DIDSBURY -- It has been a year since the tragic bus accident involving the Humboldt Broncos in which 16 people were killed and 13 more were injured.
There were 29 people on that bus going north from Humboldt to Nipawin for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game when it was struck by a truck heading west.
Most anyone involved with hockey in Western Canada had some connection to that Broncos team. Certainly anyone on any sports team that travels at all is well familiar with long bus rides often through inclement weather and tough road conditions.
For Mountain View Colts head coach Rob Turville, the news of the crash hit very close to home. Turville and his staff coached Graysen Cameron, one of the Broncos players who survived, with the Olds Bantam AA Grizzlys just two seasons before.
"When something like that happens it hits really close to home with anyone who's been involved in minor hockey but especially junior hockey," said Turville. "It hit really close to home because we as coaches had coached one of the players on that bus, Graysen Cameron, two years before that in Olds.
"To just know the impact it would have, the crash alone, but to know a player on that bus who survived it really hit close to home for us coaches."
Turville said as a coach and during his playing days he has been on plenty of long bus rides.
"Growing up I played junior hockey across Alberta, British Columbia, and then playing collegiate hockey in Wisconsin, I spent countless hours on a bus. Throughout the midwestern United States and all across the Rockies in British Columbia and across the Prairies in Alberta. You just take it for granted.
"It seems like as soon as you got on that bus that was your safe zone. You didn't think anything could ever happen."
Turville said the Humboldt crash made many people realize they weren't invincible riding on a bus.
"You definitely learned to appreciate all those hours you spent on the road and the wonderful drivers we've had," he said. "It hit home for me personally and many of the guys I grew up playing junior with can relate to what had happened."
Turville said he has heard some organizations are looking at changing regulations regarding travel.
"There has been a bit of a movement to get seatbelts on buses," he said. "As far as road conditions go, it's kind of a difficult subject. Throughout my hockey career rarely were games ever cancelled due to weather. The expectation was that if the highway was open you were able to travel. I think a bit more thought has gone into whether it's worth travelling to get to a game."
Turville said he has encountered some pretty nasty weather conditions in both the Prairies and the mountains in B.C.
"We went through some pretty horrible storms," he said. "You hope there will be more thought and leeway even on deciding on whether to jump on those highways to get to a hockey game.
"Personally, I think it makes you appreciate it a bit more when you go on a road trip and you make it safely."
