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| Oklahoma City Barons (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Last week, was a tough week for hockey. While we morn the passing of former Colorado College Tiger forward
Scott Winkler. Last week, we also got word that
Edmonton Oilers prospect
Kristians Pelss had drowned in Latvia.
Joanne Ireland, Edmonton Journal - For days Josh Green held out hope that Kristians Pelss had not drowned, that it was just a horrible coincidence that he was missing and that someone else had jumped into the Daugava River in Riga, Latvia.
Sadly, the search came to a tragic end on Saturday when Pelss, a 20-year-old Edmonton Oilers prospect, was confirmed dead.
“When I heard the initial reports, I was absolutely floored. You just feel sick to your stomach but you keep hoping for a miracle. It’s so sad,” said Green, the captain of the Oklahoma City Barons.
“We spent most of the year with him. He didn’t play in the playoffs but he was with us every day. Just a real good kid, a real hard worker, and he had this dry wit when it came to his humor, which is what I liked about him.”
Travis Ewanyk spent two seasons with Pelss in the Oil Kings fold, a memorable stretch that included the team’s Memorial Cup run in 2012. Ewanyk then closed out this season with Pelss in Oklahoma City. He had many conversations with Oil King teammates and coaches over the course of the past few trying days.
