Humboldt heartfelt
Legendary goalie shares grief of the Canadian hockey world
It has been 70 years since Glenn Hall played goal for the Humboldt Indians juniors.
But the Hall of Famer knows the pain that town is going through, mourning the loss of 15 members of its Broncos.
“I’m sure Humboldt is devastated and I’m not sure if it will ever come back from a situation like this,” the 86-yearold Hall told nhl.com on Saturday. “A junior hockey team is a huge part of a small community in the Canadian West. It’s a part of a fabric of the town and fans come from far and wide to watch the team play, adopting those kids as their own. You might not be a direct part of the team, but everyone seems to have a stake in it.”
Hall, who holds the NHL record for 502 games, was one of many in the hockey community that crossed provincial, international and gender borders in expressing its grief.
He started out in his native Humboldt before coming East to fame in Chicago, but moved back to Stony Plain, Alta., upon retirement. He tried to keep up with events as news of the crash broke on Friday night.
“I knew Friday night there were fatalities,” he said. “I stayed up all night, but to get up to find out just how many, it was startling. Heartbreaking. There are no words to convey what I’m feeling.”
The Saskatchewan player diaspora is a wide one and many had travelled those wintry highways. Porcupine
Plain’s Kelly Chase, now a St. Louis Blues radio commentator, played against Kelvington cousin Wendel Clark.
“For those of us who chased a dream on those very roads and on those same buses, we will come together as a group and help this community with their healing,” Chase tweeted.
Shaunavon’s Hayley Wickenheiser, a five-time Canadian Olympian, was one of many to urge everyone to get behind the Go Fund Me campaign.
“Waves of grief,” she tweeted. “Played against several of these boys on the national team. This is my province, these are our boys. What can we do? Well not much now but no reason we can’t raise a million.” It was at $2.2 million early Saturday night. Brendan Gallagher of the Canadiens said his teammates were all kicking in money as other clubs followed suit.
Anthony Mantha of the Red Wings told the Detroit Free
Press he was shaking when thinking of what might have been transpiring before the tractor trailer hit the bus.
“When you are on your bus, you play games, you play cards, you don’t really pay attention to the roads,” Mantha said of his days with the QMJHL Val d’Or Foreurs. “Some guys are sleeping, probably. Just thinking about it makes me sick a little bit.”
The Professional Hockey Writers Association also put out a statement of condolence, reminding many of its members cut their teeth on those long bus rides.
“As writers and chroniclers of the game, so many of us took those seats near the front of our local junior or college team’s bus. The bus was hockey’s safe place, where everyone — coach, writer, player, trainer, manager — paid the same dues, got to know who each other were beyond the role that put us in that seat.” GLENN HALL Ties to town