Melville, Sask. native and NHL Forward Jarret Stoll is mourning, along with his family, the loss of his teenage nephew.
17-year-old Jordan Stoll was killed Saturday in a two-vehicle collision on Highway 10, just south of Yorkton.
He was on his way to the Saskatchewan Roughriders game in Regina with his friend, 18-year-old Hunter Arnold, when their vehicle struck a northbound car.
Arnold remains in hospital in serious condition.
The driver of the other vehicle, 29-year-old Tyler Dobko, was also killed.
RCMP are still investigating the cause of the crash.
“He was a very sensitive, caring, loving kid who had his whole life ahead of him,” Stoll said of his nephew. “Definitely not fair what happened.”
Stoll said he and Jordan were quite close.
The teenager was very involved in his uncle’s NHL career, following him wherever he could.
“We spent a lot of time together in the hockey rink,” he said. “My parents took him everywhere, he didn’t want to miss a road trip. Any game that was between 8 and 10 hours away, he wanted to be there.”
Jordan joined Stoll in Los Angeles when he won two Stanley Cups with the Kings.
“He was along for every ride,” he said.
In the summers, Stoll said his nephew was committed to farming. Their last conversation they had was over the phone while Jordan was combining.
“(We talked) about how it was going, how long he’d been in the field and how the crop was looking,” Stoll said.
He added it was typical of Jordan to check in with family members, even texting his grandpa once in a while to see how he was doing.
Stoll flew back from Columbus to be with his family after Jordan’s death.
He had signed a professional try-out deal with the Blue Jackets to try and win a spot on their roster for the upcoming season.
He says the memory of Jordan will influence the rest of his career.
“You think about him all the time,” he said. “And you go from there.”