Anaheim Ducks: Remembering the Humboldt Broncos

Today, we’re taking a few moments away from the Anaheim Ducks to remember the victims of the tragic Humboldt Bronco’s bus crash that shook the hockey community just one year ago.

With the end of the Anaheim Ducks hockey season, it seems logical to start focusing on the offseason and 2019-20. However, for just a moment, we’re turning our eyes to April 6, 2018; a day that the hockey community won’t soon forget. Just a normal day to anyone else, a tragic bus crash devastated the entire hockey community when the lives of 16 Humboldt Broncos players and staff were taken. Thirteen others sustained major injuries, and many lives were changed in the process.

Loss is never easy to deal with, but it’s especially difficult when you have to deal with it in the public eye. You are forced to grieve in public and are placed under a microscope. However, over the past year, the hockey community has banded around the families and victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

The first year after such a tragic accident like this is the hardest. You go through all of those firsts without your loved ones. Holidays, birthdays, and all of those other moments in between are a reminder that you have to walk through life without someone who you hold close to your heart. As these families navigate the rough waters, they had an entire community to lean on.

Mothers day was likely one of the more difficult days for these families, especially with the holiday being celebrated so close to the crash. A group of hockey moms banded together to make the day a little easier by delivering hugs and beautiful bouquets of flowers.

More from Ducks News

• Who could the Anaheim Ducks consider presenting offer sheets to?
• Is Pierre-Luc Dubois on the cards for the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks?
• Making the case for the Anaheim Ducks to trade with the Edmonton Oilers
• Anaheim Ducks might benefit tremendously by trading John Gibson
• How close are the Anaheim Ducks to becoming contenders again?

The entire hockey community raised millions of dollars to help these families cope with the loss of their loved ones and help those left injured by the crash. During last years Memorial Cup ceremony, a video was played in tribute to the team.

However, the Sticks Out for Humboldt movement swept through Canada and the United States. The Anaheim Ducks were the forerunners of the movement in Southern California, as this accident hit close to home for Anaheim Ducks captain, Ryan Getzlaf, a native of Saskatchewan.

We all left out sticks outside, in the illumination of our porch lights, as a symbol that these sweet angels could, in spirit, still play the sport they all loved despite no longer being here. Today, the Sticks Out For Humboldt movement, again, is sweeping through the Nation, as a reminder that even though they may be gone, they have not been forgotten.

The Humboldt Broncos have rebuilt, slowly bure surely. This season, they have gone 35-19-0-3-1 in 58 games, which should be enough to take them back to the playoffs. We wish them the best of luck as they continue to heal.