Vt. coach: ‘This is a tragedy to these kids. It hits them hard’
Wakefield native Mike McShane, celebrated head coach of the Norwich University men’s ice hockey team in Vermont, sent two of his freshmen players home to Canada — defenseman Connor Swystun and forward Michael Korol — who just last year were teammates on the ill-fated Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior League.
Korol, who had been the Broncos’ assistant captain, lost his former roommate in Friday’s horrific bus crash that killed 15 people, including 10 players ages 16 to 21. McShane, a Boston University graduate, spoke yesterday with the Herald’s Laurel J. Sweet about what his players are going through: “They went back home this morning. They were asked by the team to come back so they could attend the ceremony they’re having tonight. I talked to them on the phone. They’re quite shook up, obviously.
They knew many of the kids on the team. Michael Korol’s roommate was one of the kids that died. He just said, ‘My roommate died.’ It’s brutal.
When they come back we’ll sit down and talk to them. We’ve got a pretty close team. My heart goes out to these kids because I know how difficult this is, losing friends. We (adults) see death all the time and funerals ... I don’t want to say we get hardened to it, but I guess we do. But not them. This is a tragedy to these kids. It hits them hard. A lot of these kids will need counseling.
We’ve recruited a number of kids from Humboldt — at least seven kids. Somehow they come out here and relate to the area. I guess we must be like Saskatchewan in some respects.
It’s tough driving out there. Those roads are tough. I tell my assistants all the time, if it’s snowing don’t travel because it’s treacherous. And it’s in the middle of nowhere.
The Broncos are a well-organized organization. They have excellent coaching. They’re up early in the morning, all these kids. That’s their town team. It’s the social mecca of the town. If you want to go to the bar, you go to the hockey rink. It’s an important thing for their town. They don’t have a lot, so to have this, they have something to hang their hat on, something for the town to rally around. They’re wonderful people. Most all of them are farmers. It’s very family-oriented. That whole community is going to feel this for a while.”