What Happened to Ben?: A young player dies at an Ontario hockey camp | W5 INVESTIGATION

[Music] ctv's W5 I didn't see him he never came on a team building weekend takes a tragic turn and just kept saying Ben's gone and he died I'm not surprised this happened it was only a matter of time these are just boys and this isn't a culture that should have been allowed to thrive and this is like part of my life maybe not a park maybe all my life the Love of the Game shines through the fog of War they come back and continue the play because it's only way how they can to survive for us the hockey is the biggest words in our lives hockey is not gonna die and we're still alive here is Avery Haynes welcome to W5 they dropped their healthy teenage son off at a supervised Hockey Camp and never saw him again alive and now his grieving parents are haunted by the mystery surrounding his death Rick West had investigates just what happened at that camp and reveals a hockey culture that is protected by a Code of Silence foreign end of summer ritual for hockey players a pre-season Retreat Acres of fresh air in the oak ridge's Moraine of Southwestern Ontario a weekend of bonding for the boys on the Oakville Rangers [ __ ] double a team Ben Teague was 17 years old it was a second year attending the camp he played with the Rangers the previous season it was a team building bonding Hockey Camp with the coaches only and the kids that the team the teammates they did like a tug of war he told me they had a climbing wall there he told me that they had had a food challenge where he had to eat something disgusting and it was just stuff like that and just having some fun with the guys Ben's parents didn't think twice about him going again they told us about the cabin situation there was a couple rooms for the kids and that there was a room for the coaches and they would all be staying in the same cabin images from September 13 2019 paint a picture every parent would love to see telephone pictures and videos taken hours later show the boys having a party in the cabin with alcohol for parents Greg and Susan Teague the hours that followed are still a blur a nightmare it was about 5 30 in the morning Susie woke me up because she'd gone down to answer the phone Rangers head coach Mark Morrow was calling about Ben and I said what happened and Mark said to me he didn't know what happened I asked to speak to Ben and Ben told me right away that he had been drinking we didn't learn until months and months later that Ben couldn't walk on his own at that point like it was more of a you know a critical medical situation that they were in [Music] minutes later at 5 47 a.m an emergency call was made from the camp a 9-1-1 dispatcher speaks with one of the Rangers coaches are they breathing normally no can you describe his breathing for me Ben how are you breathing buddy you keep asking for breath shorter shortness of breath okay can you tell me what happened if you haven't does he have allergies um not that he knows of but um they had drinks alcoholics drinks and uh he doesn't you know he never felt like this before the ambulance arrived at the camp and transported Ben to the Brampton Civic Hospital head coach Mark Mora went with him and stayed on the phone with the teagues while they also started driving so on the way to the hospital I can hear the beeping and I can hear the beep and um I can hear obviously Susie and marker are talking back and forth we probably arrived about two minutes behind the ambulance and I was met in Hull by a nurse somebody in scrubs and they said are you the boy's Mom We're stopped by a nurse who asked us if we've seen a counselor or we have a social worker and when as soon as I heard that I was like this is not like that's not something you ask if things are gonna work out and then the doctor came in and told us that Ben had passed and it was just like I said uh no I said please keep trying because I said he's such a good and uh he said I'm sorry that he couldn't do anything because he'd been down for an hour you don't expect that right it's not something that uh you know your kid goes away to a camp with their coaches in a hockey team and then there's drinking and then he's dead it's like what like what happened Ben was the youngest of Greg and Susan's four children he played baseball and football and spent time at the cottage enjoying water sports but hockey was his first love he showed up at our bedroom door woke us up for one of those six o'clock AM practice it was probably like 5 30 in the morning he was already in his gear and he was ready to go and that was just like what like this has never happened with the other kids like many Canadian kids Ben played house league in those early years [Applause] [Music] and then earned his way onto an Oakville Rangers rep team at the age of 11. Benny was that first one of mine that was he was out front and wanted to be up up on the forward line and carry that Puck and he was very driven that way he dropped back and became a defenseman and that's where he ended up this last uh four or five years in while in rep he wore number four for Bobby Orr as a young guy he would say that Bobby Orr was the greatest hockey hockey player ever and all the other kids in the restroom are like like whose book or he was rushing and trying to get those goals because he liked that Ben had just started grade 12. he was thinking about University and loved math and engineering he even had his own small engine repair business he definitely had a mechanical an engineering type mine for sure the siblings were close stop Ben with his sister Megan and brothers Matthew and Jordan all together at Jordan's wedding in 2016. what do you remember about how you told your other children about what had happened to Ben Greg phoned both of our sons from the hospital and then he had called a friend of his and he took him to Toronto because her daughter was at Ryerson and um he um he didn't want to tell her of the phones we had to be with our kids we had to be together that's the only thing you know it was just a matter of getting us together in the wake of so much grief Ben's parents are still searching for answers I think that there's no one on this plant doesn't know that you you drink a huge amount of alcohol there could be adverse consequences I feel they they must have felt some um it must have felt that it was okay that with the coaches that they drink they must have or else they wouldn't have done it like why is this acceptable culture like why are they why are they letting that go on it's unknown how much ben drank that night he died of acute myocardial injury with necrosis associated with recent alcohol consumption what caused Ben's heart to fail is unknown a toxicology report said Ben's blood alcohol level was negligible .012 [Music] there is one other mystery an additional toxicology report found GHB while this chemical can be produced naturally when used as a recreational drug GHB can provide temporary Euphoria or hallucinations often called G or liquid ecstasy the drug is tasteless odorless and colorless and when mixed with alcohol can be lethal and even tiny doses Ben was a healthy kid he went away that evening I saw him just before he went I'd spent time with them obviously he was you know playing football he was playing hockey he was I was with him all summer on summer vacation and then my boy dies coming up he had stripped off all his clothes and run through the maze naked a glimpse into the dark side of hockey culture what the hell is going on at this Camp when W5 continues thank you more than a hundred thousand kids play minor hockey in Ontario foreign from the age of six Ben Teague loved the game and wore red blue and white with the Oakville Rangers at the age of 17 he had a spot as a defenseman on the [ __ ] double a team on September 13 2019 he drove three teammates North to a pre-season retreat at the YMCA Cedar Glen Outdoor Center I said tell Ben we'll see him on Sunday because I'll be here Sunday night oh my God I was all excited I'm going to see him Sunday perfect but I didn't see him he never came home then died at that camp his parents Greg and Susan Teague want to know why I'm trying to find the truth I'm trying to find out what happened to my son you take a group of 6 15 16 17 year olds you take them away if you just let them like if you just let them go you know that a group of kids are going to get carried away and do some stupid stuff but that's why the coaches are there that's why it's an organized event at a camp with few answers from the York Regional Police who began an investigation in September 2019. Susan started Gathering her own information talking to teammates and their parents tell me what happened when you reached out to other players on that team asking to speak with them and with their kids there wasn't one conversation that we had with those kids that we didn't learn something new most of them that came to the house were very candid about the drinking that they planned the party that they'd all chipped in she started building a detailed timeline between 9 30 pm and midnight the boys had a party which involved drinking and vaping chewing tobacco and dab pens which are handheld electronic vaporizers for Marijuana they sat in the same cabin as the coaches and they drank and the coaches those young coaches came in they themselves told us they came in several times the boys said they didn't hide anything the coaches said they didn't see anything one of those coaches Ted blacker had gone home and head coach Mark Morrow was in a cabin next door he had 14 boys that were directly under his supervision and he has not told us that he went and visited them once and none of the boys said they ever saw Mark nobody told us that Mark went and and even checked in on those boys under his care he left it completely to a 20 and a 26 year old Ian blacker was a junior coach with the team and Alex Susie was its trainer they stayed in the same cabin as the players in a separate room according to the information Susan collected the coaches told the boys to go to bed at midnight [Music] in this video obtained from one of Ben's teammates it shows them minutes later going to a wooden maze 300 meters away we'll give you a hint the end of the maze is in the opposite corner Susan learned this maze was part of a hazing or initiation ritual in which senior players on the team would chase the rookies who were naked in a game of Manhunt and that Ben had won the year before Benjamin had been made rookie of the year because he had stripped off all his clothes and run through the maze naked after they left we both sat there and just were like it just didn't sound like bad not something Ben would do we could never imagine him just on his own thinking he's gonna you know streak one it's weird like the whole thing it's like what the hell is going on at this Camp again at this stage I'm numbed from the fact that my son is gone and I'm starving for information and trying to find out what happened the hours between 1 and 5 a.m were critical according to teammates Ben returned from The Maze with sore legs around 3 AM he was vomiting on the cabin porch then was unable to sleep coaches told the kids to go to bed at 5am Ben went to the coaches for help the head coach called the teaks at 5 30 am 17 minutes later my 9-1-1 call was made [Music] Schoenberg there was confusion over the camp address I start looking on Google Maps Okay where are the closest hospitals like where's the camp where's the closest so we're in a holding pattern home and it was at six so we're talking 5 30. and now all the way to 620 we're like ready to go still waiting still waiting it's a code for King Township one three three zero zero concession 11. it's in front of the Cedar Glen YMCA 17 year old male second unit please the unit fires police or physical unit code for VSA and for a 17 year old male who's now BSA 3086 coming to one male patient patient with a witness BSA we have currently done nine shocks given f amio lidocaine sodium bicarb Greg and Susan learned after obtaining the EMS report that Ben suffered two seizures and received nine shocks 11 doses of epinephrine and two doses of amiodarone his vital signs were absent even before leaving the camp [Music] Ken wilden's son was at the camp for the first time he called his dad that morning when the boys learned Ben had died [Music] it was it was a tough phone call you know he was clearly in distress and we were trying to get him to calm down and and he just said you know like Ben's gone Something's Happened and and um you need to come up and get me and we you know it was horrible to hear sort of that uh Brokenness and uh you know we literally just got in the car and and headed up to the camp as fast as we could and so can you describe what you saw and heard when you arrived at the camp we were immediately sort of scanning the parking lot and trying to find out where he was there were kids off on their own clearly upset as we got out of the car um people were crying um people look sort of bewildered it seemed like there was a lot of shock at first we just gave him a hug and just sort of held on to him right he just kept saying Ben's gone he he died like they told us he died and we're just like like how like what like eight days later in the Aftershock of Ben's death coaches called players and their parents to gather at an Oakville Arena Susan and Greg Teague did not attend chairs were all set up in a circle and I think for us we were looking like well maybe we're going to get some answers tell me about that meeting the coaches sort of walk through a timeline with us they talked about this possibility that this was a pulmonary embolism some sort of blood clot that went to the London and that it was you know nobody's fault and so I think leaving there we felt a little bit of like okay well we have what we think is an answer or a reasonable reason why he passed away are they getting information that we don't have yet because I don't have I don't have that information from the corner I don't have that information from the police why are the coaches broadcasting information that like and where are they getting it from I believe um from the kids that they told them that morning and then died of a pulmonary embolism which is false information we know from the autopsy did not but they also indicated that Ben had a drinking issue of some sort and had died of liver failure Ben's cause of death was undetermined the teags are still looking for answers and the coroner's investigation is still being finalized looking back how do you feel about the coaches suggesting a cause of death days after Ben Teague died well why were we being told that I didn't understand why that's that story or that scenario was put forward to us that sort of caused a red flag for me that okay if if that's not what happened to Ben or if they find out that that's not going to happen surely there's going to be an investigation there has to be you have to figure out what happened to Ben the York Regional Police began an investigation the morning then died as a parent like I I don't know what investigation was done nobody nobody came and spoke to us um there was from the organization there was nobody that approached us or asked us what what happened the only investigation I think we got a call from the police at one point briefly my son gave a statement um and we didn't hear anything else did the police when they asked for a statement ever asked to look at his phone for the photos that might be on it not that I'm aware of no no police also never asked for Ben's phone according to parents we spoke to police never asked for any of the boys phones I know they haven't got Ben's phone I've offered Ben's phone I want them to Take Ben's phone I did not want to crack that phone or do anything to it to interfere with because I thought that it's going to have something on there that's you know that I don't want to be part of messing that up and I've offered it to them but they haven't they don't want it and I don't understand that why do you think that's the case oh boy um well my opinion the police ran with the story that they were first told by the first person that they spoke to who communicated a certain course of events the teagues allege that the first person police spoke with was one of Ben's coaches Ted blacker who returned to the camp amid the chaos early Saturday morning he's also a retired detective Sergeant with the Toronto Police Service there's about 25 other people I'm going to talk to first before I talk to that guy because he wasn't there I'm going to talk to all the kids I'm going to talk to the other coaches that were there I'm going to talk to the camp counselors and then maybe I'll get around to talking to the guy that wasn't there that night Greg understands the process he's been a police officer for more than 30 years and as a trainer on some of Ben's earlier teams he knows hockey the police just took this as these are a bunch of hockey kids oh they're good guys the coaches are you know they did everything they could five months after Ben died the teagues filed a formal code of conduct complaint with the Ontario Hockey Federation and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association they cited neglect from the Oakville Rangers head coach Mark Morrow an assistant coach Ted Blacker their complaint was assigned to an insurance adjuster hired by the Association it became obvious that he worked for Hockey Canada and that was his job so do you feel like he was searching for the truth or that he was potentially limiting trying to limit liability for the organizations I'm sure it's the ladder the teaks have never been provided with any details of that investigation and have no idea what the insurance company concluded they've been given the runaround pretty much by everybody in this case Kevin souch is a Waterloo Ontario lawyer who first met the tegues in 2021. it's difficult to explain how many errors have taken place in the handling of this case the police investigation was not thorough was not complete the medical investigation yielded little results at the most crucial stages of this case you know the morning after this event occurred valuable evidence was lost valuable evidence could have been gleaned from the players that were there and none of this was done nobody really seemed to take the lead in in trying to to solve this the police just were so biased when they investigated this that it was hockey they were kids like them that played hockey they're coaches like them and my boy died at this Camp what the hell went on there coming up this shouldn't happen to any parent breaking through the culture of Silence their children will often end up paying the price they speak out 5 continues [Music] Ben Teague spent hours on the ice every week learning the game of hockey with the Oakville Rangers in 2019 while attending a team building camp with his coaches Ben died at the age of 17. this shouldn't happen to any parent this is the worst thing it's like beyond the worst thing that could happen but I mean you have to think that these are just these are just boys and this isn't a culture that should have been allowed to thrive Ben's parents later learned there was a party at the camp with drinking and drugs and a maze were in the previous year rookies were chased by the seniors naked in a game of Manhunt you just don't go away and say you know we should do get naked go through a maze or you know what this is what we do when we bring alcohol these are systems that have been set up in place where these things have happened the previous year when kids tell the next kid [Music] Justin Davis knows all about hockey rituals good job [Music] Junior Hockey from the age of 15 to 21 and was drafted to the NHL at 18. he's made a career out of teaching and coaching high school kids right right right right [Music] [Applause] Davis in 1999 Justin helped the Ottawa 67s when the Memorial Cup the top prize in the Canadian hockey league four years before that when he was 17 and playing with the Kingston frontenacs Davis experienced the hot box and is now finally talking about it the hot boxes was always a tradition that the rookies would all have to take their clothes off he'd one by one walk to the back of the bus we were told when our name was called the you get undressed you're given Escape lace that you Tire around your genitals and then you walk to the back of the bus on your way to the back of the bus every veteran would pull on the skate lace so we got to the back of the bus you'd have to tell a joke if you told the joke and nobody laughed then you had to get in the hot box five or six rookies who are all naked who are all forced to get in this bathroom the size of a telephone booth at the same time right and the Heat's turned on full blast so it's tough to breathe Justin also remembers the drinking at rookie parties and is speaking up to break a cycle in hockey culture and they rented a couple rooms and uh and there's just alcohol no supervision and the leaders on the team are supposed to take care of things and one by one guys would disappear from the room and you wonder what's happening and they would call your name and you'd strip down and you'd wait and they'd call you into another room and they'd say you need to do a couple push-ups and uh with your genitals in a in a cup of beer and then you'd then you'd leave the room but then you started to realize that when you got into the room you drank a beer before you started the process and then when you start to process what the cycle was the reason things happened to me was because of the coaches that were involved it happened to them Generations before Justin's experiences weren't unique in 2020 a group of former CHL players started a class action lawsuit alleging years of sexualized hazing and initiations and systemic abuse we know that the Canadian hockey league has said that it has zero tolerance on hazing now in major Junior Hockey and in the leagues below it do you think that hazing has been completely eliminated I don't think it's been completely eliminated I think the CHL is doing their best because they realize how badly they failed Generations before them so lower levels of hockey that you really worry about going on it's just a matter of people are getting caught or they're reporting it how can it still be going on why would players believe they can get away with this without being caught I think there's an aura around it I think people talk and they tell stories about they heard this happen and this is how you do things and this is what it takes to be a hockey player from a culture standpoint you just learn these things and it's this normalized Behavior like Susan Teague Paulette Forbes had sons playing rep hockey for the Oakville Rangers how did you feel when you heard what happened horrible it was devastating so why talk about this I am not surprised this happened it was only a matter of time considering the risky Behavior some of these coaches in October 2016 in Oakville Rangers coach verbally abused a player and an outburst in a parking lot after a game in 2017 Paulette learned that that same coach would be on the bench with her son and she pulled him and his brother from Oakville and they relocated to her hometown in Nova Scotia we were going to the rink wondering what's going to happen today it wasn't easy our boys were 13 and 15 at the time this was the only home the only life they knew two years before Ben's death Paulette's son was also invited to a team building camp with the Rangers why didn't you let your son go to a team building event in 2017. we had heard rumors of kids alcohol partying at these events and we had little faith a little trust in the coaches and we decided to not let him attend W5 contacted every parent on Ben teague's roster and only one agreed to speak on camera W5 also contacted parents from the years prior and while many allegations were made only Paulette was willing to speak publicly you've had a family that's grown up in hockey ranks why are people so afraid people don't want to cause any any kind of friction especially with coaches or board members or their children will often end up paying the price they don't want their child to get cut from the team the next year if they speak out and that will be what happens we were right here [Music] it's taken Greg and Susan Teague more than three years to visit a hockey rink again healthy boy goes away there's a party teenagers letting loose doing what they want to do and my boy dies come on in 2022 Greg and Susan Teague filed a civil lawsuit naming the coaches of Ben's team as defendants they claim that had the coaches properly monitored the players and prevented them from consuming alcohol then Ben would not have died why didn't they know why didn't they know because it was their responsibility to to take care of those boys they were minors all of them and they were directly under their care I need someone to say you know we shouldn't let that happen we were really sorry that happened um and I just didn't receive it so W5 contacted four coaches on the team one didn't respond Mark Morrow and Alex Susie provided this statement the coaches had no knowledge of any activities in which our players were involved after curfew at all times the club and coaches required compliance with all team policies and codes of conduct W5 also contacted the Oakville Rangers hockey club regarding their policies pertaining to the use of alcohol by players coaches and staff and in their response they said orhc upholds a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol at any Association events or activities regardless of location for its members and any individuals attending or participating coaches and team officials have the same code of conduct only days after Ben's death the coaches returned to the bench two months later the team went on a trip to California and in 2023 the head coach of Ben's team Mark Morrow is still behind the bench coaching a new team of players we asked the Oakville Rangers about those decisions and the team said we are unaware of any finding of wrongdoing or fault on the part of the involved coaches or the organization the club concluded that it had no basis upon which to ask the coaches to step down three years has gone by and these coaches are still coaching like this this went on and there's been no one's answer to this no responsibilities been taken there's been no apology there's been no change of of how they do things there's been there's been nothing um and I just don't understand like somebody died here what could the York police do now if they wanted to make this right if they want to try to address the shortcomings in their investigation what could they do I have no confidence in the York Regional Police with respect to this investigation the way this has gone the way we've been treated the um it's it's uh I I don't know what to do but I think at different Police Department should be investigating this from the beginning W5 contacted York Regional Police requesting an interview with Detective Sergeant John Lowry who has been in charge of the file since 2020. York Regional Police declined and provided this response while the case remains open our investigators have not found any evidence to suggest Foul Play or any criminality in this incident [Music] man I miss him every day obviously um yeah I just miss his presence and then being around and doing things with them and spending life what could have been [Music] the teags have now filed a formal complaint with the office of the independent police review director they want York Regional Police removed from their son's sudden death investigation and a new Police Service appointed to the prohub

Channel: Official W5

Views: 198,800

Keywords: W5, documentary, investigation, ctv w5, documentary w5, ctv news, ctv, W5 2023 episodes, hockey, hockey culture, canadian hockey culture, hazing, hockey hazing, ben teague, ben teague oakville, oakville rangers, minor hockey, midget AA hockey, hockey player dies, ice hockey, hockey hazing rituals, initiation ritual, hockey canada

Id: 153QgILCwj8

Length: 35min 33sec (2133 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 22 2023