HUMBOLDT — A memorial service to mark one year since the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy will include a moment of silence at 4:50 p.m. — the exact time of the deadly crash.
Elgar Petersen Arena in the tight-knit Saskatchewan community was expected to be filled to capacity on Saturday with those there to reflect, remember and continue to rebuild following the bus crash that broke hearts around the globe.
The April 6, 2018 collision happened at the intersection of Highways 35 and 335 as the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team was heading to Nipawin for a playoff game. Sixteen people died and 13 others were injured after the team’s bus collided with a semi driven by Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, a novice trucker who had blown the stop sign at a rural intersection.
The arena, which barely 48 hours after the crash last April was the site of a service, now has rows of yellow banners displayed with the names of all 29 people who were on the bus.
The crash struck a chord with Canadians and moved people around the world to put hockey sticks on their front porches in solidarity with the Humboldt community. More than $15 million was donated for the victims’ families.
Premier Scott Moe said he will attend Saturday’s service with his wife. A spokeswoman from the Prime Minister’s Office says a video message will be played from Justin Trudeau.
“I have two children and, like any parent, I just can’t imagine what these parents are going through, go through, each and every day,” Moe said in an interview Friday.
Organizers are expecting about 3,000 people at the arena and are also preparing for many to visit the crash site at the crossing of Highways 35 and 335.
Fans flocked to the arena for the 2018-19 SJHL season in a year-long show of support for the new-look squad. Two surviving players returned this season, but the rest of the team was essentially built from scratch after a May training camp.
Michael Clarke, an alternate captain and the team’s top scorer with 71 points, said he thinks they handled the outside pressure well.
“We tried to shut that out and keep motivated within the room,” Clarke said prior to playoffs starting.
The Broncos finished sixth out of 12 teams with 35 wins in 58 games and 74 points. In the post-season, Humboldt led its SJHL second-round series versus the Estevan Bruins three games to one before dropping the final three games, including a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 7.
A Saskatchewan provincial court judge last month sentenced Sidhu, the Calgary truck driver who caused the collision, to eight years in prison.
Judge Inez Cardinal said Sidhu’s moral blameworthiness is high because of his “prolonged inattentiveness” while driving a large semi. Sidhu pleaded guilty to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Going between 86 and 96 kilometres an hour, Sidhu did not stop at the intersection of Highways 335 and 35 after missing four highway-related signs in the 406 metres leading up to a four-foot wide stop sign. The northbound bus carrying the hockey team could not avoid hitting the semi’s trailer, which was spanning the intersection.
Court heard Sidhu was a professional, but inexperienced driver who had been driving for only three weeks before the crash. He was distracted by a flapping tarp that came loose on his double trailer.
“The devastating impact this collision and its aftermath have had on the survivors and the families and friends of those on the bus simply cannot be measured,” Cardinal said last month. “The impact of this catastrophe will reverberate across Canada for years to come.”
— With Saskatoon StarPhoenix files from Kevin Mitchell, Regina Leader-Post files from Rob Vanstone, Postmedia Network files from Susan McNeil and Canadian Press
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
