Tragedy in Sarnia: Hockey player Dane Nisbet dies after violent bar incident
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Alixandrea Gearey
Apr 10, 2026 (3:53 PM)
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Photo credit: Screenshot
Dane Nisbet played his last junior season for Kory Green, and Sarnia's hockey world is now grieving a loss that landed hard Friday.
Authorities said Nisbet, a 20-year-old from Sarnia, died after a violent incident at a Lambton College campus bar just after 12:52 a.m. on April 10, 2026.
Two other people were also injured.
For local fans, the story starts on the ice long before it reached the headlines.
Nisbet was a familiar name in the Sarnia pipeline, a forward who kept moving through the area game and stayed in it.
He most recently skated with the North Middlesex Stars in the PJHL, where Green served as head coach in 2025-26.
That connection now gives the loss another layer for a junior club that just finished its season.
Before that stop, Nisbet logged most of his junior work with the Mooretown Flags.
Across 53 regular-season games with Mooretown and North Middlesex, he posted 9 goals and 23 points.
That stat line only catches part of it.
He also played with bite, finishing those regular-season games with 121 penalty minutes, the kind of number that points to a player who didn't back off much.
He also got a look with the Sarnia Legionnaires, dressing for 10 games at the GOJHL level.
For any young player from Sarnia, that sweater means something.
Sarnia hockey mourns Dane Nisbet after deadly campus bar incident
Nisbet's development ran through the Sarnia-Lambton Jr. Sting program as well, including time at the U18 AAA level.
That matters in a city where hockey ties tend to follow a player from minor hockey right into junior rooms.
He was listed at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, a left shot forward from Sarnia who kept finding his way onto rosters.
Career-wise, that says plenty about his drive.
His playoff numbers added another layer.
Nisbet appeared in 14 postseason games and chipped in 4 points, which tells you he stayed in the mix when the games got tighter and the bench got shorter.
That's why this hits the way it does.
Teammates remember roles, road trips, chirps, and the little bench moments that never show up on a scoresheet.
Those are the parts that stay with a locker room.
Right now, the details around his death sit with investigators.
The hockey side of Sarnia is left with the part it knows best: a young player who came through local programs and kept chasing the next level.
And in towns like this, that path matters.
Dane Nisbet won't be remembered only for the way his life ended, but for the rinks, teams, and people he left behind.
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