Daily Dose

Daily Dose of the Dub: Colby Cave passes away at age 25

Written by Ben Dooley on

In the world we are living in, we are being constantly reminded that a person’s life can change in a split second. On Saturday, we were reminded of that once again with the tragic passing of Colby Cave at the age of 25 following surgery for a brain bleed caused by a colloid cyst.

Cave grew up playing hockey in his hometown of Battlefords, Saskatchewan. He played Bantam hockey for the Battlefords Barons Bantam AA squad and in his WHL draft-eligible season he was recording over two points per game with 24 goals and 21 assists in 20 games.

Cave would be drafted in the first round of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft by the then Kootenay ICE with the 13th overall pick. However, Cave never played for the ICE as he was traded alongside Christian Magnus, Ryan Bloom, Jarett Zentner, Steven Myland, a first-round pick in 2011, a second-round pick in 2011 and a third-round pick in 2012 to the Swift Current Broncos for forward Cody Eakin.

Cave would go on to play parts of five seasons with the Broncos organization. He quickly became beloved by his teammates and fans alike for his hard work, determination and overall positive attitude. These qualities eventually landed him the captain’s ‘C’ with the Broncos for his final couple of seasons in Swift Current.

When the buzzer sounded on his last WHL game he ended with 95 goals and 107 assists in 287 games all in a Broncos uniform.

Cave was never drafted into the NHL but landed himself a contract with the Boston Bruins in the spring of 2015 again because of his hard work and determination that had made him so loved in Swift Current.

Cave’s first NHL goal came in the famed Boston-Montreal rivalry. He only played 23 games for the Bruins before being claimed off waivers by the Edmonton Oilers in January of 2019.

Each of Cave’s final 44 career NHL games came in an Oilers uniform. He finishes his career with 67 NHL games, four goals and five assists.

His final NHL goal came earlier this season against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins scoring the opening goal en route to a big win for his Oilers team in just his third game with the organization.

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To my best friend & love of my life, Colby ? My heart is shattered. The amount of physical, mental, and emotional pain I am in when I think about never seeing, touching, or holding you again is unbearable. You are and will always be my person, my hero, the greatest thing to happen to me. I never dreamed of being a widow before our first wedding anniversary. Although, every cell in my body is lost without you, I promise to continue to make you proud. You were the best friend, husband, doggy daddy, and oh how I wished to see you as a baby daddy. I’ll see you again soon, Colb. You’ll be in heaven meeting me with a warm wet kiss. You’ll be with me every step of the way. I don’t want to stop writing just like I didn’t want to stop holding you this morning at the hospital. You are my everything. You always will be. Thank you for now being the best Guardian Angel. Just as you ended your vows, I am going to end with one word, AGAPE. ✨

A post shared by Emily Cave (@em.cave) on

But far more important than anything he did on the ice, is what Cave leaves behind off of it. He had just been married to wife Emily last summer and they were well on their way to starting their life together.

On behalf of everyone here at DUBNetwork, we are incredibly sorry for not only the Cave’s loss but the loss of the hockey community because Cave’s legacy will no doubt be felt for years to come.

 

*Editor’s Note: There was other news to report today, but given the tragic passing of Colby Cave we felt it inappropriate to discuss anything else today. We’ll catch you up on anything you may have missed on Monday.