Canadian authorities on Sunday identified the 15 members of a junior league hockey team who died after their bus collided with a tractor-trailer on Friday.
In a statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Saskatchewan's chief coroner said the victims included 10 players from the Humboldt Broncos and five team personnel, including head coach and general manager Darcy Haugan, 42:
- Adam Herold, 16
- Connor Lukan, 21
- Evan Thomas, 18
- Jacob Leicht, 19
- Jaxon Joseph, 20
- Logan Boulet, 21
- Logan Hunter, 18
- Logan Schatz, 20
- Stephen Wack, 21
- Xavier Labelle, 18
- Brody Hinz, 18
- Glen Doerksen, 59
- Mark Cross, 27
- Tyler Bieber, 29
The players and staff were from the provinces of Alberta or Saskatchewan, in Western Canada. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team had been on its way to a game in the town of Nipawin when the collision occurred at around 5 p.m. on Friday (7 p.m. ET).
It wasn't clear what caused the collision. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Saturday that the Mounties were investigating, while the country's highway ministry was examining the intersection where the collision occurred with an eye toward safety recommendations.
With vigils planned and National Hockey League players sporting "Broncos" decals and jerseys, some friends and relatives remembered the players and staff members.
"A ferocious competitor" is how Russ Herrington remembered Mark Cross, the Broncos' assistant coach, whom Herrington once coached on a university hockey team.
"There was no one in the room that commanded more respect than Mark," Herrington said in a statement. "Mark was in his element in the hockey arena and I could think of no better mentor for junior hockey players to have than Mark Cross."
Isaac Labelle, brother of Xavier Labelle, described his younger sibling as an amazing pianist and an intellectually gifted athlete who was to have graduated from high school in the spring.
"No one can seem to comprehend the reasons why this is happening," he said in an interview.
Moe, meanwhile, put it this way:
"On that bus were young men — vibrant, smart, talented young men with everything to look forward to," he said. "In these boys, we see teammates. We see classmates. We see friends, we see brothers, sons and grandsons."
