WRAL Sports Fan

Hurricanes

Four from Canes' AHL team hurt in Mass. bus crash

Feb 19, 2009

Becket, Mass. — Three people were seriously injured when a bus carrying the minor league hockey team of the Carolina Hurricanes rolled on its side on Interstate 90 westbound in western Massachusetts early Thursday morning, state police said.

The bus carrying the AHL's Albany River Rats home from a game in Lowell struck a guard rail and rolled on its side in Becket at about 3:35 a.m., Sgt. David Mahan said.

Three people were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield with what he called "serious" injuries. He did not release names. It was unclear whether those injured were players, coaches or managers.

Twenty-nine others on the bus were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Coach Jeff Daniels told The Times Union of Albany that four people were admitted to the hospital and that the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. He described them as lacerations.

The names of the injured would not be made public until their families were notified, Daniels said.

"We were very fortunate and lucky," he said.

The accident is under investigation, but Mahan said slippery roads caused by overnight snow may have been a factor. Both lanes of the highway were closed following the single-vehicle accident, but traffic was allowed to pass in the breakdown lane.

The River Rats lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Lowell Devils on Wednesday night.