‘These boys were all of our kids’: Nanton mayor, billet mom on deaths of Alberta junior hockey players

Porch lights will be left on and hockey sticks will be left out.

Hockey communities across southern Alberta, the rest of the province and the country will show their mourning of three junior hockey players killed Monday in a vehicle collision.

Caden Fine, JJ Wright and Cameron Casorso “mattered,” Nanton’s Mayor Jennifer Handley said, and “will be spoken of with love in our towns for a long time to come.”

Monday’s deadly crash happened around 11 a.m. on Highway 2 at Secondary Road 527.

The crash involved the small car the three boys were in, driving from Nanton to Stavely for practice with the Southern Alberta Mustangs, and a large truck hauling gravel.

Caden Fine, 17 years old, along with JJ Wright and Cameron Casorso, both 18 years old, died at the scene.

Handley, whose family hosts young hockey players, fought a tremble in her voice and tears in her eyes Tuesday as she spoke to press.

“They become a part of our homes,” she said.

“Another plate at the table, another pair of skates by the door, another son we worry about when the roads are bad and it’s late.

“These boys were all of our kids—the kids we wave at, coach, cheer for and watch grow up.”

Handley said hockey runs deep within these communities.

“It’s not just a sport,” she said.

“It’s generations of early mornings, long drives, cold rinks and proud parents in the stands.

“These young men were part of that story, and we will honour them.”

Fine is from Birmingham, Ala.

Wright is from Kamloops, B.C.

Casorso is originally from Calgary and more recently of Kamloops.

RCMP say there doesn’t appear to be anything criminal about Monday’s deadly crash.

“Preliminary investigation shows that the semi was travelling northbound on Highway 2 and the passenger vehicle was going eastbound across Highway 2 at the time of the collision,” Cpl. Gina Slaney said.

The intersection isn’t unsafe, she said.

Handley said in a community along a highway, “This is a way of life.”

“We drive these roads and cross these intersections every day,” she said.

“We know the risks. We pray (the kids are) safe. And yet we always live with the ‘what if.’”

Handley said on Monday that “what if” came true and “has taken three young lives.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up.

A benefit game will be played Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Stavely arena.

Quiet community gestures—the porch lights and hockey sticks—began Monday evening.