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14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

B

Blackbeard

Well-known member
Horrible news.

Obviously, this type of tragedy is always a possibility for women's teams. I've wondered in the past if women's hockey programs have given the possibility of such a tragedy occurring any thought.

I've also wondered a number of times, with the enormous amount of travelling that they do, how NHL teams (or any other pro sports teams) keep dodging this bullet and the cost of insurance to financially guard against such a tragedy befalling their organization.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/hockey/la-sp-canada-hockey-bus-crash-20180406-story.html
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Count is now 15. Head coach, broadcaster and team captain among fatalities.

Truck driver survived.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Blackbeard said:
Obviously, this type of tragedy is always a possibility for women's teams. I've wondered in the past if women's hockey programs have given the possibility of such a tragedy occurring any thought.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what the point of giving it thought would be. If half of a team dies like this, there isn't much planning that would be useful. They're going to forfeit a lot of games (though I suspect that they would just be stricken from the schedule rather than officially forfeit) until they are able to assemble a new roster.

I've also wondered a number of times, with the enormous amount of travelling that they do, how NHL teams (or any other pro sports teams) keep dodging this bullet and the cost of insurance to financially guard against such a tragedy befalling their organization.
Click to expand...

They dodge the bullet because this sort of thing is rare, as in, you get one such incident across all sports every few years. The last such incident was the Chapacoense soccer team two years ago. Top level professional teams make up a tiny proportion of all sports teams, and hockey teams just a small fraction of that, so we would expect the NHL to experience such an event a small fraction of a tiny proportion of a rare instance. So, while devastating, it's vanishingly unlikely that it would happen, especially since they are probably flying in planes that are better maintained than is the average for a major accident.

Here's a list of accidents involving sports teams.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Still Eeyore said:
They dodge the bullet because this sort of thing is rare, as in, you get one such incident across all sports every few years.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand this and considered it, and thankfully it's true...yet it does seem to me that they are unintentionally tempting fate...bending the attention of the (unlucky) numbers towards themselves thereby increasing the odds of their being one of those rare incidents. It isn't so rare, though, if it happens to you or people that you know. The objective rarity of the event in that instance provides absolutely zero consolation. And, yet, at the same time, you can't stop living your life, as the saying goes.

Admirable response by the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Black Hawks and the NHL.

Some good points raised by Sheldon Kennedy in his interview.
 
Those bus trips were a special part of the fun experience of being a college hockey player and I will cherish those memories forever. Our coach led the way by always thanking our bus driver every time we got off the bus and we all did the same thing. I took it for granted back then but realize now how important doing that was. Those drivers had a big responsibility on their shoulders and always did a great job even through rain and snow storms. This tragedy rings very close to home and I am deeply saddened for all the victims involved.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Blackbeard said:
Yes, I understand this and considered it, and thankfully it's true...yet it does seem to me that they are unintentionally tempting fate...bending the attention of the (unlucky) numbers towards themselves thereby increasing the odds of their being one of those rare incidents. It isn't so rare, though, if it happens to you or people that you know. The objective rarity of the event in that instance provides absolutely zero consolation. And, yet, at the same time, you can't stop living your life, as the saying goes.
Click to expand...

In what way are they tempting fate? Frankly, that entire sentence doesn't make a lot of sense, so I have no idea what you're getting at.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Still Eeyore said:
In what way are they tempting fate? Frankly, that entire sentence doesn't make a lot of sense, so I have no idea what you're getting at.
Click to expand...

I was simply referring to the tremendous frequency with which NHL teams (and/or other professional sports teams) take to the skies. The more you partake in risky behaviours, and if you continue long enough, the odds will often catch up with you.

A simple, but extreme, example would be Russian Roullette.

I wasn't contesting the points that you made, just adding another viewpoint or two.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Blackbeard said:
I was simply referring to the tremendous frequency with which NHL teams (and/or other professional sports teams) take to the skies. The more you partake in risky behaviours, and if you continue long enough, the odds will often catch up with you..
Click to expand...

All of the evidence suggests that the behavior in question is not, in fact, all that risky.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Still Eeyore said:
All of the evidence suggests that the behavior in question is not, in fact, all that risky.
Click to expand...

I get it.

At the same time it is not natural for human beings to be 35,000 feet above the surface of the planet.

Here's a different report with a few embedded links. Looks like the truck driver ran a stop sign...one with flashing lights, yet...with a huge wind break which exists only on that corner of the intersection (the south east corner) adding to the problem by reducing or most likely eliminating their view of one another. It was around 5:00 P.M. yesterday and the truck driver was apparently heading west...might have had the sun in his eyes. Others killed in an accident at the same intersection 20 years ago prompting the installation of the stop sign and flashing lights.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/humboldt-broncos-team-bus-crash-cause-1.4610147
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

My condolences to all those impacted by this tragedy.

Blackbeard said:
And, yet, at the same time, you can't stop living your life, as the saying goes.
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I think that is the key point. We can change our lives to make them safer to a point. But if we focus too much on never taking any risks, then the experience of living is lessened, and is life still worth as much?

Blackbeard said:
At the same time it is not natural for human beings to be 35,000 feet above the surface of the planet.
Click to expand...
To quote Meg Ryan in "French Kiss", "I get around as nature intended: in a car." ;)
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

Blackbeard said:
I was simply referring to the tremendous frequency with which NHL teams (and/or other professional sports teams) take to the skies. The more you partake in risky behaviours, and if you continue long enough, the odds will often catch up with you.

A simple, but extreme, example would be Russian Roullette.
Click to expand...

Without having any specific numbers, I'd be willing to bet that if we're defining "risky behaviours" as the number of people who are killed while engaging in the activity, the chance of death while playing hockey is higher than the chance of death while flying on a US or Canadian airline to a hockey game.

It's not natural for humans to be 35,000 feet above the ground. It's also not natural for humans to strap metal blades to their feet to quickly move across ice....
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

I've heard it said that your chance of serious injury or death is greater during the road trip to the airport than on the flight itself.

One of my favorite television shows is "Air Disasters" which is now in its 10th season on the Smithsonian Channel. While the reenactment of each crash can be tough to watch, the main focus of the show is the investigation that follows as to what caused the disaster, or near disaster as the case may be. Most importantly, most such investigations have led to significant improvements in air safety, making air travel on the whole a much safer experience than it used to be.

If you don't receive the Smithsonian Channel on your cable or satellite service you can stream 'Air Disasters' on various services as explained here:
https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/air-disasters/802

Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but I find it very interesting.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

D2D said:
One of my favorite television shows is "Air Disasters" which is now in its 10th season on the Smithsonian Channel. While the reenactment of each crash can be tough to watch, the main focus of the show is the investigation that follows as to what caused the disaster, or near disaster as the case may be. Most importantly, most such investigations have led to significant improvements in air safety, making air travel on the whole a much safer experience than it used to be.
Click to expand...

That show is one of my favorite guilty pleasure tv shows. Although, what you see on the Smithsonian Channel is really just a repackaged version of the Canadian Discovery Channel's "Mayday," and the US really gets the leftovers. If you search online, you can find more and newer episodes of the international/original series (including one made last year focusing on the 1993 crash of a Northwest flight from MSP to Hibbing).
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

I haven't looked to see where the accident happened, but the roads I am familiar with in Canada are unlike the roads in the US, for one there aren't roadside rest areas and gas stations with rest facilities like the US. Often no shoulder, the road goes from asphalt to bog or whatever happens to be next to the road. Truckers drive like maniacs because it is slow going on Canada's highways with the ridiculously low speed limits that almost nobody obeys. Truckers view themselves as owning the road, especially logging trucks, get in the way they would just as soon run you over. They'll do it even if you don't get in the way. Now add in how often people drive lubed up .... I'm surprised there aren't more of these accidents.
 
Re: 14 Die When Truck Collides With Hockey Team's Bus in Canada

You really, REALLY don't know what you're talking about. Oh, and your forgot, all Canadians live in igloos too!

pokechecker said:
I haven't looked to see where the accident happened, but the roads I am familiar with in Canada are unlike the roads in the US, for one there aren't roadside rest areas and gas stations with rest facilities like the US. Often no shoulder, the road goes from asphalt to bog or whatever happens to be next to the road. Truckers drive like maniacs because it is slow going on Canada's highways with the ridiculously low speed limits that almost nobody obeys. Truckers view themselves as owning the road, especially logging trucks, get in the way they would just as soon run you over. They'll do it even if you don't get in the way. Now add in how often people drive lubed up .... I'm surprised there aren't more of these accidents.
Click to expand...
 
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