Town honours Broncos who passed through in pursuit of hockey dreams
Parker Tobin and Tyler Smith weren’t in Drayton Valley for long, but the young hockey players left a lasting impression.
The two were part of the 2016-17 Drayton Valley Thunder, helping the Junior A team to the AJHL playoffs. Both billeted with families in the community of just over 7,000 people. For awhile, it was home.
“They become family, for sure,” said Cory Anne Holmlund, whose family billeted Tobin during his time in Drayton Valley.
The next season, their hockey dreams took them to other small towns. They were reunited on the Humboldt Broncos.
The two players were in the thoughts of the approximately 400 people at a Tuesday night vigil for the team at the Drayton Valley Omniplex.
Smith survived the bus crash Friday that claimed 15 lives and injured 14 in Saskatchewan as the Broncos headed for a game in Nipawin. Tobin, the world learned Monday, did not.
Logan Hunter, another player killed in the crash, also spent time in Drayton Valley as a boy.
“On the weekend, everyone succumbed to grief — not just for Tyler and Parker, but for all of the players,” said Cindy Waronek, one of the owners of the Thunder.
“Because we’re a similar organization in a similar-sized town. We do the same thing they do — get on the bus and go to other towns to play hockey. It’s exactly what we do, so we totally understand the tragedy of it.”
Communities that once claimed Humboldt players as their own have grieved in hockey arenas across Western Canada since the crash. Another vigil is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Grant Fuhr Arena in Spruce Grove where Tobin later played.
In Drayton Valley, two Thunder jerseys bearing the players’ names were displayed on a table on the dry ice surface — organizers had to requisition jerseys from current players because there wasn’t time to make new ones. Mourners held candles in green plastic cups and listened to songs and prayers.
Tobin, originally from Stony Plain, started as a backup goalie on the Thunder and got the No. 1 role after the team’s starter injured himself. Smith, originally from Leduc, played forward.
Jeff Waronek, who still plays for the Thunder and is Cindy Waronek’s son, sat next to Smith — who everyone called “Smitty” — on long bus rides.
“It was a battle,” he said. “We fought hard to make the playoffs and really relied on them a lot. Our starter was injured and Parker came in and really stepped up and played really well. Tyler was just a great guy to have — he played every game, he was always doing everything he could for the team.
“They really made my experience here great.”
Tobin was later traded to Spruce Grove and played with the Saints hockey club before being traded to Humboldt, Cindy Waronek said.
Holmlund remembers him as a smart kid with a sense of humour — an avid gamer and a “terrible” dancer who at a moment’s notice would drop everything and help her son with his math homework.
“He was just an all-around great kid,” she said.
Hockey Edmonton and elite hockey clubs in the city also are organizing an event Thursday to honour the Broncos. The informal gathering from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Canadian Athletic Club Arena, 14645 142 St., will start with a prayer and include an open skate from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Organizers are asking for a $5 donation for those wishing to skate with funds going to the Broncos.