Nunavik hockey players safe after Quebec bus crash

The Nunavik Nordiks Atoms are pictured here Jan. 25 after a practice in St-Raymond, where they’re playing in a tournament this week. No players were seriously injured when their bus collided with two other vehicles Jan. 26. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NUNAVIK NORDIKS)

A bus carrying young hockey players from Nunavik collided with two other vehicles in southern Quebec Jan. 26 in Portneuf, west of Quebec City, but all hockey players are safe, the Sûreté du Québec provincial police force said.

The players were a group of nine- and 10-year-old boys who make up the Nunavik Nordiks Atoms team, who are training this week for a hockey tournament in St-Raymond.

Sgt. Anne Matheiu of the SQ said none of the players or others on the bus were seriously hurt in the collision, although some were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The driver of one of the cars that collided with the bus is in critical condition, Mathieu said.

“Everyone received the OK from the hospital and the OK to play for the rest of the week,” said the team’s manager and head coach Joé Juneau, the former NHLer hockey star who runs the Nunavik Youth Development Hockey Program.

The Atoms are scheduled to play hockey the evening of Jan. 26, while the tournament is set to begin Jan. 29.

Accident à St Raymond: les jeunes ont reçu leur congé d'hôpital #rcqc pic.twitter.com/xcl94y3dW7

— Alexandra Duval (@duvalalex) January 26, 2016