NHL, junior teams, offer condolences after crash that killed three players in B.C.

SURREY, B.C. — Hockey leagues such as the NHL and teams including the Humboldt Broncos have offered their condolences to the families of three junior players who died when a vehicle crashed into a tree in British Columbia.

“The NHL sends its love and deepest condolences to the families of junior hockey players Caleb Reimer, Ronin Sharma and Parker Magnuson who tragically passed away in a car accident on Saturday,” said a tweet from the National Hockey League on Sunday. 

Police have said that they and other emergency services personnel were dispatched to the Fraser Heights neighbourhood of Surrey, B.C., just before 3:00 a.m. on Saturday

Officials said all three of the vehicle’s occupants, who were teenagers, died at the scene.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation and the identities of the victims were not immediately released. 

But the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League confirmed that Reimer, who was just 16, was one of the victims. A statement on the team’s website said he was one of several young breakout players on the Oil Kings roster during their 2020-21 Central Division Championship season.

“I will never forget the first phone call we had the day we drafted him to the organization and the excitement of Caleb on the other end of the line,” Kirt Hill, President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, said in a statement.

“We will truly miss having Caleb in our lives each and every day. He was part of our family and will be a tremendous loss in all of our hearts.”

The Langley Rivermen of the BCHL confirmed that Sharma, who was also 16, died in the crash, too.

“Today we lost a young man who made each and every one of our lives better as well as brighter every day he came to play the game we all love,” said a statement this weekend on the team’s website.

“We as an entire organization wish the Sharma family our deepest and sincerest condolences.”

The Delta Hockey Academy, which offers programs that combine hockey and school, said in a statement that three student-athletes with the academy, located in Delta, B.C., died on Saturday morning.

The statement, which did not name the athletes, noted the Delta School District was organizing support services and resources for its student-athletes starting Monday.

A junior team that also suffered a tragedy in 2018 when their team bus and a semi-trailer collided at a rural Saskatchewan intersection, killing 16 and injuring 13, tweeted its own message in response to the deaths.

“The Humboldt Broncos would like to send out condolences to the families and friends of Caleb Reimer, Ronin Sharma and Parker Magnuson,” the tweet stated.

“Our thoughts are with you.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2021.

The Canadian Press