BRONCOS’ PAIN HAS BEEN FELT FAR AND WIDE
Bus drivers, billets, former players and Olympians reconnect after Humboldt tragedy
In the minutes, hours and now days since a horrific collision between a semi and the team bus brought unspeakable tragedy to the Humboldt Broncos, people have felt the need to reach out for a connection.
To survivors of the accident and the first responders on the scene. To the families of those who died. To the players’ billet families. To the people of the town, the province and the country. To one another.
Longtime hockey coach Lorne Molleken called Pete Smith because it felt like the right thing to do. So did NHLers Braden Holtby and Mike Green. Smith “hauled them around” as he likes to say, for years when he drove the Saskatoon Blades’ team bus. Before that, he drove the Broncos’ bus for a handful of years.
Jakob Besnilian, a 19-year-old Californian who was traded away from the Broncos this season after playing just one game, his first as a junior, exchanged texts with his former billet family in Humboldt, Sask. He had been their billet son for just 10 days, but bonds form quickly.
Besnilian was at home in Whittier, Calif., when he learned that the Broncos’ player who took his place in their home didn’t survive the crash.
“As soon as I heard, I texted my billets,” said Besnilian. “I said we’re praying. I hope you guys are doing OK. I know it’s tough.’ She texted me back. She said she was really glad to hear from me.”
Checking in is part of the healing process, so too are the socialmedia messages of support and sympathy from all over the world and millions in donations to the most successful GoFundMe campaign Canada has seen.
It’s what you do when you know you need to do something.
“First guy who phoned me was Lorne Molleken. He had me in his mind, I guess,” said Smith, a 60-year-old who has manned the wheel for 34 years and currently drives for Golden Arrow Bus Lines.
“I’ve got a lot of phone calls from former players, too, like Braden Holtby and Mike Green. They thanked me for getting them home safe all those years that I hauled them around. Nick Zajac’s family. Lukas Sutter, too.
“That helps you out, knowing they’re thinking about you. All those years and miles, got them home safe and sound. I guess I was going through their mind. ‘Better give Pete a call and thank him.’ You know, something like this happens, everybody comes out. It’s nice to hear from them.
“You’re just part of the family. You eat and travel with them, watch the games with them. Play cards in the hotels. One big family. It hurts. Sometimes it’s like they’re all my kids.”
That’s how billet families feel. They refer to the players as their billet sons. Besnilian, who was brand new to Canadian junior hockey, got a taste of Humboldt hospitality in September, fleeting but memorable even before tragedy added its imprint.
“There’s a couple really cool guys who made it easier for me,” said Besnilian, a rookie who was traded to Humboldt from Estevan during training camp, then dealt again to Melville after one regular season game. “Kaleb Dahlgren was my neighbour. He was giving me rides. We hung out a couple times. Good guy.”
Dahlgren, a 20-year-old from Saskatoon and an assistant captain on the team, was injured, but survived the crash that claimed 16 lives.
In the immediate aftermath, former Olympic bobsledder and medallist Lyndon Rush, who grew up in Humboldt, was getting updates from his sisterin-law. She graduated from high school there recently and knew a lot of the Broncos.
It was Rush’s dream to make that team back in the day. He was the last cut from training camp in 1998 and he knows how the community adopts the hockey sons who come from all over to chase the dream.
“It was my dream to play for the Broncos. I almost made it. It was everybody’s goal to make it,” said Rush, now 37. “In a small town like that, every team (in minor hockey) is the Broncos and growing up these are the guys wearing your colours, they’re your heroes. Eventually you get to be the same age as them and they’re your buddies.”
He was 17 when he got cut, the same age as some of the kids who died April 6.
“As soon as I heard, I was picturing the faces of the guys I knew who played for the Broncos. Trying to put myself in the shoes of the local people, what they’re feeling. Those players become adopted sons of the community. We had billets. They lived in our home. So you know these guys. They become like exchange students in your high school.”
Like family. That’s why you have to reach out, even before you put your jersey on and your sticks out.