Hockey communities across the Cariboo are coming together to support the family, friends and teammates of a teenager who died in a motor vehicle incident Sunday, Nov. 26 near Quesnel.
Lane Wiggins, 17, a Grade 12 student at Correlieu Secondary School and an assistant captain of the Quesnel Thunder U18 rep hockey team, was one of two teens who lost their lives in the single vehicle collision on the Barkerville Highway east of Quesnel Sunday morning. The other teen, a girl, has not been identified.
Wiggins began playing hockey in Williams Lake when he was just little, but also played in 100 Mile House and, in recent years, Quesnel.
The Williams Lake Minor Hockey Association’s (WLMHA) U18 tournament organizers and players will be honouring his memory at their home tournament Dec. 1-3 in Williams Lake, where Lane’s team will be playing for the first time since the tragedy.
WLMHA president Mike Rispin said on Friday evening between Quesnel’s first game and Williams Lake’s first game there will be a brief ceremony, with a remembrance of Lane and a moment of silence. The plan is to have this all commence at around 7 p.m. in Rink 1 at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
“Lane started his hockey career in Williams Lake and also played in 100 Mile and Quesnel so was well-known in the community and people naturally gravitated towards him and his personality,” said Rispin, offering his condolences to Lane’s family and teammates.
On Saturday, Dec. 2, residents in the area are asked to attend the 9:45 a.m. game between the Quesnel and Williams Lake teams “to fill the stands to show your love and support to the family and the boys during this difficult time,” notes Katharine Robinson.
READ MORE: Two Quesnel youths die in crash
