By Laine Mitchell (Twitter: @Laine_Mitchell)

Drayton Valley mourns, remembers former Thunder players involved in Humboldt bus crash

Apr 11, 2018 | 6:00 AM

Hundreds of people from Drayton Valley and the Thunder community attended a vigil at the Omniplex to remember and honour the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan. 

The crash killed former Thunder goalie Parker Tobin and injured former forward Tyler Smith, who both played for the team in the 2016/17 season. 14 others were killed and a further 13 sustained injuries in the crash last Friday. 

In his final year with the Thunder, Tobin was awarded best playoff performer.

Thunder Executive Cindy Waronek read a message she had received from Tobin’s billet mom, who described him as a great kid who would help with her children’s math homework. 

“Parker was a great kid, he had a super sense of humor, great with my kids, a total nerd but embraced his nerdiness and ran with it. He was just a super great kid.” 

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The message went on to say that Tobin would help her kids with their math homework, and that whenever the Thunder team visited local schools the kids would absolutely love him. 

Two Thunder jerseys bearing the players’ names were displayed on a table on the dry ice surface alongside a table where a guest book could be signed. The book will eventually be delivered to the family of Tobin and Smith. 

MLA for Drayton Valley-Devon, Mark Smith, addressed the crowd, saying “Tonight we are united in a profound sense of sadness,” before going on to remind the crowd that everyone must stand in solidarity with Humboldt because that’s what Albertans and Canadians do.

Solidarity is being shown across the country on the go fund me for the Humboldt Broncos, which has surpassed $8.1 million in donations by over 100,000 people.