The faces of the Saskatchewan bus tragedy
NIPAWIN, SASK.— Details are emerging about the victims of a horrific crash in northeastern Saskatchewan involving a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team. Logan Schatz The team captain had played for the Broncos for just over four years and had served as team captain for the past 21⁄ years, his father, Kelly Schatz, said. The native of Allan, Sask., played centre and was named the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s player of the month in February after earning points in eight of nine games. He was 20 years old.
Kelly Schatz said his family is seeking solace in one another.
“It’s hard,” Kelly Schatz said. “I’ve got four other kids and they’re here, which is nice.” Jaxon Joseph The Edmonton native’s death was confirmed by the Surrey Eagles, his former team in the British Columbia Hockey League. The Broncos website says Joseph, who was 20 years old, was among the leading scorers in the SJHL playoffs, playing on a line with Logan Schatz, another player who lost his life in the crash. In a profile published on the team’s website in January, Schatz paid tribute to Joseph, son of former NHLer Chris Joseph, and fellow linemate Conner Lukan. “I’ve really clicked with Joseph and Lukan. I can’t say enough good things about them,” Schatz said. Darcy Haugan The head coach of the Humboldt Broncos was described in online tributes as a “great man” and amazing mentor to young players. “He will always be a great man in our hearts,” his sister posted on Twitter under the name Debbie Jayne.
“The tears just keep coming.” Before becoming a coach, he played junior hockey in the league in the 1990s. He was married and had two children. Tyler Bieber Bieber was a play-by-play radio announcer for the Humboldt Broncos hockey team who worked for radio station CHBO. A manager with the company that owns the station confirmed in an email to staff that Bieber died in the crash. Stephen Wack Wack, 21, a defenceman with the Broncos was finishing his second season with the team. In a Facebook post paying tribute to him, his cousin Alicia Wack called him “one of the most adventurous, ambitious, and loving people that I have ever been blessed to know. He made the best gingerbread houses, enjoyed walking anywhere and everywhere, and absolutely lived and breathed hockey,” she wrote, adding “(m)y heart is destroyed.” Logan Hunter Aright-winger from St. Albert, Sask., Hunter was 18 and in his first year with the Broncos. Conner Lukan A 21-year old centre from Slave Lake, Alta., Lukan had spent the previous three seasons with the Spruce Grove (AB) Saints. Adam Herold Herold, one of the youngest players on the team, was just 16. He had been called up to play with the Broncos for the play- offs after his AAA Midget team, the Regina Pats Canadians, finished its season last week. He had been their captain. Matt Culling, one of Herold’s teammates in Regina, called him “the most selfless guy on the team,” according to the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “That’s why he was our captain. He always put the team first no matter what.” Xavier Labelle Adefenceman, Labelle,18, was a top student and a flourishing piano player. He was remember by former coaches and teammmates as someone who “was very, very respectful and he worked very hard,” Jim McIntyre, governor of the Saskatoon Contacts, told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Labelle had played for the Contacts before the Broncos.