Impact of Humboldt Broncos bus crash felt across country

Story had local significance as several players and coaches were from the area

This year it was the April 6 bus crash involving the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Humboldt Broncos that killed 16 people, including the team’s head coach, several players and other team staff. Thirteen others were injured, left with long recoveries and the challenge of rebuilding a devastated team.

The tragedy was on a scale rarely seen in Canada. Reaction poured in from politicians, celebrities and professional hockey players, including the biggest NHL stars. A tribute to the players in the form of leaving hockey sticks out on people’s front steps caught on and a GoFundMe campaign for the dead and injured raised more than $15 million — a Canadian record.

The images of the crash site and the names and young faces of the players were seared into the brains of most Canadians as news organizations worked to cover the tragedy.

The crash made international news and was chosen as The Canadian Press news story of the year as selected by editors in newsrooms across Canada.

As CP said in its story: the crash “struck a chord with hockey-loving Canadians, many of whom saw themselves and their children in the young players and their grieving families.”

In Alberta, the story took on an even greater significance. The ties between the Alberta Junior Hockey League and its Saskatchewan counterpart run deep, as players and coaches move between the two provinces regularly. The Humboldt Broncos are part of that interconnected web.

Several of the players and coaches are from Alberta, including some from the Edmonton area.

In the days and weeks after the crash, funerals for the players were held in both provinces. Makeshift memorials popped up in St. Albert, Stony Plain, Slave Lake, Lethbridge and other towns that had lost people.

The crash also prompted questions about traffic safety, bus travel and truck driver qualifications. The Calgary-based driver of the truck that struck the Broncos’ bus was inexperienced and was subsequently charged in the crash since he appeared to have driven through a stop sign.

Provincial governments in both Alberta and Saskatchewan have taken steps to beef up regulations.

Eight months after the crash, it is clear the tragedy has left an indelible mark on all Canadians.