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| The Elgar Petersen Arena set up for a vigil on April 8. |
A little over five months after a bus collision on April 6
claimed the lives of 16 players and team personnel, the Broncos returned to the
ice Wednesday to host the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s regular season
opening game against the Nipawin Hawks, who are the circuit’s defending
champions. With the clash at the Elgar Petersen Arena broadcast nationally on
TSN, it was a certainty the water works would come from anyone in any part of
the world watching that game.
In a really well-played junior A clash, the Broncos, who are
under the guidance of new head coach and general manager Nathan Oystrick,
scored first with a power-play goal coming from the stick of centre Michael
Clarke at the 2:08 mark of the second period.
Inside of the final 5:30 of the second, the Hawks received
singles from Cole Beamin and Jeremy Bisson to go up 2-1. That score held up as
the final outcome despite a Broncos golden last chance in the dying seconds of
the third coming off the stick of Clarke following an offensive zone faceoff.
Hawks star goalie Declan Hobbs made the stop, which was one
of his 39 saves on the night. Broncos standout netminder Dane Dow played
valiantly on the other end making 24 saves.
For the community of Humboldt, everyone affected by the tragedy
and the community at large all over the world whose hearts sank on April 6,
Wednesday’s game was a big step forward in the healing process. That healing
process still has an uncharted ways to go, but a new normal for the community
of Humboldt just got a lot closer.
When the Broncos and Hawks collide again in Nipawin on
Friday, the Broncos players and coaches will be living a day-to-day life that
more resembles the regular rigours of a hockey season. Regular routines will
start to form again as the 2018-19 campaign progresses.
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| Humboldt Broncos jerseys became a common sight all over Saskatchewan. |
The world rallied to support the Humboldt players and
staffers including a GoFundMe campaign that 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 the third largest ever in the world.
Wednesday’s contest provided another chance to heal and pay
tribute to the 2017-18 Broncos, and that was done in spectacular fashion in
front of an over capacity crowd of 1,998.
Brayden Camrud and Derek Patter were the two survivors of
the crash that returned to the team this season, and they took part in the opening
faceoff. The ceremonial puck drop was performed by a large group of their
teammates from a season ago who also survived the crash.
Both Camrud and Patter played outstanding with Camrud
recording an assist on Clarke’s power-play goal. While the game on the ice wasn’t
the biggest focus on the night, it provided a great compliment to the rest of
the festivities.
Following the game, an emotional ceremony that lasted about
45 minutes was held to cap off the night. During the ceremony, 29 banners, one
for every person on the Broncos bus, were unveiled and placed in a circle
around centre ice.
All the numbers worn by the Broncos players who were on the
bus on April 6 were retired. Camrud and Patter will wear their numbers for the
rest of the campaign, before those digits officially get taken out of
circulation by the Broncos.
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| A back of a Humboldt Broncos jersey made to support those in the bus crash. |
Of course, no one will be able to bring back the players who
dies in the bus crash in captain Logan Schatz, Adam Herold, Conner Lukan, Evan
Thomas, Jacob Leicht, Jaxon Joseph, Logan Boulet, Logan Hunter, Stephen Wack or
Parker Tobin. The same goes for 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.
The crash survivors in Camrud, Patter, Graysen Cameron,
Kaleb Dahlgren, Bryce Fiske, Xavier LaBelle, Matthieu Gomercic, Nick
Shumlanski, Tyler Smith, Ryan Straschnitzki, Jacob Wassermann, Layne Matechuk
and Morgan Gobeil will soldier on. Matechuk and Gobeil are still in hospital.
As a collective, those 29 have shown the world it is
possible to come together to heal and care and that everyone can be
#HumboldtStrong.
Tonight was an incredibly emotional and beautiful tribute to the 2017-18 Humboldt Broncos. Thank you for all of your prayers, best wishes and support for the past 5 months. The “hockey family” has helped is through. It’s a great day to be a Bronco. pic.twitter.com/ILpKghXtyj— Humboldt Broncos (@HumboldtBroncos) September 13, 2018
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to stankssports@gmail.com.
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