{"id":2044827,"date":"2023-09-26T08:24:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T12:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/socal-hockey-community-shaken-by-death-of-nic-kerdiles-in-motorcycle-crash\/"},"modified":"2023-09-26T08:27:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T12:27:01","slug":"socal-hockey-community-shaken-by-death-of-nic-kerdiles-in-motorcycle-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/socal-hockey-community-shaken-by-death-of-nic-kerdiles-in-motorcycle-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Tragic Motorcycle Crash Claims Nic Kerdiles, Shakes SoCal Hockey Community."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsocal-hockey-community-shaken-by-death-of-nic-kerdiles-in-motorcycle-crash%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2044827&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Tragic Loss of Nic\u200b Kerdiles: Remembering a Hockey Star<\/h2>\n<p>The Southern California hockey community is in shock and \u200dmourning\u2063 after \u200cthe untimely death of Nic Kerdiles, \u2062a \u200dformer \u200bAnaheim Ducks forward.\u2062 In the early \u2064hours of September \u206223, \u2062Kerdiles tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident in Nashville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Kerdiles, a \u200btalented player who grew up in \u200bIrvine, California, \u200cwas a standout captain for the LA Selects&#8217; 1994-birth-year team. He had the honor of being the only Orange County native \u2064to ever play for the NHL club. The \u2063news \u2062of\u200d his \u2062passing has left his\u200d former coach, Louis\u200b Pacella, \u2063and others\u200b who knew him well struggling to \u2063come to terms\u2063 with the heartbreaking reality.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/sports\/opening-of-ducks-training-camp-to-feature-fan-interaction-5495819?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\">Opening of Ducks\u200b Training Camp to Feature Fan Interaction<\/a><\/h3>\n<p class=\"text-comp-caption\">9\/20\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/sports\/top-ducks-rookie-could-take-a-lesson-from-former-anaheim-star-5491932?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\">Top Ducks Rookie Could Take a Lesson From Former Anaheim \u2064Star<\/a><\/h3>\n<p class=\"text-comp-caption\">9\/14\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Nic \u2064was only 29 years \u2062old. He had his whole life ahead of him,&#8221; \u2062expressed Mr. Pacella\u2064 to\u200b The Epoch Times. \u2063&#8221;It&#8217;s devastating to think about what \u2062happened and why.\u2064 He \u2064should have been at an NHL training camp right now, in the prime of \u2064his \u200ccareer. But that&#8217;s not how it turned out, and now \u200dhe&#8217;s gone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:367px\" class=\"alignleft\"><figcaption>Nicolas Kerdiles (58) of the Anaheim \u2062Ducks skates prior to\u2063 a game against the Boston Bruins at Honda Center\u200c in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2017. (Sean\u2062 M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>According \u2063to a preliminary investigation by\u2063 Nashville police, Kerdiles ran \u200ca stop sign while riding his motorcycle at\u200c around 3:30 a.m. Central\u200d time. He collided \u200dwith a BMW sports-utility vehicle at an intersection in a residential area of north Nashville. Neither driver showed signs of \u2062impairment,\u2064 and no charges were expected.<\/p>\n<p>Kerdiles was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he tragically passed away.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nic was always such a kind-hearted and intelligent person. It&#8217;s hard \u2062to \u2063believe something like this could happen to \u2063him,&#8221; shared Christian\u2064 Rendino, \u2064a former teammate\u2064 from the\u200b LA Selects. &#8220;When you see someone who was a \u200cleader on a successful team, you \u200cexpect\u200c nothing but success for them. But\u2064 what hurts the most is thinking about his family. He was \u2063incredibly close to his sisters. I used to \u2063spend time\u2062 at\u200d their house, and \u200byou could see the strong bond they had.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Born in Lewisville,\u200d Texas, Kerdiles spent his early childhood \u200bin France before his family moved \u2064to Irvine, California. \u2062He is survived by his father\u200c Michel, \u200cmother \u200cNathalie, and sisters \u200bMarine and Mailys.<\/p>\n<p>Early reports of \u200bhis death focused on\u200b his former engagement to reality television personality Savannah Chrisley, which \u200bMr. Pacella found inappropriate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s not\u200c who Nic\u2064 was. He was more than \u2064just\u200c a hockey player. He was\u2063 an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-tech-football-player-charged-with-killing-tinder-date-after-learning-match-was-a-man\/\" title=\"Virginia Tech Football Player Charged With Killing Tinder Date After Learning Match Was A Man\u00a0\">exceptional young man<\/a> with so much potential. He was looking forward \u200dto the \u2063next\u200b chapter \u2064of his life,&#8221; Mr. Pacella \u200bemphasized.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Hockey player Nicolas Kerdiles\u200b (L). (Courtesy of USA Hockey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The hockey community, including\u200b former Ducks coach\u2063 Dallas Eakins, expressed their grief and\u2063 support. Eakins, who coached Kerdiles in the Ducks&#8217; American League farm team, \u200dposted a heartfelt\u2062 message on social media from Australia,\u200d where he was representing the NHL Coaches\u2064 Association.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am absolutely heartbroken by this news,&#8221; wrote Eakins. &#8220;Nic was an amazing kid who always \u200bprioritized others. \u2062He had a \u200cpositive impact on\u2064 his teammates, friends,\u2063 and \u200cfamily.\u2064 May his kind soul \u2062rest in peace.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kerdiles left the \u2064LA Select &#8217;94s, a team \u200bthat regularly \u2063competed\u200d in USA Hockey&#8217;s national championship tournaments, at\u2063 the age\u200d of 16 to join the U.S. National Team Development\u2062 Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He excelled there, winning two gold medals in the\u200b under-18 World Championships, before\u2063 playing two successful seasons at \u200dthe University of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p>Selected by the Ducks\u200b in the second round of \u2064the 2012 NHL draft, \u2062Kerdiles\u200b played in a\u200d total of three \u2064regular-season games and four\u200d Stanley Cup playoff contests for Anaheim in 2017 and\u200d 2018. He recorded one career point, an assist in the 2017 Western Conference final playoff series against the Nashville \u200cPredators.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, the Ducks traded him to the\u200b Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forward Chase De \u2064Leo. However, Kerdiles only appeared in three games for the Jets&#8217; \u200bAmerican League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, during the 2018-19 \u2063season.<\/p>\n<p>Due to recurring concussions, Kerdiles made the difficult decision\u200b to retire from hockey. He \u2063had found success as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/young-people-should-get-involved-in-politics-cant-wait-in-line-rep-cawthorn\/\" title=\"Young People Should Get Involved in Politics, Can\u2019t \u2018Wait in Line:\u2019 Rep. Cawthorn\">real estate agent<\/a>\u2062 in Nashville, but there were reportedly challenging\u2063 times along the way.<\/p>\n<p>T.J. Sneath, another former LA Selects teammate who continues to\u2064 play professional hockey, maintained a close friendship with Kerdiles over the\u2062 years. They last spoke just a couple of weeks ago.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Nicolas\u2062 Kerdiles (58) of the Anaheim \u2064Ducks moves around Brandon Carlo (25) of \u200dthe Boston Bruins during \u2063the third period of a \u2063game at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2017. (Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I know he had been dealing with mental struggles, but \u2062he seemed\u200c to be doing better \u200bin recent months,&#8221; shared Sneath with The Epoch Times.\u200d &#8220;This\u200c time last year, he was going through a tough time mentally.\u2062 I reached out to him more\u200d frequently after his career ended because I knew he\u2062 would be in a \u200cdifficult headspace. He\u200b did struggle, but like everything else in his life, \u2062he \u200bfound a way to \u200dovercome\u200c it. \u200bHe always found a way to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-madison-cawthorn-to-divorce-after-less-than-year-of-marriage\/\" title=\"Rep. Madison Cawthorn To Divorce After Less Than Year Of Marriage\">make things work<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr.\u2063 Pacella, \u2064who considers Kerdiles a part of his family, \u2064reflected on their first meeting \u200bduring tryouts for the 2004 \u200bteam representing Southern California in the prestigious Brick Invitational\u200d tournament in\u200d Edmonton, Alberta.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He\u200b was wearing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/socal-hockey-community-shaken-by-death-of-nic-kerdiles-in-motorcycle-crash\/\" title=\"Tragic Motorcycle Crash Claims Nic Kerdiles, Shakes SoCal Hockey Community.\">green roller hockey jersey<\/a>, \u2063and\u200d he\u200c wasn&#8217;t the\u200d best player, but\u2062 he\u200d had the biggest smile on his face, and he loved it,&#8221; reminisced Mr. Pacella. &#8220;He worked incredibly hard and made the team. \u200cThroughout that season, he went \u200bfrom being the weakest\u2064 player to \u2064one \u2062of the most highly sought-after\u2064 16-year-olds in California.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:332px\" class=\"alignleft\"><figcaption>USA&#8217;s No. 17 \u200cNicolas \u2062Kerdiles\u2063 &#8211; \u200c2014 IIHF World Junior Championship. (Francois Laplante\/HHOF-IIHF Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Everything changed for Kerdiles when he experienced a growth spurt, \u2062reaching over 6 \u2064feet tall \u2064and fully developing his skills.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After that, his career skyrocketed, and everyone\u2062 looked up to\u200b Nic as the standard-setter,&#8221; added\u200d Rendino, Kerdiles&#8217; former teammate. &#8220;When we needed a crucial goal or a game-changing \u200dplay, Nic \u200cwas the one \u2062we relied on. He \u2063was\u200c our leader, our go-to guy. We all followed Nic, without a doubt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Kerdiles himself \u2064remained unimpressed by his own\u200c success.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nic was a prodigy from a young \u200dage, but he never let it\u2064 get to his \u200dhead,&#8221; said Sneath. &#8220;That&#8217;s what I admired\u2063 and respected about \u200chim. \u200bHe treated everyone with\u2063 respect, \u2062and it made you \u200cwant to\u2064 do the same for him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How has the loss of Nic Kerdiles impacted\u200c the hockey community in Southern California?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u2063 Med to be in a good \u200dplace recently,&#8221; Sneath said. &#8220;It&#8217;s devastating to\u200b think that\u200b he&#8217;s gone now. We were not \u2064only\u200c teammates but also close friends. I will miss\u200b him greatly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The loss of Nic Kerdiles has sent shockwaves through the hockey community in Southern California and beyond. His talent and potential were evident \u200cfrom a young age, and he had a \u2063promising career ahead of \u2063him. But more than \u200dhis\u200c accomplishments on the ice, Kerdiles \u200cwill be remembered for his kind-hearted nature and the positive impact he had on those around him.<\/p>\n<p>As \u200cthe\u2063 community \u200ccontinues to mourn this<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Southern California hockey community mourns the loss of Nic Kerdiles, a talented member who tragically passed away at 29. Former Anaheim Ducks forward, Kerdiles, grew up in Irvine and captained the LA Selects&#8217; talented 1994-birth-year team. His life was cut short in a motorcycle accident in Nashville, Tennessee on Sept. 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":2044828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2044827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2044827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2044828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2044827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2044827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2044827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}