Manitoba

MJHL postpones league finals in wake of Humboldt Broncos crash

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League has postponed its league finals in the wake of Friday's deadly bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos.

Game 2 between the Steinbach Pistons and Virden Oil Capitals was scheduled to be played Sunday night

A memorial at the stairs that lead to Elgar Petersen Arena is shown in Humboldt, Sask. The Manitoba Junior Hockey League announced on Saturday that game two of the league's final would be postponed out of respect for the Humboldt Broncos. (Liam Richards/Canadian Press)

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League has postponed its league finals in the wake of Friday's deadly bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos. 

Game two between the Steinbach Pistons and Virden Oil Capitals was scheduled to be played Sunday night in Virden, but the league has decided to postpone the game out of respect for the Broncos. 

"Obviously this is very very painful," MJHL commissioner Kim Davis told CBC News on Saturday. "We can't even begin to comprehend it." 

Fifteen people died and 14 people were injured after the bus carrying the team and its staff collided with a transport truck carrying peat moss on Highway 35, about 30 kilometres north of Tisdale, Sask.

The team was on its way to Nipawin, Sask., for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League semi-final playoff game. The winner of the SJHL finals was to play the winner of the MJHL finals in the Anavet Cup in a series that was to begin on April 27. 

A public vigil is planned for Sunday evening at the area in Humboldt, Sask., to bring grieving community members together.

"Out of the deepest respect to the Humboldt Broncos organization, its players and parents, the SJHL and its member clubs, we do not believe that Sunday's MJHL playoff game should be played as scheduled," Davis said.

Davis said players often cross between the two provinces and leagues and many players in the MJHL would have known someone affected. 

"It's far reaching," he said. "It's certainly not a local issue for them that's for sure." 

The league said the playoff series will resume, however dates and places have yet to be announced. 


Full coverage of the Humboldt bus crash