The hockey community is mourning the loss of Orca Wiesblatt, a minor league hockey player whose team announced he was killed in a car crash over the weekend in British Columbia, Canada.
Wiesblatt was 25 years old.
“We are all heartbroken,” Allen Americans head coach and general manager Steve Martinson said in a statement released by Wiesblatt’s ECHL team on Monday, Sept. 15.
“Orca was really looking forward to this next step in his hockey career,” Martinson’s statement added. “He wasn’t just skilled, he was a momentum-changing hitter. I can still see his grin when he would return to the bench after one of his big hits. That is what we will miss the most, his infectious smile.”
Wiesblatt was coming off his first full season as a professional hockey player and was set to make his debut with the Allen Americans next month when the 2025-26 ECHL season begins.
The Calgary, Alberta native had an exceptional pro debut last season with the Athens Rock Lobsters, scoring 42 points in just 37 games. Wiesblatt’s former team also shared the news of his death with a memorial post on social media and wrote its organization was “heartbroken.”
“Orca will always be remembered for his energy, toughness, and infectious smile,” his former team said, adding, “Once a Rock Lobster, forever a Rock Lobster.”
The hockey community is mourning the loss of Orca Wiesblatt, a minor league hockey player whose team announced he was killed in a car crash over the weekend in British Columbia, Canada.
Wiesblatt was 25 years old.
“We are all heartbroken,” Allen Americans head coach and general manager Steve Martinson said in a statement released by Wiesblatt’s ECHL team on Monday, Sept. 15.
“Orca was really looking forward to this next step in his hockey career,” Martinson’s statement added. “He wasn’t just skilled, he was a momentum-changing hitter. I can still see his grin when he would return to the bench after one of his big hits. That is what we will miss the most, his infectious smile.”
Wiesblatt was coming off his first full season as a professional hockey player and was set to make his debut with the Allen Americans next month when the 2025-26 ECHL season begins.
The Calgary, Alberta native had an exceptional pro debut last season with the Athens Rock Lobsters, scoring 42 points in just 37 games. Wiesblatt’s former team also shared the news of his death with a memorial post on social media and wrote its organization was “heartbroken.”
“Orca will always be remembered for his energy, toughness, and infectious smile,” his former team said, adding, “Once a Rock Lobster, forever a Rock Lobster.”
