ATHABASCA — Mounties in northern Alberta say there are multiple injuries after a bus carrying a junior hockey team went off a highway.
Police say the bus went into a ditch south of Athabasca early Friday, and two teens were taken to hospital in Edmonton with non-life-threatening injuries.
Others reported minor injuries and soreness and were treated at the scene.
No fatalities were reported.
RCMP say those on the bus are between 15 and 19, but they didn’t say how many were on board and didn’t identify the team.
The Crowsnest Crush with the National Junior Hockey League says on social media that its weekend games against the Athabasca Rivermen are cancelled because of the crash.
It says the Athabasca team had been on the way to the Crowsnest Pass, south of Calgary, when its charter bus hit some trees.
“Our hearts are heavy this morning as we extended all of our prayers, thoughts and best wishes to the Athabasca Rivermen Junior A Hockey Club and their families. This morning the team was involved in a bus accident with some serious injuries,” said the post.
“As a hockey community, we are all thinking of you and encourage all our Crush fans from near and far to light up the Pass in support and have those sticks out.”
The National Junior Hockey League is an independent organization not affiliated with Hockey Canada.
Police said weather may have been a factor as the road was partially snow-covered and slippery, with the temperature below -30 C.
Athabasca is 140 km north of Edmonton.
The Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team was on its way to a game in Saskatchewan in 2018 when its bus struck a semi-truck that had barreled through a stop sign at a rural intersection. Sixteen were killed and 13 were injured.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2025.
The Canadian Press
