Support for Humboldt community needs to be 'long term'

In a sport where toughness is valued and one's emotions are best kept hidden, there is often unease in the hockey world when confronting tragedy and loss.

But in the wake of last week's horrific bus crash that killed 15 members and staff of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team, grieving has been raw and transparent.

It has manifested itself in many different ways. Thousands of Canadians have expressed grief by putting a hockey stick outside their front door. Countless more have made donations to a GoFundMe campaign that has raised millions of dollars.

In Humboldt, Sask., and surrounding communities, things will likely never return to normal, but small steps are being taken — on the ice, of course.

The Delisle Chiefs play about two hours from Humboldt. The team plays in the Prairie Junior League and is a sister team to the Broncos, often sharing players and practising together. The Chiefs will return to the ice Tuesday night for the first time since the crash, with all proceeds from the game donated to the Broncos.

"It's going to be tough. We are not going to promise that it's not going to be tough getting back on the ice and playing the game that they love," Chiefs president Wes Noon told CBC News. "But the reason that they know these people, that they are friends was through this incredible game."

Noon said a moment of silence would be observed and the team had helmet stickers made up for its players.

"We also have Humboldt Broncos stickers we will be sticking on to our dressing room door to let them [know] we are playing this game not only for our players but we are playing it for the Broncos, too."

Emotions still very raw

For the families who lost loved ones and for those who survived the crash, the grieving and healing process will be lengthy — longer than one game or a fundraiser.

Right now, it is still very raw.

Broncos player Ryan Straschnitzki suffered a debilitating back injury in the crash. Doctors say it's unlikely he will ever play hockey again, and may have trouble walking.

"He didn't think he was going to make it," Straschnitzki's mother Michelle told CBC News. "The crash was so devastating the boys were lying on the pavement just waiting for the first responders. He couldn't move so he didn't know what to do."

Michelle said the physical and emotional road ahead for her son will be long.

"He's probably going to go through a lot of things, like survivors' guilt, and just the absolute devastating loss of it all," she said. "We're trying to explain to him that, you know, it's going to be a different path but it's going to be a good path. It doesn't matter what it is because he's still the same person."

Kennedy can relate

There are few people who can relate to what the Straschnitzki family is going through. Former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy is one.

He was a teenager playing junior hockey in Swift Current Saskatchewan back in 1986 when during a road trip to Regina, the team bus slid off the highway, killing four of Kennedy's teammates.

"I just remember the day and the first two or three days and it's about trying to piece it together," Kennedy recalled to CBC News.

Kennedy said after digesting the initial shock of what had happened, there were difficult months and years ahead. He stresses that support for the affected players and families must be long term.

"One of the things we underestimated is the significant impact it would have long term on all of those involved," Kennedy said. "Right now there is a lot of support but I think it's important that we put in that support long term for the people that are going through this because they are going to need it."

"Think about PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. This sadly is no different," Kennedy continued. "They are not in a war but you are losing your teammates, losing people you go to battle with every day and these kids grow even more close because they are all young men who have come from outside the community and all they have is each other."

Kennedy said a lot has changed since he lost four teammates in 1986.

"What we have learned about trauma that we didn't know then is that this is real and the impact of this is going to be real for the players who survived and the guilt they may feel."

Kennedy said professional counselling and therapy will be instrumental to healing the massive void left behind in Humboldt.

But the voices in Canada's tight-knit hockey community and beyond will also play a role.

"There are many families in this country who lost loved ones. People have suffered these kinds of tragedies, be it through hockey or not. They can relate to the pain and can tell a story of how they got out of it," Kennedy said.

"And I think it's important that we see those letters, see those emails. We hear those stories of hope because I think people are in places right now where they don't have a lot of hope."