Monday: The Lethbridge Hurricanes have released an update on the players’ conditions, and have cleared up some confusion about the incident. The fire happened at the home of minor league player Tyler Wong, and not during a bachelor party.
Alfaro and Bellerive are in stable condition, but Vandervlis is in a medically-induced coma and still considered in critical condition. The Vandervlis family has released a statement saying that alcohol was not a factor.
Sunday: Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive, along with Lethbridge Hurricanes teammates Ryan Vandervlis and Matt Alfaro, were injured last night in a fire that broke out at a bachelor party the three were attending. All three were taken to hospital with one—who Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports is not Bellerive—being considered in critical condition. The Penguins released a statement explaining that they were in direct contact with Bellerive and expect him to make a full recovery.
Global Lethbridge’s Liam Nixon provides an update on incident as its reported that the injuries are burns stemming from someone throwing a substance into a fire pit, which caused an explosion.
Bellerive was signed last September following an outstanding performance at the team’s development camp, and followed it up with a 92-point season as captain of the Hurricanes. His 25 points in 16 playoff games took them all the way to the WHL Conference Finals, though they would be defeated by the eventual champion Swift Current Broncos. Bellerive is still just 19 years old and was expected to return to Lethbridge for 2018-19.
The situation for Vandervlis, a current Hurricanes player and Alfaro a former teammate who now attends the University of Calgary is unclear, with the WHL team only offering this statement:
All three players are currently being treated in a hospital for various injuries sustained in the incident. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families at this time. On behalf of the Hurricanes, the players’ families and teammates we ask you to respect the privacy of those affected.