'He made a big difference': Coaches, players pause to remember Colby Cave

Edmonton Oilers' Colby Cave (12) returns to the bench after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh on Nov. 2, 2019. Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave died April 11, 2020 after suffering a brain bleed earlier this week. He was 25. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Gene J. Puskar, File

EDMONTON — The world of hockey gathered Saturday to mourn the death of Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave, who died after suffering a brain bleed earlier this week.

“He just couldn’t overcome it, which is so sad and devastating,” former Oiler Mark Lamb told CTV News.

The 25-year-old native of Battleford, Sask., was placed in a medically-induced coma on Tuesday at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. He was airlifted to Toronto after being admitted to a hospital in Barrie, Ont., on Monday.

Lamb coached Cave for four years while he played in the Western Hockey League for the Swift Current Broncos.

“In his short time here he made a big difference. He affected a lot of people because of the positive way that he lives his life, the energy that he brought and how he treated people,” said Lamb. “It was just right from his heart how he treated people.”

Lamb's comments were echoed by a flurry of prominent faces from the NHL.

“Obviously he’s going to a better spot because there was nobody that lived life as positive as Colby did,” said Lamb.

“For him not to be able to fight through this and to lose him so early, it was just something he couldn’t overcome.”

With files from The Canadian Press