Hockey player from small Newfoundland town suffers serious injuries in car crash

BISHOPS FALLS, N.L. – People in a small community in central Newfoundland are anxiously awaiting news about a promising young hockey player who was injured in a car crash earlier this week and is in hospital after undergoing surgery for a head injury.

Eighteen-year-old Scottie Greene from Bishop’s Falls was taken to hospital in Saint John, N.B., on Wednesday after a vehicle he was in left the road, struck a power pole and rolled.

The RCMP said two other young men who play on the St. Stephen Aces team also were taken to hospital for injuries after the crash.

Rob Canning, a former coach of the defenceman, said Greene is well known in his hometown both for his hockey skills and his outgoing personality.

He said in an interview on Friday morning that the latest word he had from the father was that Greene sustained a head injury, had undergone surgery and was being kept in an induced coma.

“By no means is (Greene) out of the woods. He has a long road to coming out of this,” he said.

“When you’re dealing with a brain injury (doctors) can’t really say. It’s touch and go right now and we’re just praying for Scottie and hoping he can pull through.”

Canning said for the past 15 years Greene has participated in community events and he is a role model to many young people in Bishop’s Falls.

“The vast majority of the town is in a lot of pain,” said Canning. “There is a lot of hurting people throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Derek Ford, the president of the Bishop’s Falls minor hockey association, said in an interview that whenever Greene came home he would work with young people in the town to coach.

“We’ve started organizing fundraising and there’s been an outpouring of support … Everyone is aware, everyone is watching this,” he said.

Greene was an offensive defenceman who briefly played as a rookie for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, before being placed at the St. Stephen junior A team to hone his skills this year.