'We all live and breathe hockey:' Markham vigil held for Humboldt tragedy

'I want you to listen to the silence:' mayor

Yorkregion.com
April 12, 2018
Tim Kelly

 

The news was fresh and very tough to take for Markham Royals athletic trainer Brittany Boot.

She had just learned that her colleague, Humboldt Broncos athletic therapist Dayna Brons, 24, was the sixteenth victim to perish in last Friday’s horrific bus crash in rural Saskatchewan that has rocked the nation and made international news.

Boot, 27, was one of 16 members of the Royals Jr. A hockey club to lay a solitary white rose in solemn tribute to the fallen members of the Broncos Jr. A Saskatchewan hockey team saying their names into the microphone Wednesday evening at Markham council chambers as they walked slowly to a table.

“It was very tough. It’s tough being in a position where you can’t take care of our boys,” said Boot, her voice cracking. “Everyone will pull together and stay together.”

The vigil, held at the Civic Centre, drew a crowd of around 200, many wearing hockey sweaters and some bringing sticks in honour of the Broncos, many still clinging to life in Saskatchewan hospitals.

Markham resident and media legend Lloyd Robertson was the emcee for the evening which featured touching words from Mayor Frank Scarpitti – “I want you to listen to the silence” he intoned several times before pausing for several seconds to let the meaning of his words sink in  ­ and thoughts from longtime NHL veteran Steve Thomas, a former Markham Waxer.

“It’s just unimaginable that something like that can happen, it’s a great loss,” said Thomas, who rode the buses while he played junior hockey decades ago.

“This team was a group of young kids who had aspirations of playing in the NHL or going to college and getting an education and it was just cut too short,” he said in an interview before the vigil began.

Dennis Fortnam, who is with Hockey With Heart in Unionville, was at the vigil and said his club had donated $1,000 to the GoFundMe campaign for Humboldt.

“It’s tragic. Our hearts go out to the Humboldt community. We all have kids who played hockey. We all drove them to the games, we got on the buses with them to go on the road trips with them. We all live and breathe hockey.”

Laura Stacey, a Kleinburg resident, member of the Canadian Olympic women’s silver medal-winning hockey team and Markham Thunder Clarkson Cup winner, spoke to the crowd about how those 13 who survived would have to carry on as she read out their names.

“Stay strong Humboldt. The country, our province, the city of Markham, and the entire hockey family will always be behind you,” said Stacey.

The GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the team, started back on April 6, that had a goal of $4 million, has exploded and currently, as of Thursday morning, sits at just over $9.3 million. Those who administer the fund say it will apparently take months to disburse the funds. It has also inspired a national jersey day and a sticks out for Humboldt day where people are leaving their hockey sticks on doorsteps in tribute to the Broncos.