Eli Palfreyman (Ayr Centennials on Instagram).

Less than a week after being named captain of the Ayr Centennials of the Junior B Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, 19-year-old Eli Palfreyman passed away during  a game against the Boston Jr. Bruins. The Centennials were playing in the Ayr Mutual Global Invitational tournament, which featured six teams from Ontario, Quebec, the U.S., and Germany. On Wednesday, the township of North Dumfries (which runs one arena where games were played), posted about Palfreyman’s death:

The Centennials sent out a #RIP17 tweet of their own:

And they offered some more details in a statement, as Kevin Nielsen of Canada’s Global News reports:

“The Ayr Centennials are devastated to announce that our captain Eli Palfreyman passed away last night,” Brian Shantz, the vice-president of the Centennials, said in a statement.

“We are asking for your prayers and support for Eli’s family and each of our players. Our Centennials organization and the community of Ayr are in mourning.”

He says the team has reached out to medical staff and grief professionals to support members of the organization and credited the response from Waterloo paramedics.

“Eli had the best of care from our medical staff and quick response from the ambulatory staff,” Shantz wrote.

“Medical doctors will have more answers for us in the coming days. Out of respect for the family’s right for privacy we will not speculate on anything at this very difficult time. Cen’s nation also needs time to heal during this devastating time.”

It’s not yet clear exactly what happened to Palfreyman. But the rest of the tournament, which had been scheduled to see three games on Wednesday (and which had scouts from multiple NHL teams in attendance), has been cancelled. And tributes have poured in from across the hockey world:

This came just five days after the Centennials named Palfreyman their captain (he had previously been an assistant captain the previous season):

 

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It’s certainly sad to hear of the loss of such a young and promising player. Our thoughts go out to Palfreyman’s family and friends.

[Global News; photo from the Ayr Centennials on Instagram]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.