A bus full of Junior B Hockey players from Princeton BC slid off the highway in the early hours of Sunday morning.
At least one player, as well as the driver, were transported to Princeton General Hospital as a precautionary measure and were later released, according to Princeton Posse head coach Mark McNaughton.
The accident occurred at 1 a.m. on Highway 5A, near Otter Lake Road.
McNaughton credited the bus driver鈥檚 quick actions with preventing a more serious crash.
鈥淗e actually did a phenomenal job.鈥�
The bus 鈥渉it some ice鈥� and started to slide while attempting to negotiate a 90 degree turn, said McNaughton.
鈥淗e started started sliding and he adjusted to go the right way鈥e steered it straight into a snow bank instead over towards the embankment.鈥�
The bus avoided a seven foot plunge, he said.
The team was returning from a Saturday night game in 100 Mile House and many of the players were asleep at the time of the accident.
Ethan Schmor, who spoke with The Spotlight Sunday morning, said the incident was 鈥減retty scary.鈥�
鈥淚 was asleep and then there was the biggest bang ever and we all just launched out of our seats.鈥�
He said the coach made sure each rider was okay, and then spent time keeping people calm while they waited for police and ambulance.
The accident occurred about 50 km from Princeton, and the call went out for team volunteers to come from town and shuttle the players back to their homes.
McNaught said the bus was damaged, but was able to be driven to Princeton Sunday morning.
鈥淔ourteen years of riding hockey busses and this is the first accident I鈥檝e dealt with.鈥�
