The home of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team has become a scene of mourning, support, and strength following a horrific bus crash that killed 15 on the team bus.

Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench, wearing a green and yellow team Broncos jersey, hugged people Saturday morning as they came to the Elger Petersen Arena in the eastern Saskatchewan town to comfort each other and learn more about the crash, which took place early Friday evening northeast of their community.

“It has hit us hard. We are a small community by most standards but the hockey team has always been a big part of our community,” said Muench.

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The crash killed Humboldt Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan, team captain Logan Schatz, top forward Jaxon Joseph and the team’s play-by-play radio announcer Tyler Bieber. The names of others killed have not been confirmed.

Humboldt resident Penny Lee said everything in the community revolves around the Broncos and the players were always taking part in community events.

“Hockey is the community. Everyone is in shock,” she said. “We are numb, as a community we are numb.”

Many people wandered in and out of the arena during the morning. Multiple crisis workers were assisting in a separate area.

Flowers were placed on the stairs in the rink stands. The railings were wrapped in yellow and green ribbon to honour the team.

The team, in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, was on its way to play in Game 5 of a semifinal playoff game against the Nipawin Hawks.

The mayor of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, says members of the community have been supporting each other to help deal with the “shock” of a bus crash involving the Broncos junior hockey team, which left 14 dead and 15 others injured. (The Canadian Press)

Darren Opp, president of the Hawks, said a semi T-boned the players’ bus, but police have not confirmed that.

“It’s a horrible accident, my God,” Opp said. Opp said the coaching staff and players from the Hawks were waiting to help.

“They are sitting in the church just waiting to hear any good news,” he said. “I’ve got 50 phone calls at least saying ‘what do you want?’”

The Broncos were to hold a news conference Saturday afternoon to update the tragedy.

Saskatchewan RCMP say it may be a long time before investigators can determine what caused the collision between the team bus and a transport truck.

Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, with the Saskatchewan RCMP, says the investigation will be looking at all aspects of the crash to figure out what happened.

Zablocki says the truck driver was not injured and was detained by police before being released.

The family of Ryan Straschnitzki confirmed the 18-year-old player survived but broke his back and can’t feel his lower extremities.

Joseph’s death was confirmed by the Surrey Eagles, his former team in the British Columbia Hockey League.

The Broncos website says Joseph was among the leading scorers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs, playing on a line with Logan Schatz, another player who lost his life in the crash.

Kelly Schatz, Logan’s father, said his 20-year-old son played for the Broncos for just over four years and had served as team captain for the past two-and-a-half years.

He says the family is seeking solace in one another.

“It’s hard,” Kelly Schatz said. “I’ve got four other kids and they’re here, which is nice.”

Haugan’s wife, Christina George-Haugan, confirmed his death to The Canadian Press. Tributes poured in online for father of two who was described as an amazing mentor to young players.

“He will always be a great man in our hearts,” his sister posted on Twitter under the name Debbie Jayne. “The tears just keep coming.”

Steven Wilson, a play-by-play announcer in Weyburn, Sask., called Haugan “the classiest guy” in the league.

RCMP said initially that 28 people were on the bus and 14 were injured. Later Saturday, RCMP said 29 people were on the bus and 15 were sent to hospital. Three were in critical condition.

RCMP later updated the death toll in the crash, saying it had risen to 15.

Hassan Masri, an emergency room doctor at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, said a “code orange” was called signalling massive casualties.

“The images and the injuries that I saw yesterday, really that’s what they reminded me of, when there was an airstrike and a massive number of people would be coming in at the same time in horrible shape,” said Masri, who has done work in war-torn Syria.

Masri said it was emotional given Saskatchewan communities are knit together by hockey.

“A lot of people have kids that play on hockey teams that travel from town to town,” he said. “This was either personal because you knew someone or personal because you could really relate to it.”

Nipawin, Sask.

In Nipawin Saturday, a church which had been a place for families to gather while they awaited news of their loved ones was deserted, as was Centennial Arena, home of the Hawks.

Offers of help are pouring in for families of team members.

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The mother of former NHLer Colby Armstrong tweeted that families could contact her if they needed a place to stay in Saskatoon.

Canalta Hotels were offering to take in family members of those affected. An online fundraising campaign set up for family members of the team had raised more than $500,000 as of Saturday.

Hockey teams and players from leagues across North America tweeted messages of support, many with the hashtag #prayersforhumboldt.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was fighting back tears while speaking to reporters Saturday. “I can’t even imagine being a parent, or the wife, or the kids at home going through something like this,” said Babcock, who grew up in Saskatoon.

“The hockey world is an unbelievable world, but you can’t make up for loss, you just can’t. ... I always used to think about those vans, when coaches were driving to college, soccer — I always thought those were a nightmare.” Babcock said. “It just goes to show you you‘ve got to embrace each and every day. and each and every day you’re with your family, you better enjoy it.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country is in shock and mourning.

“We are heartbroken knowing many of those we lost had their entire lives in front of them,” he said in a statement Saturday. “We grieve with those facing news no parent or family should ever have to face.

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“This is every parent’s worst nightmare. No one should ever have to see their child leave to play the sport they love and never come back.”

U.S. President Donald Trump also expressed condolences on Twitter.

“Just spoke to @JustinTrudeau to pay my highest respect and condolences to the families of the terrible Humboldt Team tragedy. May God be with them all!”

Pastor Jordan Gadsby at the Apostolic Church in Nipawin said more than a hundred people had gathered at the church — including parents and grandparents of the players who were on the bus.

“Lots of them are waiting for information,” he said. “Some of the families have gotten information and have gone to be with their kids. Some of them are waiting to hear if their kids are alive.”

Broncos president Kevin Garinger says the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team includes players from Edmonton, Slave Lake and Airdrie in Alberta and from Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior ‘A’ hockey league under Hockey Canada, which is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It’s open to North American-born players between the age of 16 and 20.

The crash has cruel echoes of 1986, when the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos team bus crash slid off an icy highway and crashed in late December, killing four players.

The Swift Current Broncos expressed their condolences. “Humboldt Broncos weighing heavy in our hearts and minds tonight,” the team said on Twitter.

Former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy, who was one of the players on the bus in 1986, also sent a message of support.

“Sending all my thoughts and prayers to those impacted with the @HumboltBroncos bus crash.”

A photo tweeted early Saturday showed three Humboldt players lying in side-by-side hospital beds, holding hands.

Garinger said the Broncos are a close-knit team from the small city of about 6,000 people 110 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

“This team has been an incredible rock in this community,” he said. “These young athletes. They are incredible young men, every one of them.”

Signs of support were posted to the doors of the hockey arena in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, where the Humboldt Broncos were scheduled to play. The junior hockey team was involved in a bus crash Friday that left 14 dead and 14 others injured. (The Canadian Press)

Garinger said all the team can do now is help the players and their families any way they can.

“We just need to try to support each other as we deal with this incredible loss to our community, to our province, to our hockey world.”

Kevin Henry, a coach who runs a hockey school in Prince Albert, said he knows players on the team.

“People are in such shock. All these young men and boys. We send our kids to play hockey. It is sort of every parent’s worst nightmare,” he said.

“This is I would think one of the darkest days in the history of Saskatchewan, especially because hockey is so ingrained in how we grow up here.”

STARS air ambulance said it sent three helicopters to the scene.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said what he’d been told about the collision was difficult to comprehend.

“To the City of Humboldt, the entire Broncos organization, and the families impacted by this tragedy, please know you are in Saskatchewan’s hearts,” Moe said in a statement. “From a grieving province, thank you to every one of the first responders and medical professionals for your courageous response under the most difficult circumstances imaginable.”

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With files from Jenna Moon