2017-18 Humboldt Broncos still bring out best in humanity

The Elgar Petersen Arena set for a vigil on April 8, 2018.

    The tributes came in early and often over social media lines on Monday for a team seemingly everyone still takes to heart.

    Monday marked the second anniversary of the tragic bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior A hockey team on April 6, 2018. 
    The bus carrying the Broncos, who are one of Canada’s most storied junior A teams, was traveling to Nipawin to play a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game, and it collided with a semi-truck just north of Tisdale.

    The crash resulted in the deaths of 10 Broncos players including captain Logan Schatz, Logan Boulet, Adam Herold, Logan Hunter, Jaxon Joseph, Jacob Leicht, Conner Lukan, Evan Thomas, Parker Tobin and Stephen Wack.

    Head coach and general manager Darcy Haugen, assistant coach Mark Cross, play-by-play voice Tyler Bieber, stats expert Brody Hinz, athletic therapist Dayna Brons and bus driver Glen Doerksen were all among the total of 16 people who were killed.

A Saskatchewan farm yard display supporting the Broncos in April of 2018.

    The 13 survivors in players Graysen Cameron, Brayden Camrud, Kaleb Dahlgren, Bryce Fiske, Xavier LaBelle, Matthieu Gomercic, Derek Patter, Nick Shumlanski, Tyler Smith, Ryan Straschnitzki, Jacob Wassermann, Layne Matechuk and Morgan Gobeil have all ventured on in life with various physical injuries and emotional battles.

    Camrud and Patter were in the Broncos lineup when they opened the 2018-19 SJHL regular season on home ice at the Elgar Petersen Arena falling 2-1 to the Hawks.

    In the months after the crash, support poured in for the Broncos from seemingly everywhere including the province of Saskatchewan, the rest of Canada and the entire world.

    A GoFundMe campaign for Broncos players and staffers raised over $15.1-million with donations coming from over 141,900 individuals and entities in just under two weeks.

    It is crazy to think Humboldt residents Sylvie Kellington and Caitlin Hergott originally had the small goal of raising funds to cover parking costs for the families visiting hospitals with the GoFundMe campaign.
    Their efforts became the largest GoFundMe campaign ever in Canada and is still the fourth largest in the world.

A Swift Current fan with a Humboldt Broncos support sign in April of 2018.

    In Canada, the Broncos bus crash became one of those “where were you when” moments, because at the time it happened, no one wanted to believe it was true.

    In a lot of ways, it became the ultimate one degree of separation moment, because it seemed like everyone interacted with someone who was a family member or had a personal connection with the 29 individuals on the bus.

    In Swift Current, the Humboldt Broncos bus crash took on extra meaning. The WHL’s Swift Current Broncos suffered through a single-vehicle team bus crash on December 30, 1986 resulting the deaths of players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff.

    The Swift Current bus flew off the highway having hit a patch of black ice shortly after leaving town on route to a road game in Regina to play the Pats.

    In April and May of 2018, the sticks were out for Humboldt at the Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial. Inside of Swift Current and the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex during playoff games for the WHL’s Broncos, you didn’t have to look far to see a sign of support for Humboldt.
    The WHL’s Broncos would win the WHL title in May of 2018. In the season the WHL Broncos had their bus accident in 1986-87, the Humboldt Broncos captured the SJHL title.
    At the moment, the current day hasn’t been the greatest of times for the world.

#SticksOutForHumboldt at the Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial.

    The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has a number of countries in the world including Canada observing lockdown measures.

    At the time this post went live, over 81,000 people in the world and 375 individuals in Canada have died due to complications related to COVID-19.

    In Canada and the United States, shutdowns started to happen on March 11, when the NBA elected to postpone play causing a series of dominoes of postponements, cancellations and shutdowns to follow.

    For about four weeks now, the population of the world has been bombarded with anxiety inducing news regarding COVID-19.

    As strange as it sounds, it seemed like a ray of light to turn on the social media accounts on Monday morning and see tributes posted from various people and entities for the 2017-18 SJHL Broncos team. There were pictures of people once again leaving their sticks outside their doors for the Broncos players who have passed on to use.

    People are still holding those that were part of that Broncos team close to their hearts.

    A few of the surviving Broncos players posted gracious notes as well thanking the support they received throughout the world and noting they still miss their buds who passed away in that crash. A number of parents of Broncos players posted heartwarming notes too.

A Humboldt Broncos tribute jersey and puck from 2018.

    Tuesday is “Green Shirt Day” for organ donor awareness and registration in honour of the “Logan Boulet Effect.” Boulet, who was one of the players that passed in the Broncos bus crash, wanted his organs donated if he passed away, and his actions resulted in six lives being saved.

    Boulet succumbed to his injuries and passed away on April 7, 2018.

    As news of Boulet’s actions spread, over 100,000 people signed their organ donor cards in the days and weeks that followed.

    Over the course of Monday and Tuesday, the hashtag phrases of #SticksOutForHumboldt, #HumboldtStrong, #BroncosStrong and #LoganBouletAffect were shown to be alive and meaningful.

    Even as time passes, that Broncos team from that tragic bus crash in early April of 2018 is still bringing out the best in humanity.

CFL postpones start of regular season, other notes

CFL action has been put on hold until at least the start of July.

    The CFL is still hoping to play a full regular season, but its start has been postponed until the beginning of July.

    On Tuesday, the CFL released a statement from commissioner Randy Ambrosie stating the regular season won’t begin until at least the start of July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season was slated to start on June 11 with the B.C. Lions traveling to Edmonton to face the Eskimos.

    In part of the statement, Ambrosie said, “Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. We salute the heroic efforts of those on the front lines of our health care system and our supply chain.

    “And, we are grateful for the leadership being shown by all levels of government. We respect the decisions being made by the federal government, provinces and municipalities on behalf of our safety, and we will continue to follow their directives. These include indications from Canadian cities that they will not allow sporting event to take place before the end of June.”

    On Friday, Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi said that Calgary’s ban on all public events until June 30 includes CFL and NHL games should those leagues resume before then.

    Toronto mayor John Tory announced last week his city is cancelling events through June 30 that require city permission. That ban did not extend to sporting events, but Ontario provincial gathering bans would factor in.

RB Andrew Harris (#33) and the Blue Bombers are the Grey Cup champions.

    Ambrosie also said in Tuesday’s statement, “While it is now clear that the 2020 CFL season won’t start before the beginning of July, we are committed to working with our teams, the Players’ Association, TSN and RDS to play a full season or as close as we can come to one. We recognize this may require creativity, and we are preparing for multiple scenarios.”

    The CFL previously announced on March 30 that training camps would be postponed until further notice.

    The last time the Grey Cup was not awarded was 1919 due to a lack of interest along with a rules dispute between the leagues that competed for the trophy at the time. The game was cancelled from 1916 to 1918 due to Canada’s participation in the First World War.

    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 in last year’s Grey Cup held at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta.

    This year’s Grey Cup is slated for Nov. 22 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

    In wrapping up Tuesday’s statement Ambrosie said, “We realize there are more important things on Canadians’ minds right now than games of any sort. But we also know Canadian football has long been a source of pride and unity for our country and – when the time is right – we can play an important role in its recovery.

    “Until then, let’s all be pragmatic enough to do what we need to do to stop the spread of this virus and protect one another.”

Jayda Sachs with the Fedoruk Cup in 2019.

• Jayda Sachs has elected to bring her hockey career close to home. After playing one season with the University of Waterloo Warriors women’s hockey team, the 19-year-old forward, who is from Warman, Sask., decided to leave the Warriors to join the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team. The Huskies announced the addition of Sachs on Monday. Last season, Sachs played 23 regular season games with the Warriors collecting one goal and four assists. Due to the fact she is transferring between U Sports programs, Sachs has to sit out a full year before playing for the Huskies. From 2014 to 2019, Sachs played five seasons in the SFMAAAHL split between the Prince Albert Northern Bears and Saskatoon Stars appearing in 138 regular season games collecting 30 goals and 61 assists. She was a member of the Stars teams that captured the Fedoruk Cup as SFMAAAHL champions in 2018 and 2019.
• On Monday, Prince Albert Raiders captain Zack Hayes signed an AHL contract for the 2020-21 campaign to play with a new team in Henderson, Nevada, which will be the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. The defenceman appeared in 60 regular season games for the Raiders this past season posting seven goals, 16 assists and a plus-37 rating in the plus-minus department. From 2016 to 2020, Hayes appeared in 272 career regular season games with the Raiders posting 15 goals, 64 assists and a plus-97 rating.
• Tyrell Schroeder of the Saskatoon female midget A Comet Predators was named the Evan Thomas Memorial Sportsperson of the Year by the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association on Tuesday. The 15-year-old forward has played in the SMHA for the last 10 seasons all in the Comets system. Schroeder has maintained a 90 per cent average in her Grade 10 studies, and she also played on her school’s volleyball team. She will receive a $500 scholarship award. Thomas, who this award was named after, was one of the players that passed away tragically in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Outpouring of support for Humboldt Broncos shows humanity at its best

A fan in Swift Current puts up a sign to support the Humboldt Broncos.

    The capacity for humanity to care might have hit new heights in the tragedy involving the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

    On April 6, the bus carrying the Broncos to play a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game in Nipawin was involved in a collision with a semi-truck just north of Tisdale. The unthinkable event resulted in the deaths of 10 Broncos players including captain Logan Schatz, Adam Herold, Conner Lukan, Evan Thomas, Jacob Leicht, Jaxon Joseph, Logan Boulet, Logan Hunter, Stephen Wack and Parker Tobin.

    Head coach and general manager Darcy Haugen, assistant coach Mark Cross, play-by-play voice Tyler Bieber, stats expert Brody Hinz, athletic therapist Dayna Brons and bus driver Glen Doerksen were all among the total of 16 people who were killed.

    The 13 survivors from the bus all sustained injuries, and as of the last update from the Saskatchewan Health Authority on Tuesday, nine are still in hospital including two in critical condition.

The Humboldt Broncos logo set for the vigil held on April 8.

    In the 12 days that have followed since the accident, the outpouring of support and love shown for the storied junior A franchise and the community of Humboldt has been unprecedented in an outstanding way.

    The depth of this tragedy is hard to comprehend and the sorrow the family and friends have to go through is unimaginable. On the other end of the roller-coaster, the way the province of Saskatchewan, Canada as a country and people I dare say from around the world have united to support all those effected has shown a warmth people can have for each other on a scale that likely has never been seen.

    A GoFundMe campaign started by Humboldt residents Sylvie Kellington and Caitlin Hergott in the immediate aftermath of the accident had originally the small goal of raising funds to cover parking costs for the families visiting hospitals. The campaign is slated to wrap up today at 11:59 p.m. Saskatchewan time has surpassed $15.1-million with donations coming from over 141,900 individuals and entities.

A display supporting the Humboldt Broncos in a Saskatchewan farm yard.

    It is by far the largest GoFundMe campaign in the history of Canada and ranks among the top three GoFundMe campaigns ever in the history of the world. The donated funds will be transferred to a newly created non-profit known as Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc. An advisory committee is being established to make recommendations for the allocation of those funds.

    Fundraisers and donations outside of the GoFundMe campaign will go to the newly established Humboldt Strong Community Foundation. Its mission will be to support the Humboldt players, employees, families and volunteers as well as first responders, emergency personnel, teams, athletes, organizations and communities affected by the accident and its aftermath.

    On April 27 at 7 p.m., a fundraising concert will be held at SaskTel Centre featuring high profile country music singers Dallas Smith, Jess Moskaluke, Brett Kissel, Gord Bamford, Chad Brownlee and the Hunter Brothers. Tickets for the concert are $65. The show is being run by the Country Thunder Music Festival, which runs the annual music festival in Craven, Sask.

#SticksOutForHumboldt at Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial.

    The Broncos bus accident resonates with people due to its unfairness including the fact the players ranged in age from 16 to 21 and were at the beginning of making their biggest impacts in life. They were in transit to go play a game.

    In Canada, the majority of people have traveled by bus to go play in a sporting event or are connected to someone who does travel to participate a sporting event by bus.

    If you travel the highways in Saskatchewan at the moment, you will inevitably find a sign offering support for the Humboldt Broncos. It seems like we have all left our #SticksOutForHumboldt at some time over the past 12 days. That was a moment that gained its traction from Humboldt product and current play-by-play voice of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets Brian Munz posting that exact gesture on social media.

    The SJHL resumed its playoffs with the Hawks taking on the Estevan Bruins in the best-of-seven league championship series to capture the Canalta Cup. The Hawks lead the series 2-1, and the first three contests have allowed people to continue to pour out their hearts for the Broncos and relish in celebrating the game.

A  store front window in downtown Swift Current.

    Out in Swift Current, the Humboldt Broncos bus accident takes on a whole other unique meaning. The Swift Current Broncos suffered through a single-vehicle team bus crash on December 30, 1986 resulting the deaths of players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff. 

    The Swift Current bus flew off the highway having hit a patch of black ice shortly after leaving town on route to a road game in Regina to play the Pats.

    Since that time, Swift Current, a small city of just over 16,600 people, has come a long way and still continues on an uncharted path on a lifetime of healing. A lot of the characteristics of Swift Current are similar to Humboldt, which has a population of about 6,000, in that both places are close knit farming communities with big loyalties to their junior hockey teams.

A sign at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

    In another connection, the Humboldt Broncos were born in 1970 as the junior A affiliate of the Swift Current Broncos. From that link, the Humboldt franchise gained its name and the green and gold colour scheme that used to also be worn by the Swift Current franchise.

    Last weekend, the sticks were out for Humboldt at the Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial.

    Inside of Swift Current and the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex during playoff games for the WHL’s Broncos, you didn’t have to look far to see a sign of support for Humboldt and the commonalities the two Broncos teams share.

    In Moose Jaw, a local company that prints T-shirts has been going overtime producing T-shirts to support the Humboldt Broncos and raising fund to help those involved with the Humboldt bus accident.

    It is easy to encounter a sign advertising Thursday’s benefit game in Moose Jaw to support the Humboldt Broncos set for 7:30 p.m. at Mosaic Place. The game is being played in the memory of deceased Humboldt player Evan Thomas, whose father Scott played for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors from 1987 to 1991.

A sign for Humboldt Broncos benefit game in Moose Jaw on Thursday.

    Evan played midget AAA hockey from 2015 to 2017 for the Moose Jaw Generals.

    Gregg Drinnan, who is “the Dean” of sportswriters that covers the WHL, penned a beautiful tribute piece talking about the Humboldt Broncos playing a hockey game in the afterlife.

    Saskatoon Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk has express interest in calling a Humboldt Broncos game for free next season, and his idea is gaining support from a tonne of other broadcasters.

    Longer form positive and reflective style articles have been written by Sports Illustrated and Maclean’s.

    The ways to honour, raise funds and rally around the Humboldt Broncos keeps going and going. It is great to see, because the challenges everyone will face going forward will only be met and overcome over the longer term.

    In recent days, a number of funerals were held for those that died in the Humboldt bus accident providing another chance for people to rally together to support each other.

A Humboldt Broncos memorial at city hall in Saskatoon.

    For the survivors, a new normal will really set in, when the cameras and the attention does subside. That will be the time when they will need continued support to be enabled to show the uplifting spirit displayed by defenceman Ryan Straschnitzki, who was paralyzed from the waist down and vows to play for Canada’s Men’s Paralympic Sledge Hockey team.

    During a dark time, words can’t describe how uplifting it has been to see everyone rally around the Humboldt Broncos. The hashtag phrases #BroncosStrong and #HumboldtStrong are now ingrained in our vocabulary.

This sign in Moose Jaw says it all. 

    At tragic moments like these, humanity shows in new and good ways how special it can be.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. Drinnan’s “The boys grab some sticks and win a game” article can be found right here.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.