The CEO and general manager of a North Vancouver junior hockey team says his club will drastically reduce or eliminate the use of their team bus next season in the wake of the tragic accident involving the Humboldt Broncos Friday.
Fifteen people are confirmed dead while 14 others are injured after the crash involving the bus for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team and a tractor-trailer in rural Saskatchewan Friday afternoon.
Dean Samson, CEO and general manager of the North Van Wolf Pack junior B franchise of the Pacific Junior Hockey League, joined the rest of the hockey world in grieving and offering support for the Broncos on Monday as information about the victims of the crash continued to emerge.
“When something like this happens, everyone starts grieving,” said Samson Monday, his voice shaking. “I start thinking, what happens when I put our kids on the bus? What happens if I have to tell their parents, ‘I’m sorry, your kid is not coming home?’ It’s been really emotional for my family and me.”
The Wolf Pack are a relative rarity in the Lower Mainland-based PJHL in that they purchased a team bus several years ago to travel as a group to games. Unlike many leagues in more sparsely populated parts of the country, most PJHL teams are located within relatively short driving distances of each other.
Samson said that when this season ended he and the rest of the club’s management group were debating whether or not they should continue to use the bus next season. The cost of running the bus and the logistics of marshalling players onto the bus for away games was taken into consideration, but Samson said that the news coming out of Humboldt cemented the decision for him to eliminate bus trips next year and instead have players drive themselves to the rinks.
“I spoke with our management group, and we’re not going to put our team on a bus next year,” he said. “For me it was like, I could be responsible. I could be that poor guy in Humboldt who is the president of his team having to go out and talk about his team being dead. I couldn’t handle that.”
Other North Shore hockey organizations have added their voices to the many across Canada and around the world who have offered their condolences and support for the Humboldt Broncos.
“One of the saddest days in hockey history that is so close to all of us in the hockey community,” read a message posted on the Twitter feed for the North Shore Winter Club’s hockey program. “NSWC is sending their love and support to everyone affected by this tragedy.”
One of The saddest days in hockey history that is so close to all of us in the hockey community. NSWC is sending their love and support to everyone affected by this tragedy.https://t.co/3HldFfmfCU
— NSWC Hockey (@HockeyNSWC) 7 April 2018
A message from the West Vancouver Minor Hockey Association read, in part, “All hockey families share a special bond. Hug your kids, young and old, tonight.”
Devastating news from Saskatchewan. All hockey families share a special bond. Hug your kids, young and old, tonight. Thoughts and prayers. https://t.co/bpYP9xkAJs https://t.co/bpYP9xkAJs
— West Van Hockey (@WVMHA) 7 April 2018
Several members of the hockey community are also promoting an initiative started by a group of B.C. hockey moms encouraging people to show their support by wearing a sports jersey of any kind on Thursday, April 12.
Samson said his club will send a donation directly to the Humboldt Broncos and he encouraged team supporters to contribute what they can to a Go Fund Me campaign set up for the crash victims and their families. As of Tuesday afternoon the campaign had raised more than $7 million, making it one of the largest in Go Fund Me history.
The nature of the accident makes it hit home hard for anyone who has ever been involved in the game of hockey, or any sport where bonding on long bus rides is an essential part of the team experience, said Samson.
“I texted our bus driver today and said, basically, thanks for keeping our kids safe, which you don’t always think about. They go, they come back. That’s it,” he said. “You’re with your friends, you’re looking forward to something, it’s a shared experience. That’s what it is – it’s a shared experience for everyone in the hockey community. And they’re all grieving.”
