The Carolina Hurricanes confirmed this morning that a bus carrying players and staff of their minor league affiliate, the Albany River Rats, crashed early this morning. River Rats that Hurricanes fans might recognize, due either to recent call-ups or strong training camp performances, are Bryan Rodney, Brett Carson, Casey Borer, Jakub Petruzalek, and Harrison Reed.
The bus reportedly slipped due to slippery conditions, hit a guardrail and flipped onto its side around 3 a.m. on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Becket. The team was traveling back from Lowell, Massachusetts, where it lost to the Lowell Devils, 3-2, earlier that night.
Accounts are varying, but most of those on the bus were transported to a local hospital and somewhere between three and five players and coaches were seriously injured. They will remain in the hospital while the team travels on.
The team is scheduled to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at home tomorrow night, but head coach Jeff Daniels said the game will probably be canceled.
Until the players’ and coaches’ families have been notified, the team will not release the names of those still in the hospital. Defenseman Tim Conboy, whom the Hurricanes called up earlier today (presumably to fill in for the injured Niclas Wallin) was not involved in the bus accident.
Here are two of the more informative articles on the crash:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h7Sbbt7w50Wv3YhHDpO-24mxN0Pw
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_11738644?source=most_emailed
