Sticks out for Humboldt in Peterborough
Hockey families in Peterborough have been setting their hockey sticks out by doors to honour the victims of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team bus crash.
The #SticksOutForHumboldt campaign honours the 15 people who died and others who were affected by the deadly crash that took place Friday in Saskatchewan between a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team and a transport truck while they were en route to a playoff game in Nipawin.
People in Peterborough have joined people across Canada in posting photographs of their hockey stick memorials on social media with the hashtag #SticksOutForHumboldt.
Cheryl Smith, a resident of Peterson Street, has put out two sticks and lit a candle to show her feelings.
A black stick which used to belong to her husband back when he played hockey and a goalie stick that her son, who is now a Royal Canadian Dragoons in the military, left behind lean on either side of her front door.
Smith says that having a goalie stick out is extra special now since the news confirming one of the Broncos goaltenders, Parker Tobin, is in fact dead after teammate Xavier Labelle was accidentally misidentified as him.
“It’s just something nice to do to show your support no matter how far away. To try to be that light in the dark for those who are grieving,” Smith said.
Smith, who is a school bus driver, says a four-year-old who was getting onto her bus on Monday said to her, “Cherry I’m wearing green today for those teens that died in Saskatchewan.”
“Hearing that really touched my heart, the fact that it came for a four-year-old was just amazing,” Smith said.