JJ Wright was one of three Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey players killed in a fatal vehicle crash near Stavely, Alberta while travelling to team practice Monday morning.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say a passenger vehicle carrying Wright and two teammates was travelling east toward Mustangs practice when it collided with a northbound gravel-hauling semi-truck at an intersection along Highway 2, about an hour south of Calgary.
All three players were pronounced dead at the scene.
Wright, an 18-year-old forward from Kamloops, British Columbia, developed as a hockey player in Kamloops’ minor hockey system, where he played for several years before joining the Southern Alberta Mustangs, who compete in the US Premier Hockey League’s Premier Division.
Local hockey officials and teammates described Wright as a player known for his sense of humour, close friendships, and positive presence in the locker room, someone who could lift team morale both on and off the ice.
In a statement released following the crash, the Mustangs organization said there were “no words that can adequately express the depth of our grief,” adding that Wright along with his teammates was “more than a hockey player … a son, brother, and friend.”
A memorial featuring the players’ jerseys and hockey sticks was set up at the Stavely Arena, as tributes poured in from across the Canadian hockey community and beyond.