Condolences to the Community of Mayerthorpe, Alta.

BOULDER, Colorado -- The small community of Mayerthorpe, Alberta suffered a tragic loss Tuesday as the town's hockey rink burned to the ground.

A small town of just under 1,500 people located 75 miles northwest of Edmonton, the Mayerthorpe arena was home to an annual memorial hockey game to commemorate the four Royal Canadian Mounted Policemen who were killed there on March 3, 2005.

The four mounties were killed by James Roszco during a property seizure raid. Mr. Roszco ambushed the officers during a raid on his farm with an assault rifle, killing police constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Lionide Johnston, and Brock Myrol. After radio contact with the four officers was lost, the Canadian Forces Edmonton Garrison responded to the scene with armored vehicles. Roszco ended the standoff by turning his gun on himself.

The incident was the largest single-day loss of life by the RCMP in over 100 years. The officers' deaths were commemorated on national television soon after the tragedy, and Queen Elizabeth II paid her respects just two weeks later during a visit to Regina, Saskatchewan. Just one month ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially opened a memorial park in Mayerthorpe in honor of the fallen officers.

The CBC article about the fire can be found here, while a profile of each of the officers killed is here, as well as a documentary about the tragic incident.

Our hearts go out to this community, and we here at Bandy Central are sure the good people of Mayerthorpe will find a way to remember these fallen mounties, even without their arena.