When Sawyer Smith thinks about teammates Caden Fine and JJ Wright, he remembers an instance of team tomfoolery on the golf course.
He was with Cameron Casorso on the course when Fine and Wright brought Timbits from a nearby Tim Hortons for them to smash off the tee box.
“Pretty much sums up how they were as people,” he said with a smile. “Very motivated and fun.”
Casorso, Fine and Wright, who all played on the Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey team, died last Monday in a highway car crash on their way to a practice in Stavely, Alta., a small town of about 550 people south of Calgary.
Wright and Casorso, both 18 from Kamloops, B.C., and Fine, 17, from Alabama, were crossing a highway near Stavely when their car collided with a semi truck hauling gravel.
Family, teammates and friends spoke about them before a memorial benefit game in their honour Sunday.
JJ Wright was a forward, but he was shifted to defence early on in the season, said his father Chris Wright. The player was told if he wanted to return to his old position, that he should bring it up to the coach.
“He says, ‘Yeah, I will, dad, but tomorrow Cameron’s in goal and I’ve got to protect Cameron,”‘ said Wright.
At the ceremonial puck drop ahead of the game’s start, Chris Wright stood on the blueline where his son had remained for the rest of his time on the team.
In net, Casorso’s jersey hung from the crossbar. At centre ice was Daniel Fine, Caden’s father. He said the love and support in the area since he arrived was “overwhelming.”
The Mustangs are working to bring players to Alabama for Caden Fine’s memorial service.
“We’re 2,300 miles away, for the team and everybody to come that far away just shows their level of commitment to my son,” said Fine.
Sunday’s memorial pitted the Mustangs against the Stavely Spurs, a medley of former players from the area blended into an alumni team for the benefit game.
The game brought in donations to support the family and team travel costs to attend their late teammates’ funerals.
“It’s definitely not going to be easy,” said Taydon Perkins, a winger for the Mustangs, of playing the memorial game without them.
“But we’re all going to decide to stick it out for the three. They were brothers.”
Perkins wore Fine’s jersey during the warm up. On the Mustangs helmets were stickers with the jersey numbers and names of the players.
Lisa May, the Mustangs owner, thought it most important to get the players back on the ice, fearing trauma and grief could hold them back.
“They have done practices and they’ve done penguin slides down the centre ice with no shirts on. But they need normalcy and routine, and we need that now,” May said.
The team’s next game is Saturday, against the Onion Lake Cree Nation Scouts. Members of the Scouts were in the packed stands after putting off their own Sunday game.
All three late players lived with one billet family, the Dozemans, who said the players were like family.
Morgan Dozeman remembered Wright for how well he fit in, his helpfulness and taking up the bathroom with extended baths. Casorso, she said, was the responsible caretaker, while Fine was funny with a southern charm.
The family affectionately remembered the players’ loud tendencies, their affinity for taco Tuesday and their ability to drain the household’s chocolate milk supply.
“We should have bought shares in chocolate milk,” said Dozeman alongside her family.
The house has been much quieter since Monday.
“I’m going to miss the chaos in the house,” said Mak Dozeman, saying the players were like brothers to her.
RCMP continue to investigate the cause of the collision, though officers have so far indicated it wasn’t criminal.
The Alberta Transportation Ministry said it will review the intersection, which is standard procedure in cases of fatalities.
Stavely resident raises concerns about intersection after fatal crash
Support for the team has stretched beyond continents. The Sunday benefit game is among several ongoing fundraisers that have, so far, raised tens of thousands of dollars for the families.
The billet family also had messages of support for the driver of the truck involved in the collision, describing them as “shattered.”
“It’s important to acknowledge that there is no fault here. It was an accident,” said Morgan Dozeman.
The Mustangs won the benefit game 9-6. Afterwards, the team’s players glided to the front of the goalie net and into a group hug.
