This column was originally meant to reflect the successful season of the Battlefords North Stars. However, after the horrific accident that occurred on April 6, 2018, at approximately 5 p.m, where there were reported clear skies on a somewhat typical road in the land of the living skies province of Saskatchewan, any discussion of the on-ice performance of a hockey team became meaningless.
The writer has been aware of the storied Humboldt Broncos franchise since the early 1970s. As a boy growing up in Prince Albert, the launch of the Raider franchise in that city was a memorable moment in the life of a young kid who was a sports fanatic. The Prince Albert Raiders joined the Saskatchewan Amateur Junior Hockey League in the 1971-72 season. During that time period, the Broncos were a powerhouse under the tutelage of Head Coach Dr. Terry Henning and General Manager Gerry Rooney. They played hockey the right way. They played hard and they played clean. The club represented the community with class as they have continued to do in the 2017-2018 season. This year had been successful and they were playing the Nipawin Hawks in a best of seven semi-final series. The Hawks were leading the series three games to one with game five scheduled for this past Friday night in Nipawin. The Hawks had won game four in triple overtime. Game five was highly anticipated. Then everything, literally, came to a crashing end. At a junction of a highway in northeastern Saskatchewan, a bus carrying a number of unsuspecting souls was hit by a semi-tractor trailer unit and hell on earth reared its ugly head. At this point, we don’t know why. Our Royal Canadian Mounted Police will do their usual competent investigation. At this point, we don’t have the emotional energy to ask why. At this point, we are shocked and dumbfounded and don’t really know how to react appropriately. All we can do is worry… worry for those loved ones who are affected. We grieve for those who are grieving. We hope for those who are attempting to recover in hospital. We wonder what we can do. Sadness pervades. We seem somewhat suspended in time. And the families of those who perished live a nightmare that will last forever. As much as they will carry on, and they will proceed with their lives, there will always remain a hole that fades to black. The pain will never go away. The families of the victims will never be able to smile the same way again. he billets of the players who have been vanquished will shed tears at the most unsuspecting of times and they will wonder why… and then they will remember. This incident will haunt the franchise for eternity, but they will carry on, and the Broncos will be strong and continue to provide an avenue of leadership for our youth.
We need to remember the people who are lost. Head Coach Darcy Haugan, Assistant Coach Mark Cross, broadcaster Tyler Bieber, volunteer statistician Brody Hinz, bus driver Glen Doerksen, Captain Logan Schatz, Jaxson Joseph, Conner Lukan, Parket Tobin, Logan Hunter, Logan Boulet, Jacob Leicht, Evan Thomas, Stephen Wack and Adam Herold. They will not be forgotten. The players who lost their lives were never able to fulfill their potential. You meet these young Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League participants and you just know they will be positive contributing members of society when their playing days are over.
However, these are not just hockey-related people that we have lost. This incident does not just affect the hockey community. These are people who were, and would be, important people in a society that clamours to embrace people who possess those values that will enrich our lives.
As parents, we send our kids off to various activities where we place them in the hands of individuals who are attempting to enrich our children’s lives. Teachers. Coaches. Mentors. They look after our kids. At times, our children are involved in activities that take them to other communities. Buses. Vans. SUVs. Cars. Trucks. Aircraft. These are the vehicles that take them to events that they eagerly await. You can see it in their eyes when we drop them off. They await the dream of the journey. As parents, we trust those surrogates to look after our kids and keep them safe.
In a day long ago, it is the fall of the year in 1972. The wind is cool, but soothing. You can hear the leaves crackle in the wind as they brush over soccer fields. The McGavin’s Royals soccer club embarks on a journey to Calgary from Prince Albert. They are are group of children who participate in an under 12 age group. They are young. They are innocent. They are eager, and they are excited. They are living the dream. Imagine, small town Saskatchewan kids, going to the big city of Calgary. Home of football’s Calgary Stampeders, McMahon Stadium, and the Calgary Tower. Wow. We travel on a bus. It isn’t a new school bus by any means. There are no seat belts. The seats are uncomfortable. It doesn’t matter. We are in heaven. As children, we don’t think about what our parents are thinking. We don’t understand their worry. We are unaware that they will be constantly thinking about us until we return home safely. We are consumed by the anticipation of the journey with our buddies and the joy of competing and beating the goliaths of the big city. It is heaven. The fields feel soft beneath our feet, the air is clear and clean as it consumes our nostrils, breathing in and out. Then, we run. We compete. We do the thing, as kids, that we love. We have success and we have disappointment. At the end of the day, we are returned safely to the loving arms of our parents… our proud parents… our relieved parents. The occupants of the Humboldt Broncos were unable to return home safely. A parent’s worse nightmare has hit them with the stark suddenness that leaves them momentarily emotionally paralyzed. Extended family feel the pain. Billets feel the pain. The organization feels the pain. The Humboldt community feels the pain. Nipawin feels the pain. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League feels the pain. The supporters of the league feel the pain. Saskatchewan feels the pain. Western Canada feels the pain. The nation feels our pain. We are consumed with sadness and grief. What do we do? What can we do?
At some point in our lives, we encounter loss and grief. As a child, I experienced the sudden loss of a fellow student who was a year ahead of me in school to a highway traffic accident. I wasn’t a friend, but she was kind. She would greet you with a smile and always say hello. She was popular, but she didn’t hold herself above others. She died too soon. I remember her smile to this day. She has never left me, and I really didn’t know her. It was my first encounter with loss of life and grief. Students cried at the funeral. The songs that were played I remember. Morning has Broken by Cat Stevens. What the World Needs Now by Burt Bacharach. Those songs are etched in my mind. On Friday, April 6, 2018, adults in the prime of their lives were cut down with a suddenness that is numbing. And, we had young lives extinguished at the turn of a dime. In a moment of time, 15 lives were lost. Fifteen contributions to society. A nation affected. Tears flood the province in a season where the waters begin to flow again after a long, harsh winter. We look to find answers as our eyes gaze at the clear blue skies.
They say that time will heal. And, it does. But for those who have lost loved ones, the pain never really goes away. I remember my classmate. I remember my workmates who have passed. I remember friends and acquaintances who have gone too soon. And, I remember my parents. Those affected by this horrible accident will always remember. They will also move on and live their lives to honour those who have gone before them. To search for answers as to why is a fool’s errand. The answer is life. Events occur and we will never know why. How we deal with the loss is the answer. We move forward and honour those who have perished.
We honour those associated with the Humboldt Broncos hockey club whose lives were lost tragically. They will live on in our memory. We support the Humboldt Broncos and our fellow citizens. We look into the eyes of those we love and give pause. We once again reflect. We are given a moment to understand that the right way to live is to live the struggle of each day to the best of our ability. We remind ourselves that what is important is the love we possess in our hearts and our ability to pass that love on to our loved ones and to people that we have contact with in our daily lives.
We will never forget the souls that were lost on April 6, 2018. Their hearts will beat on in the Broncos organizations and in all of their supporters.
