Colby Cave

Colby Alexander Cave (December 26, 1994 – April 11, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers.

Cave was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan and began playing minor ice hockey in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League.

Cave was born on December 26, 1994, in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, to Al and Jennifer Cave.

Colby and his sister Taylor grew up just outside of Battleford, on the family cattle farm.

Cave began ice skating at the age of three, and started playing ice hockey when he was five years old.

In addition to hockey, he enjoyed playing with toy cars and tractors and watching John Wayne films.

His favourite film growing up was The Lion King, which he continued to enjoy well into adulthood.

Cave began playing minor ice hockey in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League.

The Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected him in the first round of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft, but traded his junior ice hockey rights to the Swift Current Broncos in 2011.

While playing with the Battlefords Bantam AA Barons and the Battlefords Midget AAA Stars, Cave scored 29 goals and 43 assists between 2009 and 2011.

During his second season with the Stars, Cave served as team captain.

Before being called up to the Western Hockey League (WHL), Cave also played three games with the Battlefords North Stars of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

The Kootenay Ice selected Cave in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.

The Swift Current Broncos, managed by Mark Lamb, acquired Cave's junior ice hockey rights in January 2011, as part of a trade that sent Cody Eakin to the Ice.

Cave made his WHL debut with the Broncos the next month, on February 25, 2011.

In 2011–12, his first full season playing in the WHL, Cave scored six goals and 10 assists for a total of 16 points in 70 games for the Broncos.

He more than doubled these numbers in the 2012–13 season, posting 21 goals and 20 assists in 72 appearances with the Broncos.

Going into the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Cave 89th among all North American skaters, and 42nd among WHL skaters in their final-season rankings.

In advance of the 2013–14 WHL season, Cave was named the captain of the Broncos, succeeding Adam Lowry.

In 2014–15, Cave returned as captain and set career offensive highs with 75 points (35 goals and 40 assists) in 72 games.

He was awarded both Team MVP and the Coach's Award from the Broncos at the conclusion of the season.

Across his junior hockey career, Cave played 302 WHL games with the Broncos, including 287 regular-season matches and 15 playoff appearances.

In those, he collected 202 regular-season points (95 goals and 107 assists) and eight playoff points (four goals and four assists).

While playing with the Broncos, Cave also befriended teammate Jake DeBrusk, who would play with him in the Boston Bruins organization.

As an undrafted free agent in 2015, Cave signed an entry-level contract with the Bruins, and spent five seasons in the Boston system before being claimed off waivers by the Oilers.

Cave made 67 total NHL appearances between 2015 and 2020, scoring nine points.

On April 7, 2015, the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) signed Cave as an undrafted free agent to an entry-level contract with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

Cave made his AHL debut a week later, in a 4–1 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack on April 12, 2015.

During the 2015–16 AHL season, Cave's first full season with the Providence Bruins, he appeared in 75 regular season games and scored 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points, as well as two goals and one assist in three playoff appearances.

The following year, Cave was named alternate captain of the Providence Bruins at the age of 22.

The 2016–17 AHL season was an offensive improvement for Cave, who recorded 13 goals and 22 assists in the regular season, as well as one goal and five assists in 17 playoff appearances.

During the 2017–18 NHL season, the final season of his rookie contract with the Bruins, Cave received his first recall to the NHL on an emergency basis on December 21, 2017.

He made his NHL debut the same day, playing on the same line as former Broncos junior teammate Jake DeBrusk in a 2–1 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

Following his debut, Cave was reassigned to Providence.

He played most of the season with the Providence Bruins, returning as alternate captain and scoring 11 goals and 22 assists in 72 AHL games.

Cave was once again called up to the NHL in April, filling in for injured skater Tommy Wingels in two games against the Florida Panthers.

On the evening of April 6, 2020, Cave began complaining of headaches.

His condition deteriorated throughout the night, and he was airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, where doctors performed emergency surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing brain bleed.

After spending four days in a medically-induced coma, Cave died on April 11, 2020, at the age of 25.

News of his death was met with memorials from his hockey teammates and coaches, as well as the establishment of the Colby Cave Memorial Fund.