MILAN – Doug Armstrong says real life “trumps anything we’re doing here” as he joined other Canadians at the Milan Cortina Olympics who offered condolences to those impacted by the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
Ten people are dead after the shootings on Tuesday in the tiny community in B.C.’s Peace region, including the lone suspect who police said died at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School by suicide.
“First, before we start, just wanted to send our thoughts and prayers from the men’s hockey team out to the Tumbler Ridge community,” the general manager of Canada’s men’s hockey team said in a press conference before his team’s tournament opening game against Czechia. “We’re with you, and you’re in our prayers.”
Armstrong added that news of the shooting “affects everybody.”
“This is sport, and we understand there’s real life, and that trumps anything we’re doing here,” he said. “But all we can do is send our love, send our support, and then go out and do our jobs.”
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Armstrong joined the Canadian Olympic Committee, women’s curling coach Heather Nedohin and alpine skier Cassidy Gray in offering condolences to those affected by the shooting.
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“We are heartbroken by the news of the horrific school shooting that occurred in British Columbia,” the COC said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones, those who are injured, and the entire Tumbler Ridge community. Team Canada stands with everyone affected as they navigate difficult days ahead.”
Nedohin lives in Sherwood Park, Alta., but was born and raised in Fort St. John, B.C., about 170 kilometres away from Tumbler Ridge.
“I can’t imagine what everyone’s feeling (there) and across Canada,” she said. “That’s what we’re going to try to do is unite, and (get) behind everybody, and we’re here as well, understanding the struggles that everyone’s going through.”
Nedohin said she woke up to a message about the tragedy from a Canadian team attaché.
“I (live) in Alberta, but I mean the sense of the community around there, I’m going to probably know somebody,” she said. “I’m waiting to hear from dad. I’m sure he’ll know more details.”
Gray, who is from Invermere, B.C., said her “heart is with all the victims and their families.”
“You are all in our thoughts over here in Italy,” Gray said in an Instagram post. “This one hits close to home as a small-town B.C. girl. Hug your people tight today.”
RCMP have said police are “not in a place” to understand what motivated a shooter suspected of killing two people at a home before going to a school and committing one of Canada’s worst mass shootings.
Tumbler Ridge is a town of about 2,700 residents in northern B.C. near the province’s border with Alberta.
— With files from Joshua Clipperton in Milan and Gregory Strong in Cortina d’Ampezzo
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
