WHL NOTEBOOK: Tragic news put first games of series in perspective
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2018 (2733 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
On Friday evening I was standing in Lethbridge’s Enmax Centre beside the radio booth for the visiting team with Branden Crowe when he received a message from a friend, and it felt like the whole world changed.
Branden, who calls games for the Brandon Wheat Kings and has become a close friend of mine, worked for the Humboldt Broncos a few years ago and learned about the tragic bus crash that killed 15 people and injured 14 more on the Broncos’ bus just 15 minutes before it was publicly announced. Soon after, I joined him on his pre-game show and we did our best to break down a game and a series while our heads and hearts were in a completely different place.
After we got off air, I mentioned the crash to a Western Hockey League executive and his reaction was exactly similar to ours. He was quickly on the phone.
One of the scratched Wheat King players overheard our conversation and was asked by a team official to keep it quiet from his teammates.
None of the players on the ice knew about what had happened, but it felt like everyone else in the Canalta Centre did. It was a sombre night along media row.
In the second period, we heard that the Hurricane players would not be available for interviews.
Wheat Kings owner Kelly McCrimmon was in the building and he was the one who would tell the team after the game about what had happened. Later, I watched the players file by on their way to the bus in a shocked silence.
I had a brief conversation with one player, but honestly didn’t have the heart to interview any of them on the record. A night later, as the team was preparing to board the bus to head home through a localized snowstorm, I made the same decision.
It may have diminished me as a journalist, but I was comfortable with it as a compassionate human being.
After Game 1 on the Friday night, Branden came down to my hotel room and we both did some work and tried to process what had happened. The details were sketchy — rumours of fatalities ranged from five to 20 immediately after the collision — but both of us felt compelled to talk about it.
Twitter was flooded with discussion about the bus crash, and we were able to glean some useful information that way. It felt impossible to process.
Before Game 2, Branden read a beautiful piece he had written to start his pre-game show. We talked about it for the entire first segment, but it was difficult to put words to the scale of the tragedy. It was surreal.
Branden rides the bus all winter, and with his ties to the Broncos, this was very personal.
I’ve ridden the bus a few times but I came to the discussion as a relative outsider despite a lifetime of watching junior hockey. As the managing editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald, I helped cover the Raiders starting in 2012.
I returned to Brandon in 2015 to take over the Wheat Kings beat.
I’ve never disliked a junior hockey player I dealt with, and the horror to me came in part because it could have been any of the young men I’ve interviewed on that bus. Wheat King draft pick Conner Lukan was among those who perished in the tragedy, and he was selected 44 picks after Brandon goalie Logan Thompson in 2012.
There are truly no silver linings in a situation like this, but it was nice to see how the hockey world and the wider sports community has rallied around the team and community.
The Wheat Kings started some fundraising efforts last night at Game 3 and they will continue tonight in Game 4. Please help them if you can.
•••
There is some other sad news for the Wheat Kings. Former Brandon Sun managing editor Brian Marshall emailed me to say that Bob Allen passed away on April 2. He played with the Wheat Kings in the early 1960s, and was also an outstanding baseball player and judoka. Condolences to his family.
•••
To end this week’s column, let’s take a quick look at all of the western Manitoba players still participating in the playoffs and how their post-season has gone.
All stats are before last night’s games.
• Brandon Wheat Kings
— Twelve Manitobans, four from western Manitoba.
Ty Lewis of Brandon, (8gp, 4g, 4a, 8p, -1, 14pim).
Connor Gutenberg of Brandon, (8gp, 3g, 3a, 6p, +1, 0pim).
James Shearer of Brandon, (8gp, 1g, 2a, 3p, +5, 2pim).
Zach Wytinck of Glenboro, (8gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, -2, 9pim).
• Everett Silvertips
—Two Manitobans, only Westman connection is GM Garry Davidson of Souris.
• Lethbridge Hurricanes
— Three Manitobans.
Calen Addison of Brandon, (7gp, 2g, 8a, 10p, -6, 6pim).
• Moose Jaw Warriors
— Six Manitobans. Brandonite Daemon Hunt was called up but hasn’t played.
Josh Brook of Roblin, (9gp, 1g, 5a, 6p, +4, 8pim).
Tate Popple of Brandon, (9gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, -2, 2pim).
Kale Clague (former Wheat King), (9gp, 1g, 8a, 9p, -6, 6pim).
Tristin Langan of Swan River, (4gp, 0g, 1a, 1p, 0, 0pim).
• Portland Winterhawks
— Five Manitobans.
• Swift Current Broncos
— Three Manitobans.
• Tri-City Americans
— One Manitoban.
Morgan Geekie of Strathclair, (6gp, 11g, 6a, 17p, +9, 0pim).
• Victoria Royals
— One Manitoban.
Tanner Kaspick of Brandon, (2gp, 1g, 2a, 3p, 0, 6pim).