DARCY HAUGAN:
The head coach of the Humboldt Broncos was described in online tributes as a “great man” and amazing mentor to young players. “He will always be a great man in our hearts,” his sister posted on Twitter under the name Debbie Jayne. “The tears just keep coming.”
Family and friends of 15 lives lost in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash shared more stories Sunday of tears, fond memories, and unbreakable bonds forged by a love of hockey.
While vigil was set for Sunday night at the Broncos home arena, more names were confirmed of those killed early Friday evening at an east-central Saskatchewan highway intersection in a collision with a tractor-trailer.
Broncos defencemen Adam Herold and Xavier Labelle, forwards Evan Thomas and Conner Lukan and assistant coach Mark Cross were confirmed as being among the dead. So was bus driver Glen Doerksen and statistics keeper Brody Hinz.
Scott Thomas remembered his 18-year-old son as a strong athlete – playing both hockey and baseball – and a good student. But he was a teammate first.
“He liked sports, but at times I think he tolerated sports so he could be a teammate,” said Thomas. “He just loved being a teammate. He loved his teammates and I think that was more important to him than the actual sport he was playing.
“He loved those boys. He really loved those boys.”
Thomas said that before Christmas he spoke with the team’s head coach, Darcy Haugan, who was also killed in the crash, about whether there would be any trades for the second half of the season.
“Darcy just said, ‘You know, Scott, there’s something about this group of kids that’s special,”’ he recalled. “He didn’t want to make any changes because they are such a great group of kids.”
Assistant coach Chris Beaudry was driving his own vehicle to the game the night of the crash.
He described his colleague, Mark Cross, as one of the happiest people he’s ever met. Cross was from Strasbourg, Sask., where he played hockey before joining the Broncos’ coaching staff.
“His first game, we found a tin of mints and ever since then it’s been alternating back and forth, buying mints for each other and sharing it as a joke. We’d end up gong through a whole tin every game,” said Beaudry.
“He was a beautiful guy to be around.”
Hinz was 18. Golden West Radio said in a statement that he was being mentored by Tyler Bieber, the team’s play-by-play announcer, who was also killed in the crash. Another company statement described Hinz as an intern still in high school.
“Tragedy has hit our community and it reaches into every corner of life in Humboldt,” Lyndon Frieson, president of Golden West Radio, said in a statement posted on the station’s website.
The manager of Herold’s previous team, the Regina Pat Canadians, confirmed his death. The defenceman would have turned 17 on Thursday.
John Smith said Herold played for the Canadians until just a few weeks ago and, when their season wrapped up, he was sent to the Broncos for their playoff round.
Labelle, 18, was confirmed dead by his brother Isaac Labelle in an Instagram post.
“I have no words to describe what I’m feeling. Best friends, teammates, allies, brothers,” he wrote. “We’ve been through so much together. We had a special bond from the day you were born.”
Doerksen’s employer, Charlie’s Charters, posted about the driver’s death on Facebook. Another team he drove for, the Kinistino Tigers, also issued a statement.
“In talking to him, he spoke at length of his time in rinks with his own family and now how much he enjoyed being able to take and watch other teams from minor, to senior to SJHL to their hockey games,” a spokesperson for the Tigers wrote on Facebook.
“We will never forget the smile on your face as we left Allan after winning the Championship and got you to give ‘two honks for the Cup,”’ they wrote.