Dozens come together in Delta to honour the Humboldt Broncos

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DELTA (NEWS 1130) – Roughly 48 hours after a deadly and tragic bus crash claimed the lives of more than a dozen people, communities across the country came together Sunday night to mourn the loss.

In Delta, dozens of people, many with ties to the hockey community in the Lower Mainland, gathered at the Lighthouse Church Ladner. Pastor Danny Stebeck, who is also the chaplain for the Vancouver Giants, organized the candlelight vigil. “It’s just a chance to come and stand in solidarity.”

The vigil began with a live stream of the vigil happening at the same time in Homboldt and then a prayer. Many said they came to the vigil so that they could mourn with others.

“Trying to imagine what the parents and the families are going though, it just brings us to tears,” said former hockey mom Angie Ferreira.

Derek Holloway feels a deep connection to the tragedy; he’s been the Vancouver Giants’ driver for 17 years.

“It hurts because that could have been us. That’s the way I look at it,” he said. “This will hit hard with a lot of them and I’ve probably got 10 texts and emails from ex-players and players from this year, thanking me for all the miles I’ve done.”

Wearing a jersey and a ribbon in the Humboldt Broncos colours, Lucas Kam says his friends who play for the Vancouver Giants knew some of the victims. “Coming together and just honouring their memory, you know, it’s just, what can you really do.”

Susan Macdonald also came to the vigil. She’s a sports scientist and develops athletes the same ages as the victims.

“I think we’re all still in shock and numb from it,” she said. “It’s just terrible that it wasn’t just a few deaths, but it was a loss of half of a team.”

The walls inside the church were covered with the names and ages of those who died. A slideshow with pictures of the victims brought many to tears as candles lit the room. Mourners left their thoughts and players on a big banner that said “Prayers for Humboldt.”

It will be sent to Humboldt in the coming days to show support.

A GoFundMe page set up to help the victims’ families has surpassed $5 million.

The investigation continues

Fifteen people were killed when the tractor-trailer collided with the team bus. Police have determined the semi was going westbound on Highway 335 and the team bus was going northbound on Highway 35.

Mounties say it may be a long time before they can pinpoint what caused the collision, at this time it’s unclear.

Police say the driver of the truck was not hurt and has been provided with mental health and wellness assistance after being briefly detained following the crash.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki says the investigation will be looking at all aspects of the crash to figure out what happened.

“This is a very involved investigation and due to the large amount of evidence, information and the number of victims this work will take some time. It’s too early to comment on the cause of the collision and we will continue to provide updates as this investigation progresses.”

Of the 14 who survived the crash, investigators say they have varying degrees of injury, some critical. One person has been released from hospital so far.

An online campaign has been started to help benefit the families of those involved in the crash.

Learning more about the victims

Defencemen Adam Herold and bus driver Glen Doerksen are among the dead.

Doerksen’s employer, Charlie’s Charters, posted about the driver’s death on Facebook.

The others killed include the team’s head coach, Darcy Haugan, assistant coach Mark Cross, captain Logan Schatz, former Surrey Eagles forward Jaxon Joseph, Conner Lukan, defenceman Stephen Wack, Logan Hunter and Evan Thomas.

Twenty-one-year-old Logan Boulet also died in the crash and his organs will be donated to save the lives of multiple other people.

A statistics keeper for the team is also among the dead. Brody Hinz, who was 18, had recently started tallying the team’s numbers for the Humboldt radio station. Golden West Radio says in a statement that Hinz was being mentored by Tyler Bieber, the team’s play-by-play announcer who was also killed in the crash Friday.

NHLers React

There were 30 teams in action on Saturday night and in their own way, teams paid tribute to the lives lost.

Many teams honoured the Broncos by holding a moment of silence alongside the opposing team, others wore “Broncos” on the back of their jerseys, while others had a Broncos sticker on the back of their helmets.

SJHL Yet to Make Decision on 2018 Championship

The president of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League says a decision on what to do with the SJHL championship has yet to be made.

Bill Chow says he expects word on how the league intends to handle the final will come within the next few days.

The Broncos were en route to Nipawin, Sask., for Game 5 of their league semi-final when the crash happened. The Nipawin Hawks were leading Humboldt 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after losing Game 4 in triple overtime earlier in the week.

The Estevan Bruins had already advanced to the championship final.

The SJHL is a junior ‘A’ hockey league with 12 teams.

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