Former BCHL hockey player found dead in upstate New York

GENESEO, NEW YORK – A former player with the BC Hockey League was one of three people found dead inside an upstate New York home early Sunday.

Matthew Hutchinson, 24, was from North Vancouver had been attending State University of New York just south of Rochester.

Police received a 911 call from a family member of one of the victims, and discovered the bodies of two men and a woman.

The female was a 21-year-old member of the university’s women’s basketball team, and the other man was a 24-year-old former student.

Hutchinson had spent four years playing for the Chilliwack Chiefs, the Surrey Eagles, the Quesnel Millionaires and the Coquitlam Express.

He was a fourth year student majoring in Geography and Business, and last summer was fighting wildfires with the BC Wildfire Service.

Junior hockey trainer Cam Janzen remembers Hutchinson from his days with the Chiefs.

“‘Hutch’ was one of the good guys. He was one of the good ones. You see kids going through junior hockey, living the life. But ‘Hutch’ knew what he wanted to do. He showed up at the rink on time. He didn’t break the rules. He was one of those kids.”

Hutchinson was one of the players he kept in contact with and spoke with him a few months ago.

“I asked him how the firefighting thing was going. He says it was going awesome. He was up in Merritt this summer. He was pretty passionate about it. He wanted to be a full-time firefighter.”

Chiefs president Glen Ringdal says he will be remembered fondly.

“A good player on our team. We didn’t have a lick of trouble from him. He was a good contributor,” he recalls.

“I know he was well-respected not only by his fellow players, but also by his coaches and other teams, as well. He was certainly an asset for us in Chilliwack. We are very, very sad about this news.”

Police aren’t releasing details about the incident but do say that the perpetrator may have been one of the three people found.