So very sad. Our local JR hockey teams just finished their season. Father of one of the players killed, played for us years ago.


https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/07...bus-crash/index.html

What terrible tragedy. Prayers for the players and the families involved. Lord bless them and hold them close.

This news just broke my heart when I heard about it Friday. And the more I read, the more tragic it gets. The best memories you often have from time as a player are those from the team bus. I know mine were.

One of the Humboldt residents started a Go Fund Me (I'm not usually a fan of these things) page with a modest goal of $10,000. Right now, it's over $5,000,000. In three days. There have been donations from NHL teams, but most of the funds have come from normal people donating small amounts. Shows the character and class of the hockey community, I think.

Just devastating. I grew up in a hockey family with relitives who spent many hours on those bus trips. Those teams are such a part of the culture of the small Canadian towns they come from. In many ways, the host families they stay with are as close to the players as the parents themselves.

Very classy the way the NHL honored them over the weekend.

Wife and I were just at our local junior hockey teams annual banquet on Saturday. The players are instructed to walk around and talk with people who show up to support them. One of the players sat at our table and chatted with us for about a half hour. He was clearly shaken by what happened to the team in Humboldt even though they are in a different league and they never played them.

All of these kids that I've met and talked with seem to be some of the finest young men you can meet. Hockey culture is a great place for these kids to grow up in.

I still don’t understand why buses don’t have seat belts


As far as we have come in some things, other things just baffle me


It’s heart breaking to see. And as the Dad of an athlete that travels a ton with his team for a sport (usually by air, granted) it hit a little too close to home

quote:

Originally posted by Kevbo:
I still don’t understand why buses don’t have seat belts


As far as we have come in some things, other things just baffle me


It’s heart breaking to see. And as the Dad of an athlete that travels a ton with his team for a sport (usually by air, granted) it hit a little too close to home

This was not an ordinary school bus, this was a big, three-axle tour bus, so maybe it had seatbelts. From the mess clearly visible on the TV movies and stills, it looks like the complete front end was torn off by a massive impact. A set pf STOP signs is clearly visible, so one of other of the vehicles failed to stop or yield. Which one has yet to be determined, but the bus was on the major north/south route, heading north....the truck driver survived, had been detained and then released pro tem.

My family at home, all hockey players, are dumbstruck by the tragedy. The Humboldt community is rallying around the families.

tac

Yeah, I saw the pictures, it looks awful. To my knowledge, in the States the government still doesn’t require seatbelts on big buses like that...I know greyhound did it voluntarily in 2009, but the last time I chaperoned a field trip on a big tour bus like the one the team was on there weren’t seatbelts

Don’t know what the Canadian law is....

Who knows if it would have mattered....it’s a terrible tragedy all the way around

I've coached High School and Collegiate hockey. I've spent more time on those buses than I care to remember.

Typically the sticks, gear bags, skate sharpener, team equipment and luggage are underneath in the cargo compartment, backpacks, pillows, etc go on the bus with the players/staff. There are more seats than players and staff so everyone sits where they wish. Movies, cards, homework, etc are normal. I've never worn a seat belt on any of those buses. Players have, and even I have stretched out across the aisle if sears are available for an hour or so of uncomfortable sleep. It's a road trip.

Regardless of how players/staff are seated on the bus, they are clearly not made for an impact with anything solid. They simply come apart when they hit something. I've been in sideways slides down rural highways and had the entire team rocking/pushing the bus to get it to break free, break downs and the dreaded "the bathroom doesn't work". It's a road trip.

Although no one talks about it, every coach knows in the back of their head that there is always the possibility that you'll lose a player to a freak accident. You just hope the call never comes and put it out of your mind. An incident like this is something that no one prepares for or even considers. Oddly enough you never think about it when you board the bus.

Be strong Humboldt, the hockey world is with you in thought and spirit. Sticks under the light on the porch.