The Humboldt Broncos tragedy has hit home for junior coaches across the country including North Bay’s Stan Butler.

15 people on the Humboldt Broncos team bus were killed after the collision with a transport.

14 others were injured.

Butler has spent most of his junior career coaching in Ontario but was in Prince George of the Western Hockey League for a season too.

“Western Canada, you sit in the front seat of that bus.  There’s a lot of times, I’m not going to lie, you wonder ‘it’s really bad out there’ and I don’t think words can describe what happened,” he told BayToday.

“People in hockey realize what it’s like with the bus travel, but when you see that accident site I don’t think any words can describe it,” Butler says. “People are going to do something they love which is playing hockey. You’re excited you’re going to a playoff game and you’re with your brothers and teammates and you don’t get to the arena. It’s just awful.” 

 

Meantime, it’s not just hockey that’s feeling the effects of the tragedy.

The North Bay Titans tweeted their thoughts and prayers to those who have lost a loved one and those injured, saying that traveling by bus is where friendships grow and new ones are made, where teams become a family.

Photo of Battalion Coach Stan Butler by Terry Wilson /OHL Images.

Filed under: Humboldt Broncos tragedy, North Bay Titans, Stan Butler