Music: {allcanada} Ex-Hitmen owner one of 3 dead in fiery plane crash

Sunday, September 26, 2010

{allcanada} Ex-Hitmen owner one of 3 dead in fiery plane crash

The former owner of a popular Calgary junior hockey team was one of three men killed in a airplane crash on Friday, sources say.

Police have not confirmed the identities of the victims however the Calgary Herald has learned Chuck Matson, the plane's owner, died in the crash. Matson, who leaves a wife, three daughters and grandchildren, was a former owner of the Calgary Hitmen in the 1990s.

The Calgary Flames released a statement on Matson's passing on Saturday, offering condolences to the businessman's family.

"It is with great sadness that we received the news of the sudden and tragic passing of Chuck Matson," it read. "As a former owner of the Calgary Hitmen, Chuck was an important member of our hockey family and a respected individual in the Calgary community who played a key role in returning the Western Hockey League to our city."

Matson, 51, was a close friend to former Calgary Flames star Theoren Fleury, who wrote about the value of his friendship in his autobiography, Playing With Fire. "He was the ultimate friend, that's for sure. I remember the day I got traded from Calgary, he was the first guy I called and asked if he'd accompany me to Colorado. It was a tough day for me, but he was a friend and helped me get through those first days," said Fleury.

"There's a lot of people who are going to miss him. He was a guy's guy. He was a man of faith, a man of incredible integrity and class. Chuck was a leader. He was a self-made man, an incredibly hard worker, and smart."

Matson, born and raised in Eston, Sask., found success after joining Calgary's Superior Oilwell Cementers Inc. as a trucker in the 1980s. He and a partner bought the company from their bosses. They tripled the company's revenue within two years, winning entrepreneurial awards along the way.

The threat of rain in the weekend forecast forced investigators to rush recording evidence at the scene of the fiery, fatal light airplane crash outside Sundre, Alta.

There is no word yet what caused the single-engine, four-seater Cirrus SR22 to spiral down and slam into afield about 130 kilometres northwest of Calgary, killing three men Friday. Matson died alongside a 42-year-old man from Edmonton and a 43-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., police say.