BRONCOS ASSIST

Families to attend Cup opening

REGINA Logan Schatz closely followed WHL hockey — the stats, his favourite players, the action on the ice.

“Whenever he was in a city where the WHL was playing, he’d always try to make a game,” said his father, Kelly Schatz.

He was once drafted by the Kootenay Ice, and had hopes for college hockey. But his life was cut short in the bus crash that killed him and nine of his Humboldt Broncos teammates, as well as six others.

Now his father, brother and girlfriend will see him honoured at the opening ceremonies to the Memorial Cup Thursday at Mosaic Stadium. Schatz said it’s something his son would have appreciated.

“I think it’s a great gesture,” said Schatz. “There have been so many great gestures and this is just another big one.”

The host committee for this year’s Memorial Cup in Regina is giving free opening-night tickets to those close to the Humboldt Broncos organization, including players and the families of those lost or injured. According to committee chair Shaun Semple, 74 of them have confirmed they’ll attend the festivities — which will include a tribute to those affected by the tragedy.

With so many families now out of province, organizers are making special efforts to bring them all to the stadium.

“There’s about six families from Alberta that Brandt is flying in as part of this,” said Semple, who is also CEO of the Brandt Group of Companies, a sponsor for the cup. “The host committee is giving them all the tickets.”

He said about 15 people will be catching planes out of Calgary and Edmonton. Brandt will pay for their flights and hotel accommodations. For those — like the Schatzes — who are driving in from within Saskatchewan, gas expenses will be covered.

The ceremony will feature a live performance by Semple’s uncle, musician Jack Semple, accompanied by players from the Regina Symphony Orchestra. Shaun Semple said they ’ll perform a song that he thinks might “bring a tear” to a few eyes in the audience.

“I don’t want to say what it is, but I’ve heard him perform it in our family many times,” he said. “It’s a song that’s very fitting.”

A tribute video honouring the team will play along with the music, Semple said.

“It’s really about the tragedy and what happened and how the world responded,” he explained.

The committee is still keeping some of the details under wraps. Semple wouldn’t say much more about how the team will be honoured, but hinted that there will be a “special presentation.”

The tribute idea came together organically. Semple said the Broncos tragedy touched many of those involved in organizing this year’s Memorial Cup. The hockey community in Saskatchewan is so tightly woven, and many on the host committee, at Brandt and with the Regina Pats organization had personal connections to the Broncos team.

“There were a lot of people affected who weren’t very far removed,” said Semple. “You have those connections.”

He said he knows “there’s nothing that will ever fix” the grief felt by the families, or the trauma of those who lived through the crash. But Semple hopes they can take something positive away from the ceremony Thursday.

“First of all, that we’ll never forget. Saskatchewan will never forget, Canada will never forget and the world will never forget what happened,” as he put it.

Schatz said he’s sure the ceremony will be “beautiful.”

“I really don’t know if it’s going to help heal, but it may take your mind off things for a while,” he said. “It’s a good distraction to keep a person’s mind off this tragedy.”

Saskatchewan will never forget, Canada will never forget and the world will never forget what happened.