B00ADOAFYO EBOK (18 page)

When the Swift Current Broncos’ bus crashed on December 30, 1986, there were twenty-three people on board — seventeen players and six adults. Here’s a look at what became of them.

The Adults

DAVE ARCHIBALD, the bus driver, was a huge hockey fan. With his mechanical expertise, he wound up driving the bus for the junior A team in Swift Current after the sale of the Broncos to Lethbridge in 1974. When the WHL franchise returned to Swift Current in 1986, he volunteered to drive the bus for the team and stayed through 1998–99. He later retired to the Turtle Lake, Saskatchewan, area with his wife, Kathryn, before moving to Lloydminster. They have a daughter, a son, two granddaughters, and a grandson.

Dave Archibald, with wife, Kathryn.
Courtesy of Dave Archibald.

Brian Costello, with wife, Terri.
Courtesy of Brian Costello.

BRIAN COSTELLO was the sports editor of the
Swift Current Sun
. He is now the senior special editions editor for
The Hockey News
and graciously provided the foreword to this book. He and his wife, Terri, live in Toronto.

JOHN FOSTER was the Broncos’ volunteer director of public relations from the fall of 1986 through 1994. He retired from teaching in 2005 at the age of fifty-five. He and his wife, Joan, remain in Swift Current, although they travel to Texas during the winter months.

LORNE FREY was the assistant general manager and assistant coach with the Broncos. He is now the assistant general manager, head scout, and director of player personnel with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, and is recognized as one of the top scouts in the major junior hockey world. He won a second Memorial Cup with the Rockets in 2004, and continues to bask in the glory of son-in-law Travis Moen’s 2007 Stanley Cup victory with the Anaheim Ducks.

GRAHAM JAMES was the Broncos’ general manager and head coach from 1986 to 1994. He resigned in 1994 to become part-owner, GM, and head coach of the expansion Calgary Hitmen. In 1996, James pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was given a lifetime ban from coaching by Hockey Canada. James moved to Spain in 2000, where he was involved in coaching until 2003. He was found to be living in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the spring of 2010. In December 2011, he pleaded guilty to two more charges of sexual assault, and was sentenced in March 2012. At that time, he was living in the Montreal area.

DOUG LEAVINS was driving the Zamboni in the Swift Current Civic Centre in 1986 and filling in as the Broncos’ trainer when needed. Immediately after Christmas 1986, trainer Gord Hahn was away with a Canadian team that was playing a touring Russian side, so Leavins was filling in for him when the bus crashed. Leavins later took the job as golf course superintendent at Chinook Golf Course, a Swift Current track. Leavins is married with two children. During the cold Saskatchewan winters, he enjoys downhill skiing and playing rec hockey. When the weather warms up, he plays a little golf.

The Players

ED BROST played two WHL seasons in Calgary before joining the Broncos in 1986. After four years in the WHL, he enrolled in the commerce program at Mount Royal College in Calgary, and then transferred to complete his studies at Alliance University College. He later attended the graduate School of Business at Queen’s University. He

Ed Brost, with wife, Kim, and son, Jake.
Courtesy of Ed Brost.

and his family have now settled near Calgary. Brost and his wife, Kim, have one son, Jake. Brost is president of Trade Venture Development Group Inc., a professional services firm, and the chief operating officer at Acera Companies, which focuses on land development.

TRACY EGELAND was the second-youngest player on the 1986–87 Broncos; only Brent Ruff was younger. Egeland grew up on the family farm near Lethbridge and, during his minor hockey career, was coached by Randy Ruff, the younger brother of Buffalo Sabres’ head coach Lindy Ruff. Egeland and Brent Ruff would become best friends. Egeland had a twelve-year pro career ended by a shoulder injury in December 2001. Tracy was the general manager and head coach of the Central league’s Rocky Mountain Rage when the franchise folded after the 2008–09 season. The Rage played out of Bloomfield, Colorado. Tracy and his wife, Tara, and sons, Trent and Tyler, live in Artesia, New Mexico, where he works for Devon Energy.

Tracy (left), wife of Artie Feher, with daughters Jordan and Brenna, and Artie.
Courtesy of Craig Finnestad.

ARTIE FEHER, then a twenty-year-old goaltender, arrived in Swift Current after the 1986 Christmas break and was accompanying the Broncos for the first time when the bus crashed. He never did play for the Broncos, choosing instead to return to the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks after the accident. Feher went on to play one season at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and three seasons at Augustana University in Camrose, Alberta. He became a teacher and has worked in the Prince Albert area for a number of years, recently as an elementary school principal. He now is principal at Red Wing School, while also finding time to play hockey with the Kood-a-bins, a local rec team that was founded in 1994; he is an original member. He and his wife, Tracy, have two daughters, Jordan and Brenna.

Gord Green, with wife, Kim, and sons, Mike and David.
Courtesy of Gord Green.

GORD GREEN, a hard-nosed defenceman, played with the Lethbridge Broncos in 1985–86 and moved to Swift Current with the franchise. Green left the Broncos in 1987, married Kim in 1988, and did a twenty-year stint as a combat engineer in the Canadian Armed Forces. He did six rotations overseas — Kuwait (1991), Croatia (1992), Bosnia (1994), Kosovo (1999), and Afghanistan (2004, 2006). The Greens live in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, where Gord is a power engineer at a refinery. They have two sons: David, a university student, and Mike, who plays junior A hockey.

Trevor Kruger (left), Pat Nogier, Bob Wilkie, and Darren Kruger at the third annual Wellington West Capital Bronco Golf Classic in Swift Current in July 2007.
Courtesy of Leesa Culp.

IAN HERBERS, a hulking defenceman, began his WHL career in 1984–85 with the Kelowna Wings. When the Wings morphed into the Spokane Chiefs for 1985–86, Herbers found himself in Spokane. The Chiefs later traded him to the Lethbridge Broncos and he made the move to Swift Current when the franchise was sold. He would stay with the Broncos through 1987–88. Herbers was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 1987 draft but, rather than turn pro, he opted to continue playing hockey while attending the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He graduated with a degree in physical education, with an emphasis on coaching. Following his university career, Herbers played professionally and then got into coaching. In November 2011, he took over as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, who are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators. On May 30, 2012, Herbers returned to his alma mater as the head coach of the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Herbers and his wife, Alina, have two daughters, Jessica and Nicole.

SHELDON KENNEDY went public in 1996 with his story of the abuse he was subjected to by Broncos GM and head coach Graham James. Kennedy since has become an advocate for survivors of abuse. In 2006, Kennedy published his autobiography,
Why I Didn’t Say Anything
. Kennedy has co-founded a program — Respect in Sport — that has developed a grassroots tool to assist sport and community organizations in delivering on their commitment to create a safe environment for all participants. It provides online training that delivers abuse-prevention education. He travels throughout North America, always offering up solutions that will help protect children and young people from having to face what he went through. He lives near Calgary with his daughter, Ryan, who enjoys basketball and loves riding and caring for horses.

TREVOR KRUGER, a rookie goaltender in 1986, stayed with the Broncos through 1988–89 and then went on to a brief pro career. Currently living in Lethbridge with his wife, Kristie, and their two children, Aidan and Payton, Trevor works as an associate director at Bluefox Association, a facility that provides support to adults and children with disabilities. When Trevor isn’t spending time with his family or playing competitive hockey, he is busy golfing or lending his expertise to other young goalies through private coaching.