SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — A memorial has been erected at the site where a bus crash claimed the lives of four players with the Swift Current Broncos 30 years ago.
The cement marker in the shape of a four-leaf clover bears portraits of the young Western Hockey League players — Trent Kresse, Chris Mantyka, Brent Ruff and Scott Kruger.
The unveiling marking the fatal accident on Dec. 30, 1986, just outside of Swift Current, took place on the side of the highway Friday.
Bill Lee, who spearheaded the tribute, says it was important to honour the families and the young men, all of whom he personally knew and called "unbelievable kids."
Gord Hahn was the team’s trainer that year, but was with another team in Winnipeg when the Broncos’ bus crashed.
A friend told him the news during the second period of a game he was working.
"I just came unglued," Hahn recalled. "I collapsed."
"It certainly is a mixed bag of emotions, from tears to joy," said Randy Ruff, who lost a brother in the crash.
"But when events like this happen, you try and draw the good things, and certainly there’s a lot of good things from that monument, like the ever-lasting effects it’ll have on the families and the community."
The memorial was made possible thanks to fundraising and donations. Lee says he still wants to install lights, and finish the landscaping, including planting four trees, one for each of the players remembered.
