GRACE IN TIME OF TRAGEDY
Humboldt shows its best side
SaskTel Centre sees plenty of hockey and hears lots of music.
The Hunter Brothers know both of those worlds intimately. The five siblings from Shaunavon are in the lineup for the Humboldt Broncos Tribute Concert on April 27.
As draft picks go, they are perfect. All five played hockey — making it, in J.J.’s case, into the Edmonton Oilers’ development system.
Dusty played in the SJHL; his last game was against the Humboldt Broncos, who went on to win the RBC Cup that year.
Luke played five years with the Swift Current Broncos. That team’s tragic bus crash, which claimed the lives of four players, was never far from his mind.
“They continued to honour those players every single year that he was there,” says Ty. “They would take moments of silence for them, they had emblems on their jerseys that honoured the players that passed away.”
Then there’s just the coincidence of being from Shaunavon, which means the Hunters are close to Hayley Wickenheiser — who turned to them early on when talks about a tribute concert began.
Unfortunately, The Hunter Brother were already booked that night in Ontario. They’re on the High Valley tour, and had a date in Brantford (the hometown of Wayne Gretzky, to keep the hockey connection going ). But they bowed out of that show, with a humble apology to fans.
“We knew in our hearts that we needed to be in Saskatchewan for the tribute concert,” Ty said.
In fact, they ’ve returned to their home province several times over the past few weeks. They attended and played a song at the funeral of Broncos’ stats man Brody Hinz.
“All of his classmates were at the funeral. I think there were upwards of 1,500 people at the service, so it definitely was hardhitting for a lot of people,” Ty said.
Two of the Hunters knew head coach Darcy Haugan through the Briercrest Bible College in Caronport.
They also played at his funeral. “That was very difficult, a very, very challenging place to sing,” Ty said of both memorials.
He doesn’t quite know what to expect of the mood at SaskTel Centre for the tribute concert.
“It’s hard to say. It’s been requested that it’s not all sombre, that there is a level of excitement with the music. I don’t know, I think there will be a lot of emotion that’s expressed that night.”
Hockey and music will both be represented, with Dallas Smith, Jess Moskaluke, Brett Kissel, Gord Bamford and Chad Brownlee performing and a current or past NHLer from each team invited.
The sports-music connection is real; athletes and musicians know more than most of us what it’s like spending hours on the highway.
Says Ty: “That team that you’re with becomes family. In our case in the band here, we are blood brothers but on a hockey team you become brothers in a real hurry. You drink the same Gatorade and you travel on those buses, sleeping on the floor and watching the same movies and, ultimately, you become one family.”
Tickets for the Friday concert have been going fast. They cost $65 at ticketmaster.ca.
In our case in the band here, we are blood brothers but on a hockey team you become brothers in a real hurry.