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Some scary news out of Western Canada on this Saturday night, with an announcement from the Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) that Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive is in the hospital right now, along with a teammate Ryan Vandervlis and a former Lethbridge player Matt Alfaro.
Lethbridge Hurricanes issue a statement regarding player incident. pic.twitter.com/XeVcGZN8FM
— Leth_ridge Hurric_nes (@WHLHurricanes) June 17, 2018
At this point there are no further concrete reports of what may have happened.
Bellerive, 19, was signed by the Penguins in September 2017 after going undrafted but impressing upon an invite to summer camp. The center followed up on that with a breakout season putting up 46 goals and 46 assists in 71 games to lead Lethbridge with 92 points be one of the top offensive players in the Western Hockey League last season. Due to that, Bellerive became what prospect guru Jesse Marhsall of The Athletic called a “blue chip prospect” for Pittsburgh.
Obviously at a time like now on a Saturday night in June, none of that matters one bit with the news that he and a couple friends are in the hospital. Hopefully, beyond just hockey but as young human beings there will be some good news in form update coming soon for Bellerive and his two buddies.
UPDATE: A report says this might be related to some sort of fire accident at a stag (bachelor) party. The extent of injuries remains unknown at the current time as to which individual may be in critical condition.
JUST IN: Details on the @WHLHurricanes situation involving @jordybellerive, Ryan Vandervlis, and Matt Alfaro: Sources have confirmed all three were injured at a fire that happened at a stag party they were attending. One of the three is in critical condition. #yql #Lethbridge
— Liam Nixon (@GlobalLiamNixon) June 17, 2018
UPDATE 2:
The Penguins organization has released the following statement. Billy G working some weekend hours and has spoken with Bellerive, who the Pens say is expected to make a full recovery.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been in direct contact with prospect forward Jordy Bellerive since he was injured in an incident on Saturday night. Assistant general manager Bill Guerin has spoken with Bellerive, who is in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery.
The Penguins ask for your thoughts and prayers for the continued recovery of Bellerive and Lethbridge Hurricanes teammate Ryan Vandervlis, and former teammate Matt Alfaro. Their health is our first priority. The team will not have any further information until more details are available.