On April 6th the hockey world was shocked when the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team’s bus crashed with a semi-trailer truck near Armley Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 16 people and injuring 13. The victims included 10 players, two coaches, a statistician, a broadcaster, the bus driver, and an athletic therapist. The remaining passengers, 13 players, received injuries, most of them serious. The Broncos were on their way to play game five of their playoff series with the Nipawin Hawks when the accident happened.
The Broncos’ bus was moving north on Highway 35 with a speed limit of 100 km/h or 62 mph. At the same time, the semi-trailer truck was moving west on Highway 335 that has a red flashing light and stop sign; the light had been installed in 1997 due o a fatal accident currently remembered with six memorial crosses. The intersection had trees on the corner, which may have obstructed visibility.
The team bus hit the left side of the truck, sending everyone inside the bus flying and resulting in the team members and staff closest to the front of the bus to lose their lives. In hockey teams, traveling on the road follow unwritten rules. One of these is the seating order on the bus. The staff sits in the front, followed by the rookie or younger players, with the veteran or oldest players in the back of the bus. This unwritten rule is meant to show respect for the older, more experienced players. But in this tragedy, it meant that most of the players who lost their lives were the coaching staff and youngest players.
This tragic accident shocked the whole hockey world. It brought hockey people in together to pay tribute to the fallen players and mourning families and teammates. The National Hockey League (NHL), Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) offered tributes to the fallen players. On April 7th the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks from the NHL wore the team name Broncos on their backs during the game to remember the victims. Also, the Nashville Predators played “O Canada” before their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets as a tribute to the victims, neither teams are based in Canada.
Off the ice, the hockey world has come together to remember the victims of the crash. A GoFundMe website, created to raise funds for the families of the victims, has raised $15 million.
On social media, people leave their sticks outside of their front door to remember the victims of the crash. This was originally started when the TSN radio and former Broncos broadcaster Brian Munz received a text message from a friend urging people to leave their sticks outside, stating “The boys might need them… wherever they are.” This movement is known in the social media as #PutYourSticksOut
Students and faculty families at Northwood have joined in the #PutYourSticksOut campaign, and hockey sticks resting near doors can be seen around the dorms.
