TAWELLE, Alberta — Three Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey players were killed in a single-vehicle accident Monday morning while on their way to practice.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said it responded to the crash at an intersection with Highway 2 in Staveley – about an hour’s drive south of Calgary – and that two 18-year-old men from Kamloops, British Columbia, and a 17-year-old man from Alabama were killed.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressed condolences to the families and teammates of JJ Wright, Cameron Casorso and Caden Fine in a social media post.
“The entire Alberta hockey family stands with you in grief and prayer,” Smith said in part. “…In the coming days, I know Albertans will wrap these families and this team in love and support as they go through pain that no one should have to endure.”
RCMP said the crash involved a northbound semitruck hauling gravel and a small passenger vehicle traveling eastbound. The driver of the semi, a 40-year-old man from Staveley, suffered minor injuries.
The US Premier Hockey League team said on Facebook it was working closely with authorities and asked for privacy for the players’ families.
“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 beloved members of our Mustangs family and the communities we call home. We are a family, and today our family is grieving.”
At the city arena, three white and red jerseys bearing the players’ last names were draped over a table, along with three upright hockey sticks.
The Kamloops Minor Hockey Association said in a statement that Casorso and Wright have grown up in the BC organization. Casorso played from 2012 to 2025 and Wright from 2011 to 2025.
“Although his journey began here in Kamloops, he found a second hockey family and a new bond with the Southern Alberta Mustangs,” the statement said. “These three young men were teammates and friends to many. We mourn together as a hockey family is forever changed by the passing of these young men.”
calgary flames The NHL also offered support on social media: “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who knew him,” the team said.
News of the accident brought back memories of another fatal accident involving a junior hockey team.
In April 2018, 16 people died and 13 were injured when a bus carrying the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Humboldt Broncos crashed. The team was headed to a playoff game when a semitruck ran through a stop sign and into the path of the bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Saskatchewan.
The mayor of Humboldt expressed condolences to Team Alberta on Facebook.
“We stand with your community as you mourn this tragic loss and our thoughts go out to all those affected,” Mayor Rob Muench said.
