Broncos share tales of healing at NHL gathering
10 survivors of bus tragedy make trip to Las Vegas as league’s special guests
LAS VEGAS There they were: Banks of cameras, recorders, notebooks. Bodies pressed in, and questions flew fast.
Then it ended, and Tyler Smith went into a backroom with his Humboldt Broncos’ teammates, peeled off his jersey, and marvelled at his sweat-soaked clothes.
He was so nervous, he said — sweated bullets, as they say. And he let out a deep breath. That Tuesday press conference, on the eve of Wednesday’s NHL awards, drew a large throng of reporters. The Broncos remain big news. Nine of the 10 surviving Broncos who made the Vegas trip were introduced, answered a few questions from host Elliotte Friedman, then three of them — Smith, Kaleb Dahlgren and Ryan Straschnitzki — split off to meet the scrum.
An hour earlier, as the team’s VIP bus made its way to the Winn Las Vegas Resort, a parent asked what exactly a scrum is.
“I think they have a bunch of microphones in front of your face,” Dahlgren replied, and when it was over, the gregarious player allowed that it really wasn’t so bad.
He didn’t sweat as much as Smith, who like the rest of his travelling party, continues to heal from the April 6 crash that killed 16 people on the Broncos team bus. Smith suffered a broken collarbone and shoulder blade, and nerve damage on the left side of his body.
He wants to play hockey again, but he must obey his body. He works at it every day, and notes small progress points.
As for his meeting with the press — his first, apart from an appearance on Hockey Night in Canada — he displayed tremendous acumen. The kid was well-spoken, insightful.
“I wish the circumstances were different,” Smith said when asked what it was like to face a media throng that must have seemed never-ending. “But it’s cool to be here, to see what it really is — to see what Nhlers go through and what they deal with every day. It’s neat. It’s overwhelming. It’s a lot. Obviously, we’re in little old Humboldt, and we’re just together every day. This is a lot.”
Smith, who’s from Leduc, told assembled reporters about crying, and laughing, and players healing in their own way. He talked about a gathering last weekend at his home, eight Broncos together in one place, many from a long ways away.
“That was good, to just enjoy the time together again — to share stories and laugh,” he said. “Everything about it was amazing. It was what we needed.
“It was a big part of the healing process, and I wish we could do it every weekend. I wish we all lived in the same place, but unfortunately, we don’t. We’ve got to take advantage of when we can actually get together, and just enjoy it — whether we’re all crying, or doing whatever, it’s important to just heal together.”
Smith returned often to the family theme on Tuesday. That Broncos team, he said, was the most tight-knit he’s even been on, and he’s played hockey for a long time.
They were tight-knit then, and they’re tight-knit now. Unfathomable tragedy gave strength and depth to those bonds.
“I want to offer up my house — be like, ‘Hey, you guys — I’m here for you, and we’re all here for each other, and we’re all family,’ ” he said. “They’re welcome to stay whenever they want. I don’t care if I’m at work and they just pop by. They can drive six hours. I’ll drive six hours. We’ll do anything for each other.”
Then the reporters peeled away, the Broncos reconvened, and a large stream of NHL stars moved in to offer greetings, words of encouragement, firm handshakes. From Connor Mcdavid to P.K. Subban to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to Willie O’ree, the NHL’S first black player, hockey luminaries paid their respects.
From there, the Broncos boarded their bus, and the Las Vegas odyssey continued. Next up: The NHL awards, where Broncos’ head coach Darcy Haugan is a posthumous nominee for the Willie O’ree Community Hero Award.
It’s cool to be here ... to see what Nhlers go through and what they deal with every day. It’s neat.