Humboldt native Hall feels for hometown
TORONTO It has been 70 years since Glenn Hall played goal for the Humboldt Indians junior hockey team, but the Hall of Fame goaltender knows the pain the 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-year-old 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 consecutive games started by a goaltender, with 502, 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 a GoFundMe campaign for the victims’ families.
“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.”
The online crowdfunding campaign had raised more than $4.6 million as of Sunday.