Former London Knight mourns 'teammate, mentor, brother' in Humboldt tragedy

Before he would move on to help coach the Humboldt Broncos, Mark Cross was constantly lending a helping hand as a young forward to his teammates.

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"He kind of took me under his wing. We all looked up to him as a role model," said former London Knight Greg Milner, who played alongside Cross for the York University Lions men's hockey team.

The 25-year-old Watford native was in shock and disbelief when he heard about the tragic death of Cross, who he remembered as a "mentor, brother, friend and teammate."

Cross, 27, was an assistant coach with the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He was among the 15 people killed in a horrific bus crash on Friday along Highway 35 near Tisdale, Sask.

"I can't say enough good things about him. We all saw him as our big brother. He took care of us. He was always there to lend a helping hand," said Milner, who played as a forward for the London Knights between 2010 and 2011 before attending university.

"He had a smile that was contagious. He was never in a bad mood. He put out that positive vibe. He had a good outlook on life that rubbed off on all of us."

The former York university team has reunited through messages to commemorate the victims, along with others across southwestern Ontario. 

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A little over a week ago, the small town of Lucan was celebrating its love for hockey after winning the Kraft Hockeyville contest. Now, the mayor of Lucan-Biddulph, Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, says the mood has been transformed as the town is overcome with sorrow.

"It's in a state of disbelief. You can't begin to comprehend something like this. It's tragic and just immense sadness," she said. "We feel so much empathy and sympathy. We're humbled. It's hard to reconcile. A week ago there were tears of joy, and a week later, tears of sorrow."

She said the town will extend a helping hand to the grieving city of Humboldt.

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Town native Colin Haskett is also gathering support from people across the southwest including those in Lucan, Exeter and Zurich.

The vice president of Haskett Funeral Homes Ltd. is gathering condolences in the form of online comments and hand-written sentiments to compile in a commemorative book for the families affected by the tragedy.

"Our community is grieving and they need a way to express themselves," said Haskett, who is a father of three hockey players.  "We know words alone won't help, but we want the families to know that they're not alone and that this entire country is grieving with them."

In Thorndale, a group of school children at West Nissouri Public School is planning on wearing their sports jerseys to school on Thursday in honour of the victims.

Kelly Elliot is among a group of parents who helped initiate the commemorative event.

"It hit extra hard. As hockey parents, we all feel like we're one big family," she said. You think of how many times we send our kids out and how much travelling we do that really, it could happen to any of us."

She hopes other area schools and communities join in on jersey day.