INNISFAIL - It was shortly before dinner was served and the sold-out audience for the 5th Annual Sportsman Dinner was silently and solemnly reminded of what was really important.
This event on Sept. 19 at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion was the most important fundraiser of the year for the Innisfail Eagles hockey club, but when Ryan Straschnitzki came into the auditorium in a wheelchair alongside rodeo legend Duane Daines the event was instantly transformed into something much more.
Last April 6, Ryan was a promising 18-year-old defenceman for the Humboldt Broncos when his life changed forever. His team bus, on its way to a playoff game, was struck by a semi-trailer truck. Sixteen Broncos players and support staff were killed. Ryan survived but was left paralyzed from the waist down. His determination and perseverance to recover and carry on with his life has since inspired everyone, especially the hockey world.
"A lot of the things they talked about in the (Humboldt Broncos) tribute I talk to our guys about every day. It is a small world," said Eagles coach Brian Sutter. "It's special. It's special. This is a night to think about them."
As the huge crowd began to roll in an hour earlier it appeared to be a typical beginning-of-the season Eagles fundraiser. There was a marvelous dinner being prepared. Dozens of hockey memorabilia items were on display for silent and live auctions, including a beautiful Auston Matthews print donated by former Innisfailian and artist Jerry Markham. Many sports celebrities came to share stories, including Mellisa Hollingsworth, Kurt Bensmiller, Darryl and Brent Sutter, and Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Ron MacLean. Eagles president Brian Spiller hoped $50,000 would be raised to go towards a team debt for the recent construction of a new team dressing room at the Arena.
Mostly though, the evening was all about what makes hockey so special: its indomitable spirit no matter what the sacrifices and challenges. And there has never been a better example for all hockey fans than the Humboldt Broncos.
"When you see the Humboldt Broncos tragedy there is no way to paint it as a positive and there is no way to say it's a healing story, but it's a story of amazement, that a Junior franchise in rural Saskatchewan could be as impressive as the Montreal Canadiens," said MacLean, noting the "amazing" work by the Broncos organization to carry on with courage and perseverance for its heartbroken community. "The whole organization, from top to bottom, showed you something that is important to carry forward into a community and a city. That is what is important about hockey. It's actually not what you get out of it. It is what you do for the community because of the lessons you learned, being on a bus, being in a dressing room, being in the battlefield."
MacLean, who is filled with admiration and respect for Brian Sutter's hockey record and love of community, noted the Eagles' coach was once a bus driver for the Lethbridge Broncos when he played for the major Junior A team in the mid-1970s.
"You can imagine what it meant to Brian to see a tragedy like that. It was really hard for all of us," said MacLean. "We both watched the ceremony after the game a week ago Wednesday in Humboldt and again we all hurt, but I was just so happy to see the two guys who were on the team last year, Brayden Camrud and Derek Patter, play so well," he said, adding he met Camrud in hospital after the tragic crash. "I saw him play and he was unbelievable. It was a very happy feeling to watch him back on the ice and dominate the way he did."
And then there was Brian Burke, former Calgary Flame executive and now hockey broadcaster, who flew in from Nova Scotia early the same morning just to be in Innisfail at Brian Sutter's invitation.
"When Brian Sutter asks you to come, you come," said Burke, who was also thinking about the Humboldt Broncos. "It was horrible for hockey but it is typical of how the hockey family responds. They raised $17 million in two and a half weeks? When my son died the hockey community rallied around me.
"It broke my heart but I met a couple of the kids. It's like with everywhere else we will bounce back," added Burke.
And when MacLean took the stage to begin the evening and dinner, he saluted the Humboldt Broncos. Ryan Straschnitzki, sitting with Duane Daines beside him, smiled. He was with the best of friends.
