Eli Palfreyman, the captain of the Ayr Centennials of the GOJHL, passed away on Tuesday night during a game, the team has announced.
Palfreyman was 20. No cause of death was announced.
Palfreyman was playing with the Centennials as part of the Ayr Farmers Mutual Global Invitational Tournament, a six-team tournament featuring teams from Canada, the United States and Germany. All games on Wednesday, the final day of the tournament, were cancelled.
“We are asking for your prayers and support for Eli’s family and each of our players. Our Centennials organization and the community of Ayr are in mourning,” Brian Shantz, the vice president of the Centennials, said in a statement.
Palfreyman, drafted by the OHL’s Peterborough Petes in 2018, played in 109 GOJHL games with Ayr, Kitchener and Pelham, recording 42 points and 368 penalty minutes. Palfreyman was named captain just a few days back.
