'Everyone is devastated': Hockey community mourns loss of young leader
The hockey community in Chatham-Kent and beyond is mourning the sudden death of a player caught in a highway crash this week in London.
Craig Spence, a 22-year-old man from Chatham, has been identified by some of those closest to him as the victim in a fatal crash on Highway 401 on Tuesday afternoon.
“Everyone is devastated,” said Bob Price, the general manager of the Blenheim Blades. “There’s nothing but sorrow.”
Spence was the captain of the Blades after playing four seasons along the blue line for the Chatham Maroons and was a draft pick of the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League.
It was around 3 p.m. on Tuesday when Ontario Provincial Police report officers were called to a collision between a transport truck and a pick-up truck in the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 near Colonel Talbot Road. OPP report the crash resulted in the ejection of the driver from the passenger vehicle.
The driver of the pick-up truck was pronounced dead at the scene.
The sudden and violent death has been met with an outpouring grief and condolences.
“Players really respected him,” said Price. “They’re all suffering right now along with his parents and we feel for them.”
The Blenheim Blades organization took to social media with a statement in honour of Spence which included the message:
“To the Blades family, he was Spence, easy with a smile, always willing to step up if help was needed, he was a dedicated teammate, brother and a friend to all of us in the Blades family.”
“Forever #10 Our Captain.”
The Chatham Maroons also issued a statement today:
“Craig was more than just a stellar athlete on the ice; he embodied the essence of what it meant to be a genuine and wonderful human being. #10 Forever a Maroon. Craig Spence will live on in our hearts.”
Condolences have also poured in from the OHL and other teams that competed against Spence, Including the Amherstburg Admirals and Essex 73’s, in the wake of the tragedy.
A GoFundMe page has been launched meant to help support the family with funeral expenses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
NDP want Liberals to scrap proposed election date change that could secure pensions for many MPs
The federal New Democrats want to amend the Liberal government's electoral reform legislation to scrap the proposal to push back the vote by a week and consequently secure pensions for dozens of MPs, CTV News has learned.
Israel's war cabinet minister moves to dissolve parliament: statement
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz's centrist party has proposed holding a vote to dissolve parliament in a bid to bring about an early election, his party said in a statement on Thursday.
DEVELOPING BMO clients face outages in Canada, U.S. following data centre fire alarm
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Exorbitant fees get Gazans out with no help from Ottawa
The comforting sound of giggling grandchildren has chased away the cloud of anxiety that has loomed over Mohammed and Intisar Nofal's home for the past seven months.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., begins RBC Canadian Open defence
Nick Taylor begins the defence of his RBC Canadian Open title this morning.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.