Crash survivor can’t envision life without hockey
Former Broncos forward Schumlanski excited to join university team in P.E.I.
Nick Shumlanski is looking for a fresh start, and he’ll get it with the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers.
Not playing hockey again was neither a viable nor palatable option for the Humboldt Broncos bus crash survivor.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League graduate is determined to play competitive hockey again. He couldn’t give it up.
“It would be hard not to play hockey, especially after playing for 17 years,” said Shumlanski, who grew up on a farm in the Tisdale area, not far from the spot where the Broncos’ team bus collided with a semi-trailer on April 6, leaving 16 passengers dead.
“I was trying to picture what my future would be like without hockey, and it’s pretty hard to see one without it, you know. I had a little bit of a moment where I was questioning playing hockey, but it’s kind of an (emotional and physical) release, as well.
“It’s something I’ve been so devoted to for so long. I need — well, I really want — to play and I decided to go to P.E.I. It helps me, for sure, to get back on the ice. It’s different for everybody (among the Bronco survivors).”
Shumlanski is one of four Bronco graduates slated to play U Sports hockey this coming season. The others are La Ronge’s Bryce Fiske (University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks), Matthieu Gomercic (UOIT Ridgebacks) and Saskatoon’s Kaleb Dahlgren (York University Lions).
Shumlanski wrapped up his junior A career with 22 goals and 42 assists for 64 points in 55 games last season, which was split between the Flin Flon Bombers and the Broncos.
“I was interested in going out east because I heard it’s really beautiful out there and such a good spot to play,” said Shumlanski, who played two seasons with the Beardy’s Blackhawks in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League before moving on to the SJHL’S Flin Flon Bombers.
“I have family that lives in Newfoundland. My auntie and uncle live out there. They said a lot of good things about it.
“I guess I just wanted to go somewhere away from, I guess, Saskatchewan, just to kind of get away from things for now.”
UPEI is located in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The island is linked to the mainland by the Confederation Bridge.
“I’m excited to go on it,” said Shumlanski, who plans to drive out during the last week of August.
He plans to live off campus in an apartment where other UPEI teammates will be staying.
“The coach (Forbes Macpherson) at P.E.I. kind of described the place as a Flin Flon, a smaller town with 36,000 (people) or something, with a small campus and a lot of hockey fans. They don’t have much to do in the winter, so they’re big hockey fans out there.”
Shumlanski will know at least one other UPEI player. Former Flin Flon Bomber teammate Simon Hofley is transferring there from Canisius College.
“He’s heading over to P.E.I. and I played a little bit with him out in Flin Flon,” said Shumlanski, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 150 pounds.
Ever since he started midget hockey, Shumlanski’s goal was to play at the collegiate or university level.
“That’s when I started the push to play college hockey,” he said. “My coach (Mike Reagan) in Flin Flon told me I had the potential to play at the next level. There’s been a lot of interest over the years with (NCAA) teams, but just nothing came to work itself out. And then came this opportunity. It was pretty hard not to take it.”
It’s a “big step” in his life, he says. “Especially moving out that far east. My family always planned for me to hopefully get a Division One (NCAA) scholarship. It didn’t work out that way, but hopefully I will be able to play some really competitive hockey.”
The UPEI Panthers play in the highly competitive Atlantic University Sport conference, which, along with Canada West, are considered the top two men’s hockey conferences in Canada.
“I didn’t really know much about the Atlantic, just because I really only paid attention to the (University of Saskatchewan) Huskies, U of R (Regina Cougars) and U of A (Alberta Golden Bears) — teams that are close to home,” said Shumlanski.
FIRST TIME TO MARITIMES
Shumlanski has never travelled farther east in Canada than Toronto. He’s been busy in recent weeks trying to figure out his classes for the upcoming school year.
“I finally got accepted and now I’m picking courses and stuff,” he says. “And I’ve been pretty busy with training this past month.”
Shumlanski, who was the first Bronco to be released from hospital, was able to attend the Broncos vigil back on April 8, only two days after the crash.
He resumed working out around mid-may and began skating a couple of weeks later.
“I had to take a month off (training) because I had a cracked lumbar (spine),” he said. “My body was in pretty rough shape.”
Now he’s training five times a week. He’s been playing 3-on-3 in the Adult Safe Hockey League. He’s started to do some on-ice skills training once a week, “just to get on the ice a little more,” he says.
Physically, Shumlanski reports that he’s made a full recovery.
“I had a cracked lumbar and I had a broken bone behind my ear — that wasn’t a big deal at all, but it was just something that needed to heal,” he said. “The doctor said it looked like I’ve never had a concussion in my life, so I’m pretty lucky there.”
Emotionally and mentally, Shumlanski is taking it one day at a time.
“I guess you can say, ‘as good as you can be,’ ” Shumlanski says. “It’s hard, because you don’t know what’s good.”