COACH’S CORNER HONOURS BRONCOS

Photo: Ottawa Citizen

The deaths of 15 members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team left Don Cherry at a loss for words.

Cherry spoke briefly during his weekly Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night before introducing a montage of photos of every member of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team. The Humboldt Broncos’ bus was T-boned by a semi-truck on Friday night en route to a playoff game in Nipawin, Sask., killing 15 passengers on the bus and injuring 14.

“There’s no words to describe what’s happened here,” said Cherry at the beginning of the segment, before touching on how hard the tragedy must have been on the small northern Saskatchewan community.

Co-host Ron McLean explained that not all of the names of the deceased had been released and that the producers of the television program decided to show photos of the entire team.

“We just want to show some pictures of them. There’s not much you can say,” said Cherry. “We’re going to show every one of them.

“These are the images coming up, like they’re a team. We’re going to show them all as a team. Let’s have a little prayer for them, that’s all we can say.”

“Wheat Kings” by the Tragically Hip played as head shots of every player, coach, and staff member on the bus came on screen.

Prior to honouring the Humboldt Broncos, Cherry also spoke of the death of Jonathan Pitre, an Ottawa-area teen with a rare and painful skin condition who died on Thursday.

Pitre suffered from epidermolysis bullosa, or EB, a rare and debilitating genetic condition characterized by skin fragility that leads to blisters and can cause skin to fall off with the slightest touch. Pitre, who was 17 when he died, was often affectionately called Ottawa’s “Butterfly Boy” and was known for his advocacy, lending a voice to those with the disease.

(Canadian Press)