HUMBOLDT, Sask. — Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened when a tractor-trailer collided with a hockey team bus at a Saskatchewan highway intersection in a horrific crash that killed 15 people, including players and the coach of the Humboldt Broncos.
The crash killed the junior hockey team's head coach, Darcy Haugan, captain Logan Schatz, forwards Jaxon Joseph and Logan Hunter, defenceman Stephen Wack and the team's play-by-play radio announcer, Tyler Bieber.
RCMP Asst. Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said the driver of the semi was not hurt and was briefly detained after the crash early Friday evening.
"The driver has subsequently been released. He's also been provided with some mental health and wellness assistance," Zablocki said Saturday afternoon.
Police say the 14 who survived the crash have varying degrees of injury, some critical. The names of the dead and injured have not been released, but some have been confirmed by family members and others.
The players come from various towns and cities in Alberta and Saskatchewan while one, Matthieu Gomercic, hails from Winnipeg.
"We are heartbroken and completely devastated by the tragedy that occurred yesterday," Broncos team president Kevin Garinger said Saturday. "We will never forgot the members of our Broncos family who were taken from us and who were injured."
The family of Ryan Straschnitzki confirmed the 18-year-old player survived but broke his back and can't feel his lower extremities.
Kelly Schatz said his 20-year-old son Logan played for the Broncos for just over four years and had served as team captain for the past 2 1/2.
He said the family is seeking solace in one another.
"It's hard," Schatz said. "I've got four other kids and they're here, which is nice."
Haugan's wife, Christina George-Haugan, confirmed the coach's death to The Canadian Press. Tributes poured in online for the father of two young sons, who was described as an amazing mentor to players.
"He will always be a great man in our hearts," his sister posted on Twitter under the name Debbie Jayne. "The tears just keep coming."
Steven Wilson, a play-by-play announcer in Weyburn, Sask., called Haugan "the classiest guy" in the league.
Alicia Wack said her 21-year-old cousin, who made the best gingerbread houses and "absolutely lived and breathed hockey," had played defence with the Broncos for two seasons.
"I am horrified to say that he did not make it," she said in a Facebook post. "Stephen has always been an amazing person, son, big brother and cousin. He is one of the most adventurous, ambitious and loving people that I have ever been blessed to know.
"My heart is destroyed."
Kevin Porter, the president of the St. Albert Raiders hockey club, told The Canadian Press that 18-year-old Hunter, a forward, was also killed in the crash. Hunter was from St. Albert and played with the Raiders organization for four seasons.
Hunter "always had a smile on his face," said Porter, who heard of the death from the young man's mother. "Smart kid. Great hockey player. Great sense of humour."
Police say 29 people were on the bus of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team as it travelled north on the highway heading to Nipawin for a playoff game.
Around 5 p.m. Friday, the truck was heading west at a highway intersection south of Nipawin when it collided with the bus. The force of the crash sent both vehicles into the ditch at the northwest corner of the intersection.
Aerial footage showed the bus on its side, its roof peeled back and its front end destroyed.
The trailer of the truck lay nearby in a shattered mess, with bags of its peat moss cargo scattered all around. The tractor part of the truck was intact, lying on its passenger side.
The tractor-trailer would have had to yield to a stop sign before crossing over the highway that the hockey bus was travelling on. There is a stand of trees on the southeast corner of the intersection, limiting visibility of the approach on both roads.
Zablocki said a lot of issues have to be investigated, including weather conditions at the time and any mechanical issues with the vehicles.
"Due to the large amount of evidence, information, and the number of victims this work will take some time," said Zablocki. "It's too early to comment on the cause of the collision."
The victims were dispatched by helicopter and ambulance to care centres in nearby Saskatoon.
Hassan Masri, an emergency room doctor at Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital, said a code orange emergency was called signalling massive casualties.
"The images and the injuries that I saw yesterday, really that's what they reminded me of, when there was an airstrike and a massive number of people would be coming in at the same time in horrible shape," said Masri, who has done work in war-torn Syria.
Masri said it was emotional given Saskatchewan communities are knit together by hockey.
"A lot of people have kids that play on hockey teams that travel from town to town," he said. "This was either personal because you knew someone or personal because you could really relate to it."
In Humboldt, the team's home rink became a scene of mourning, support, and strength.
Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench, wearing a green and yellow team Broncos jersey, hugged people Saturday morning as they came to the Elger Petersen Arena to comfort each other.
A rendition of the Canadian National Anthem was sung at the Nashville Predators hockey game on Saturday in honor of the victims in the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan that left 15 people dead. https://t.co/xlwiYYWRCP pic.twitter.com/VWgJ1qYsZW
— ABC News (@ABC) April 8, 2018
"It has hit us hard. We are a small community by most standards, but the hockey team has always been a big part of our community," said Muench.
Many people wandered in and out of the arena during the day. Multiple crisis workers were assisting in a separate area.
Flowers were placed on the stairs in the rink stands. The railings were wrapped in yellow and green ribbon to honour the team.
The tragedy brought messages of condolence from around the country, the hockey world and the highest levels of government, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said Canada is in mourning.
"We are heartbroken knowing many of those we lost had their entire lives in front of them," Trudeau said in a statement Saturday. "We grieve with those facing news no parent or family should ever have to face.
"This is every parent's worst nightmare. No one should ever have to see their child leave to play the sport they love and never come back."
"I can't even imagine what the families are going through." Saskatchewan native Derek Dorsett comments on the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. #HumboldtStrong pic.twitter.com/YfoJmN3jMd
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 7, 2018
As of early Sunday morning, a crowdfunding effort on the website GoFundMe had raised more than $2.9 million for the players and families affected by the crash.
The crash has cruel echoes of 1986, when the Swift Current Broncos team bus slid off an icy highway and crashed in late December, killing four players.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' hockey league under Hockey Canada, which is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
"The worst nightmare has happened."
— CBC News (@CBCNews) April 8, 2018
13 victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash have been identified. https://t.co/br0jAo6sEO pic.twitter.com/WKmgPGqc7h
ATHLETES, TEAMS HONOUR VICTIMS OF HUMBOLDT BRONCOS DEADLY BUS CRASH
Some wrote "Broncos" on their caps or shoes, others sported the word across their backs.
Athletes and teams across North America have been paying tribute to the Humboldt Broncos after Friday's deadly collision between a truck and a bus that was carrying the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team to a playoff game in the province.
The Winnpeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks honoured the Humboldt team by wearing jerseys with the word BRONCOS across their name plates during their regular-season finale at Bell MTS Place Saturday night.
Before the game, a moment of silence was observed, with players from both teams standing in a circle around centre ice.
"It was very powerful," Jets head coach Paul Maurice told reporters after the game. "Again that connection that all hockey players have together, they go through that idea of travelling as a team, being part of a team.
"It was really emotional."
The Jets and Blackhawks donated $25,000 to the Broncos while the proceeds from Winnipeg's 50/50 draw for the night were also donated.
Ashton Sautner, whose uncle is the President of the Humboldt Broncos, talks about yesterday's tragic bus crash. #HumboldtStrong pic.twitter.com/eMcHGSeYbP
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 7, 2018
The NHL pitched in $25,000 while other teams — the Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames — made donations via a GoFundMe page that had raised more than $3 million by Sunday morning.
The Leafs and Montreal Canadiens wore Humboldt Broncos decals on their helmets while playing each other in Toronto Saturday night, as did the Oilers and Canucks, who also wore Broncos-coloured green and yellow lapel ribbons in Edmonton.
Don Cherry spoke briefly about the crash on his Coach's Corner segment before introducing a montage of photos of every member of the Broncos team.
"There's no words to describe what's happened here," Cherry said of the crash that killed 15 people. RCMP have said 14 others on the bus were injured.
Bill Chow, the President of the SJHL, called the tributes and support "absolutely overwhelming."
"Hopefully that support will continue and hopefully it will allow for some type of healing as we move forward over the next few days, months and years," Chow told The Canadian Press on Sunday.
The tributes extended beyond the hockey world.
Joey Votto, the Toronto-born Cincinnati Reds superstar, took his position at first base Saturday afternoon with "Humboldt Broncos" written in white on his black cleats.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan and Flames coach Glen Gulutzan bringing gifts to the injured players from Humboldt Broncos bus crash pic.twitter.com/XRIZqyPKhG
— TheRenderNHL (@TheRenderNHL) April 8, 2018
And Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman took the mound against the Texas Rangers in Arlington with the team's name written in white on the bottom left side of his cap. "SK" was written on the other side.
The Blue Jays and Rangers observed a moment of silence on the field before the game. Afterwards, Stroman said he would be auctioning his cap and donating the proceeds to the Broncos.
"I had a heavy heart all day, to be honest with you," Stroman told reporters in Arlington. "Just seeing a young team having a bunch of lives taken from them, it's extremely unfortunate and tragic.
"Everyone in Saskatchewan, I just want to say we're here with you guys, you're in our thoughts, you're in our prayers, and we'll do anything we can to support you through a tough time."
A moment of silence was also observed in Las Vegas on Saturday morning, where Brad Gushue and his rink from St. John's, N.L., is vying for a second straight men's world curling championship.
Saskatchewan Roughriders wide receiver Duron Carter tweeted a pledge to the Broncos on Saturday, saying "Every touchdown I get this season will be donated to the Humboldt Broncos families! Hope I help this healing process!"
Oilers coach Todd McLellan and Flames coach Glen Gulutzan bringing gifts to the injured players from Humboldt Broncos bus crash pic.twitter.com/XRIZqyPKhG
— TheRenderNHL (@TheRenderNHL) April 8, 2018
HUMBOLDT, SASK. WAS HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR MANY PLAYERS INVOLVED IN FATAL CRASH
For many of the young hockey players involved in a crash with the Humboldt Broncos' team bus, the small Saskatchewan town was a home very far away from home.
That's because many junior hockey teams in the country rely on a process called billeting — where local families take in determined young hockey players from across Canada and the United States.
"In most cases they become like one of your children or grandchildren," said Gail Chilman, a billeting co-ordinator with the Estevan Bruins, a team in the same league as the Broncos. "They just become part of your family."
Families in local towns volunteer to house young players who have been drafted into the league. In the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's case, many of those players came from across Western Canada.
The RCMP says 15 people are now dead following a horrific crash between a truck and a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos. Read here: https://t.co/4aFKphE9ls pic.twitter.com/wVCQtSHrLO
— CityNews Toronto (@CityNews) April 7, 2018
Chilman currently hosts three players in her home right now, and has been taking in young hockey players from as far as the United States and Slovakia since 1995.
As a host parent, she said it was still hard to fathom that 14 people on the Broncos bus were killed Friday night — including the team captain and head coach — and another 15 were injured during the crash with a truck. The RCMP said Saturday that a 15th person had died.
She described the experience of moving far away from home as a defining and sometimes difficult one for both the players involved and the families who host them.
"Some of them come in and fit in really quickly," said Chilman. "Some of them get homesick for a while, especially if they're young at 17 or 18 years of age, but most of the time they fit in to your families and just become part of you."
She said most of the players call it a home away from home, and the host families consider themselves extra parents with an added son.
"They're just young gentlemen and you're still trying to push them in the right direction in their lives and try and influence some of their habits and what happens later on in their lives," said Chilman. "If you can give them any lifetime experiences and information, that's what we try to do."
They also become a part of the community, and many of them keep coming back season after season. One of Chilman's first billets in 1995, Darcy Haugan, remained a part of the community for years and eventually became the head coach of the Humboldt Broncos.
He was confirmed as one of the 14 people who died in Friday's crash.
"There's connections everywhere it seems, it's a tight-knit family in hockey," said Chilman, who said she also knew the assistant coach of the team who was involved in the crash. "I just can't wrap my head around it."
Haugan was one of many former hockey players that Chilman kept in touch with after hosting.
"We've had a lot of young men go through the house. You keep track of them from the time they leave through their marriages, through their families and babies being born, through their careers," said Chilman. "You become attached."
.@PaulKennedyFOX and the rest of the FOX Sports family join in mourning to loss of life in the terrible and fatal crash of the Humboldt Broncos team bus on Friday. pic.twitter.com/hNOwFLiCzR
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) April 7, 2018
Even NHL players like the Toronto Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly, who spent multiple years in Moose Jaw, Sask., have fond memories of the billeting system as well.
"I loved every minute of it," said Rielly, who lived in the town while playing for the WHL. "I spent a lot of time in Saskatchewan and you gain an understanding of what it means to move into a home and live with a billet, and you become part of a family."
"Your heart breaks for the families, the billets, the people involved."
FORMER NHL PLAYER SHELDON KENNEDY REACTS TO HUMBOLDT BRONCOS BUS CRASH
Former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy says he can relate to the grief people are feeling after the crash involving the Humboldt Broncos that killed 15 people.
RCMP said the crash happened at around 5 p.m. Friday when a truck collided with a bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game in northeastern Saskatchewan.
Kennedy said this situation made him think about the Swift Current Broncos crash in 1986 when four of his teammates were killed.
His team's bus had hit a patch of ice and crashed while the hockey team was en route to Regina.
"Being in that sort of situation before, I just knew the state of shock and the confusion that comes along with this type of tragedy," said Kennedy in a phone interview from Calgary on Saturday. "My thoughts are with the families, and the billet families, and the first responders, and anyone involved in the immediate response, because it's just horrific and it's really hard to explain."
Patrick Marleau of the Toronto Maple Leafs was a boy in Saskatchewan when the crash happened involving the Swift Current Broncos.
"I remember a little bit of it," said Marleau, who was born in Aneroid, near Swift Current.
"It's something you remember when you're that young. You see the players wearing the logo on their jersey for the players that were lost. It definitely hits home. Growing up around Swift Current, it was always in people's mind. There's memorials. They're never forgotten."
Adam Lowry, a centre with the Winnipeg Jets, played junior hockey with the Swift Current Broncos and remembers how the bus crash has stayed with the community.
"Playing in Swift Current, even with the bus crash there 30 years ago, it still affects the community," said the 25-year-old native of Calgary.
"I think we were all aware of the tragedy that had happened in Swift Current. Every Swift Current minor hockey team, we would wear the clover with the four numbers on it. It's definitely something that hits close to home, I think. A lot of guys who played junior have spent countless hours on the bus. To see something like this happen it's really tough to see."
Police say there were 29 people including the driver on board the Humboldt Broncos bus, and those who weren't killed in the collision were in hospital.
Kennedy said it's important for everyone involved — including those injured, first responders, and the families of the victims — to talk through their feelings about the tragedy.
"I think one thing that we underestimate with the impact of trauma, and PTSD, and going through things like this, is the magnitude of the impact," he says. "That is what I can't stress enough."
Humboldt Broncos manager Kevin Garinger said the Broncos are a close-knit team from the small city of about 6,000 people, 110 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
Kennedy said the collective trauma is far-reaching and residual.
"The biggest thing is, we just gotta support that community right now because they're going to be needing it."
