Across Canada and elsewhere in the world, victims of the catastrophic bus crash involving a junior hockey team continued to receive emotional tributes Monday. People shared images of hockey sticks being left outside their homes, just in case the players lost in the accident might need them still.
Ten youth players for the Saskatchewan-based Humboldt Broncos died in the crash, which occurred Friday when a bus taking them to another town for a playoff game struck a tractor-trailer on a stretch of highway in that province. Five other people, including the bus driver, two coaches, a volunteer statistician and a broadcaster, also died in the accident, which has sent shock waves through the hockey world and beyond.
The hashtag #HumboldtStrong initially caught on as the news spread and people took to social media to share their grief. The idea of honoring those lost in the crash by leaving sticks outside was helped to go viral after Brian Munz, an announcer for the Winnipeg Jets who previously had called games for the Broncos and other teams in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, shared a text Sunday that he had received from a fellow Humboldt native.
Hockey fans from as far away as Australia went on to post their own images, with the hashtag, variously rendered as #PutYourStickOut and #PutYourSticksOut, uniting them in heartbreak. The accident also left 14 people wounded, while authorities work to determine what caused it.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other governmental bodies also participated in the #PutYourSticksOut movement, as did come companies and other hockey teams.
The anguish caused by the crash was compounded by a coroner’s mistake that resulted in one Humboldt player, Xavier Labelle, being confirmed alive Monday, but another, Parker Tobin, announced as having died. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the Labelle and Tobin families this morning,” Broncos team president Kevin Garinger said in a statement, “as we continue to do everything in our power to support all families of victims of this tragedy and every member of the Humboldt Broncos community.”
The SJHL announced Monday that it is still discussing whether its playoffs will move forward, and that it will set up a support program for the families of the victims. A separate campaign at GoFundMe.com has raised over $6.6 million for those directly affected by the crash, far exceeding its stated goal of $4 million.
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