Off the ice: an oral history of the Swift Current Broncos’ relationship with hockey

Abstract

In 1986, the Swift Current Broncos departed in their team bus for a Canadian Hockey League game. With inclement weather affecting driving conditions, the bus hit a patch of ice – flipping the bus onto its side and killing four players and injuring others. Through interviews with six survivors of the accident, this study examined how tragedy closely linked to sport can impact a player’s relationship with the game; sport’s role in the healing process; and how an athlete can maintain—or ­rekindle—their passion for sport over time. Interviewees experienced feelings of solace in the team environment and welcomed hockey’s ability to serve as a distraction. These comforts provided only temporary relief, however, as players explored various forms of therapy years after the accident. Despite difficulties, participants celebrated hockey and characteristics of their hockey experience, and cited maintained involvement with the sport 37 years after the accident.

Keywords:

• Hockey
• youth sport experience
• oral history
• tragedy

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their funding and support of this project.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethics approval

This study was reviewed and approved by the University of Windsor Research Ethics Committee, approval #21-224.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada under Grant 430-2020-01242.