Fatal bus crash anniversary marked during WHL game

The 25th anniversary of a bus crash that killed four members of the Swift Current Broncos was marked at the team's Western Hockey League game in Regina Friday evening.

A ceremony was held prior to the game to honour Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka, and Brent Ruff.

The four young players, who were between the ages of 16 and 20, died on Dec. 30, 1986, when the team was driving to Regina for a game against the Pats. Just four kilometres outside of Swift Current, the team bus skidded off an overpass, hit the railroad tracks below and rolled on its side.

Tim Tisdale was their teammate, a rookie on the Broncos when the crash happened.

"I remember the bus slipping and the bus driver yelling, 'Hang on!' he told CBC News.

"We went in the ditch and everything seemed like it was okay at that point and then there was a big bang when we hit the approach. After that everything is sort of a little bit blurry."

Tisdale represented the Broncos at Friday's ceremony at the Brandt Centre in Regina. The jersey numbers of the four players were retired later that season and to this day, Broncos players wear a patch on theshoulder of their jerseys with those numbers.

"Basically, a quarter of our team was lost, so I think after that the team really rallied together."

The memories also flooded back for Heather Warner, who works at the box office in Regina. She was there 25 years ago, and remembers the day vividly.

"It was just devastation," she recalled. "We ended up staying, about two or three of us, until about 8:30 that night. Just in case anybody hadn't heard the news of it, because of the accident and the storm."

Icy roads cause concern

Both Warner and Cliff Mapes, the Vice President of Operations for the Regina Pats, were concerned about the road conditions Friday as they thought of the Broncos making the exact same trek 25 years later.

"I woke up feeling a little sick to my stomach when I heard the weather forecast," said Mapes. "And driving to the work this morning, the icy roads and fog in the area, it did have an eerie feeling."

'We will do all that we can to make sure that we are honouring all those that were involved in the accident that night.' Cliff Mapes

The team rolled into Regina on time, ready for the ceremony and the game to follow. Mapes said it was coincidence that the Pats and the Broncos ended up scheduled to play together on the 25th anniversary of the crash.

"It is important that we continue to talk about what happened," he said. "We will do all that we can to make sure that we are honouring all those that were involved in the accident that night."

The ceremony also includeda moment of silence for Tyson Sievert, a former Regina Pats player who died in a car crash on Tuesday. He was 25.