First victim of Humboldt Broncos crash to be buried on Thursday

All across the country on Thursday Canadians are wearing their hockey jerseys.

Last October, the team traded Christian Bosa to the Nipawin Hawks, the team that was awaiting the arrival of the Broncos for their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game the night of the collision.

A former Red Deer principal who coached three Humboldt Broncos hockey players, including one who died, joins the country in mourning.

Corporations like coffee chain Tim Hortons and supermarket Sobeys also encouraged employees to wear jerseys instead of their uniform. “I’m getting emotional even talking about it right now”.

“And sending them a lot of positive energy and wishing them strength in the coming days as they battle their way back”, Hawes said.

“It’s hard to say the least”.

“I’m not going to heal anybody but I certainly would like to see people go there so that they know they’re not hurting alone”.

“The parents and families who’ve been touched by this tragedy, we feel for them”, Murdocco said. “It really means a lot that we can raise all this money and show our support for the families and all the grieving”.

For this small Newfoundland town, thousands of miles away, the connection is personal and the grief intense. We’ll live with it forever. “You always want to make sure the kids are safe”.

“It’s unbelievable how the community has pulled together and it’s so close”. The team has talked about it and “we’ve all got our sticks out to it”.

The crash claimed the lives of ten players, Haugan, an assistant coach, the bus driver, a play-by-play broadcaster, a volunteer statistician and the team’s athletic therapist. The store created green and gold ribbons that were sold for a donation to the Humboldt Broncos.

An official with the Broncos issued a statement asking the media not to attend the funeral service.

The family asked for privacy from media, and requested that everyone using social media networks respect their privacy as well.

Bieber is survived by his mother, father, sister and two brothers.

Ribchester sang O Canada before each game, and also tended a table at the main entrance of the arena raising funds for the Broncos GoFundMe effort, which as of Thursday evening stood at $10,103,265.

“Boys from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the community embraces everyone as their own”, he said.