Up-and-coming hockey player Stacey-Lynn Kenny and her father, Corey Kenny, have died after their motorcycle was involved in an accident that included another vehicle and a moose in Aquaforte, Newfoundland on Monday, June 22.
Stacey-Lynn, 19, and Corey, 48, were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was looked over by paramedics but did not need additional care, according to Canada’s CBC News. A police investigation is underway.
Stacey-Lynn played for the Triple-A Eastern Ice Breakers, coached by Tony Goobie, who dubbed her a “player’s player.”
“Everybody, her teammates, her coaches, you know, always looked at her as a shining light,” he told CBC News in a story published Friday, June 26.
Another one of her coaches recalled how she would bring her teammates together.
“I think she was the only player that I knew of who could get girls up at 6 a.m. in the morning and get them all to go to [Tim Horton’s] together or do something special together,” coach Tom Walsh said.
“She was not only a team player on the ice but off the ice. Like, she brought so much light and joy,” teammate Julia Butler added. “You were always laughing when Stacey was around.”
Stacey-Lynn’s other teammates echoed Butler, with Brooklyn Kitchen calling her, “the best teammate you could ask for. She was always just the funniest person in the room.”
In the days since the accident, residents of Stacey-Lynn’s home town of Bay Bulls have left hockey jerseys and sticks outside their homes, something the town called a “simple but meaningful gesture.”
“In times like this, we are reminded of the compassion and unity that bind us together, and we encourage residents to continue supporting one another in the days ahead,” the town said in a statement to CBC.
Haley Ryan, who played on multiple teams with Stacey-Lynn, credited the community’s support as “amazing.”
“It’s been pretty unimaginable. You never really think that something like this would happen,” she said. “But I think it’s the classic Newfoundland hockey way, the community that we have… The love and support is definitely felt by everyone, for sure.”
The Women’s Junior A Hockey League, where Stacey-Lynn played last season, announced on Monday, June 29, that it would rename its season-long trophy after her, calling it the Kenny Cup. Local station VOCM reported that Stacey-Lynn played in the league after a “lengthy hospitalization” kept her off the ice last year.
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