Country shares in tragic loss
‘...a lot of bus rides every year in a lot of leagues’: Evans
The tight-knit junior hockey community across Canada is still reeling after a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos’ team bus was struck by a semi-truck in Saskatchewan Friday, killing 15 and injuring 14 others.
Players, fans and government leaders – including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump – have shared their feelings and passed along condolences for those affected in the aftermath of the loss. And it particularly hits home right across this level of junior hockey.
“There’s a lot of bus rides every year in a lot of leagues,” said Shawn Evans, head coach and general manager of the Truro Junior A Bearcats.
“But I don’t know why this happened on that particular day, that particular bus ride.”
The Broncos were heading to Nipawin for a playoff game Friday evening around 5 p.m., when their bus was t-boned at a highway intersection by a tractor trailer.
Across North America, players and fans attending hockey games at every level paid respect to those lost in the tragedy. That included the Halifax Mooseheads’ QMJHL playoff game against the Charlottetown Islanders in Halifax and rounds of the Day of Champions series in Truro Saturday.
The Broncos played in the Sas- katchewan Junior Hockey League, at the same level as the Bearcats, of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
“They are very well known across Canada for the program they run and the success they’ve had,” Evans said of the Broncos.
“I wasn’t familiar with anyone in particular with that group, but everyone follows everyone else around in different leagues to see how teams are doing throughout the year. We didn’t know them personally, but they were a team we watched from afar.”
The MHL also released a statement on their website, sending condolences to the families and loved ones closest to the tragedy.
“As proud members of the CJHL, our league stands with our hockey family in the SJHL and with the Broncos organization during this exceptionally difficult time,” it reads.
When asked if he had ever encountered any close calls or incidents in his many seasons travelling with the Bearcats, Evans said things like this happen, but are out of the team’s control.
“I want to tell you no, but you know, I’ve been on a lot of bus rides for a lot of years,” he said.
“People say, you’re just along for the ride, and unfortunately that is really how it is. The bus driver is always a good guy, but he’s in control and you’re just doing what you’re doing while you travel.”
The stories of the 15 lives taken when a bus carrying a junior hockey team crashed with a truck continued to emerge Sunday as the town of Humboldt prepared a vigil to mourn those lost.
Defencemen Adam Herold and Xavier Labelle, assistant coach Mark Cross and bus driver Glen Doerksen and were confirmed as being among the dead. So was the Humboldt Broncos statistics keeper, Brody Hinz.
Hinz was 18. Golden West Radio said in a statement that he was being mentored by Tyler Bieber, the team’s play-by-play announcer who was also killed in the Friday crash at a highway intersection in east-central Saskatchewan.
“Brody had recently joined our Golden West family, mentored by Tyler and the Bolt FM team,” Lyndon Frieson, president of Golden West Radio, said in a statement posted on the station’s website. “Tragedy has hit our community and it reaches into every corner of life in Humboldt.”
The manager of Herold’s previous team, the Regina Pat Canadians, confirmed his death to The Canadian Press. The defenceman would have turned 17 on Thursday.
John Smith noted that Herold played for the Regina team until just weeks ago, but was sent to join the Broncos for their playoff round when the Pat Canadians’ season wrapped up.
Smith described Herold as a hard worker and a good leader, noting that Herold was team captain for the 2017-2018 season.
Labelle, 18, was confirmed dead by his brother Isaac Labelle in an Instagram post.
“I have no words to describe what I’m feeling. Best friends, teammates, allies, brothers,” Isaac Labelle wrote. “We’ve been through so much together. We had a special bond from the day you were born.”
Doerksen’s employer, Charlie’s Charters, posted about the driver’s death on Facebook. Another team he drove for, the Kinistino Tigers, also issued a statement.
“In talking to him, he spoke at length of his time in rinks with his own family and now how much he enjoyed being able to take and watch other teams from minor, to senior to SJHL to their hockey games,” a spokesperson for the Tigers wrote on Facebook.
“We will never forget the smile on your face as we left Allan after winning the Championship and got you to give ‘two honks for the Cup,’ ” they wrote.
The names of the dead and injured have not been released by police, but some have been confirmed by family members and others.
The others killed include the junior hockey team’s head coach, Darcy Haugan, captain Logan Schatz, forwards Jaxon Joseph and Logan Hunter, defenceman Stephen Wack.
The pews were full Sunday morning at the St. Augustine Catholic Church in Humboldt, where Rev. Joseph Salish told parishioners that if they feel like crying, they should cry.
“Our lives will never be the same again,” he said. “Wound is the place where light enters you... our response is to open ourselves in prayer.”
Between masses, streams of people – many of them red-eyed from crying – hugged each other as they attended a Knights of Columbus breakfast that had already been scheduled in the church’s recreation room.
Over stacks of pancakes topped with whipped cream, people spoke about how much the team means to the community. One woman brought money she said was donated by family members in Alberta.
It was decided that all funds from the breakfast would go to the Broncos.
A vigil was scheduled for last night at the Broncos’ home arena, where the community gathered to grieve, remember those they’ve lost and offer support for the loved ones they left behind.
As of early Sunday morning, a crowdfunding effort on the website Gofundme had raised more than $3 million for the players and families affected by the crash.