Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Night of atonement...

Any hockey fan of a certain age remembers the fatal bus crash involving the Swift Current Broncos in late 1986. There will be a pregame ceremony honouring the four players on Wednesday, prior to the Russia-Canada game in Swift.

One wonders what this has to do with Gare Joyce's ESPN.com E-ticket piece from 2007, which argued that town had not done enough to recognize the victims.

Related:
Denial of death (Gary Joyce, ESPN.com)
'Four Broncos' to be Honoured at ADT Canada Russia Challenge game (press release)

3 comments:

Jordie Dwyer said...

At the time, I was turning 16 and had played the previous season (in minor hockey) against one of those that died in the crash. I still remember the sadness I felt that day.
I think Speedy Creek has done plenty over the years to ensure no one forgets these players - however, it didn't help that a certain coach in that era would later overshadow things for years because of his penchant for illegal activities with young hockey players.
Here's hoping my friend Tim and the rest of those that will be there tonight will continue to make sure their spirit and love of hockey live on.

Duane Rollins said...

I'd not seen the Joyce article before. So, that's for the link. The man can write.

And, he's bang on about the weird relationship Swift has with the Broncos. I was blown away by it when I lived out there (it was night and day different from The Hat...)

Andrew Bucholtz said...

There's also a really interesting section on the crash in his book "Future Greats and Heartbreaks".