Perspective

And then, we were reminded in the most horrific way possible that hockey is just a game.

That’s not to minimize it. Sport has a profound impact upon millions of lives, from those dedicated and talented enough to hoist themselves to new levels to those who use it as an escape to those who simply enjoy it and all it can offer. In our corner of the world, the western Canadian prairies, it’s more often than not that sport is hockey.

At the time of this writing (not necessarily publishing), it has been confirmed that 14 people were killed when a bus carrying the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos to a playoff game collided with a semi. Fourteen more were injured, three critically.

There are no words to cover the sense of loss. It’s impossible for the human mind to truly fathom. It’s awful enough on its own that the careers, dreams, lives of 14 people were ended far too soon, but a number is far easier to comprehend than the knowledge that there was so much more to all of them. We’re all the main character in our own stories, and suddenly 14 stories just… ended. The pages that were still to be written were ripped out.

Except it doesn’t stop there. The impact is always much greater. Families. Friends. First responders. Fans. Opponents. Staff. Media. Neighbours. Hometowns. Any hockey player who has ever ridden a bus to get to any game, ever. The prairies are tiny. The ripples will hit all of them.

That picture is not a difficult one to find: young men only just starting to enter the primes of their lives, hair bleached in team bonding, beaming after having just accomplished something great together. Then there are the coaches who answered their calling to help these kids, to make them better hockey players and better people.

That image is replicated across the country. It’s just that today, it’s Humboldt that has taken on an extra, devastating meaning – and spreading across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the home provinces of the players, and even further than that.

The playoffs are special because by that point, it is purely about the love for the game. Everything that surrounds the business of professional sports goes out the window for two months as people are reduced to their desire to win playing a game they have loved all their lives. It’s a dream many of all ages have had, few have been able to attain, that takes away voices and creates tears as everything is reduced to skate blades cutting across ice, cool air filling lungs, a disk of vulcanized rubber hitting netting and a Cup of some sort being lifted with one’s closest friends. No matter the level, it’s universal.

At the professional level comes angst, and accountability, and consequences. It unites many across joy, anger, and even apathy. But to get to that level to begin with, to reach the stage that’s so heavily scrutinized, first, everybody had to ride on a bus.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help out. Nations has a charity T-shirt here. If you’re able, you should donate blood; no matter where you are, it will always go to somebody in need.