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Humboldt Broncos players reunited, honored at NHL Awards

By James Brady Updated

Ten surviving members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team were honored at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Wednesday, as previously reported by ESPN. During the show, they had all 10 members up on stage.

And another video, via Sportsnet:

Late coach Darcy Haugan was named the first-ever recipient of the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award during the show. The award will be presented to an individual who, through the game of hockey, has positively impacted his or her community, culture or society, according to the NHL.

They assembled together the night before the awards on Tuesday evening, more than two months since the tragic accident on April 6 that saw a bus carrying members of the team and coaching staff collide with a truck, killing 16 people, including 10 players and the team’s head coach. Another 13 players were injured in the crash.

You can see the 10 members of the team meeting on Tuesday evening, via a video posted by Arash Markazi of ESPN.

And you can see them arriving at the NHL Awards:

This isn’t the first time that the NHL has rallied around the junior team, which consisted of 16- to 21-year-olds. As noted by ESPN, the Vegas Golden Knights hosted the widow and sons of Broncos coach Darcy Haugan, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby wrote personal messages to the survivors, and more.

From the ESPN piece, a quote from Broncos player Kaleb Dahlgren:

“It means so much to me because we haven’t all been able to meet in person at the same time,” Broncos player Kaleb Dahlgren told ESPN. “Sure, you can talk over text, FaceTime, or call, but it’s not the same as talking face to face and giving your brother a hug. I’m very thankful to be able to be with my brothers and honor those 29 people who were in the accident. The support we have received from the world has been amazing and it sure does help.”

Three of the survivors are unable to travel to Las Vegas to attend the event, according to ESPN. The survivors had largely returned to their hometowns across Canada.