lot of time travelling place to place, whether that’s for games on buses or in vehicles to practices. And it’s very unfortunate that happened to three young men.”

The Mustangs play in the U.S. Premier Hockey League’s Premier Division.

Mike Gilroy, a former player coordinator with the Mustangs, said the players were inspiring young men who cared deeply for hockey.

“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,” he said Monday.

He added it was Fine’s dream to play hockey in Canada.

Other Alberta-based teams in the league also paid tribute to the three players on social media.

“Hockey is more than a game, it is a family. Today, that family is hurting,” said the Onion Lake Scouts. “We share in the grief and the heartbreak felt across the hockey community today.

The Calgary Bandits also shared their condolences.

“There are no words that can ease the pain of a loss like this, but please know you are not alone,” the team said.

The Humboldt Broncos with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League also posted condolences for the Mustangs.

Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured when a bus carrying the Broncos 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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2026.