Ten surviving members of the Humboldt Broncos team were welcomed to the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
The players were in attendance to present head coach Darcy Haugan, who was one of the 16 people that passed away in the horrific bus crash back on April 6th, with the inaugural Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award.
Haugan’s wife, Christina, accepted the award on Darcy’s behalf. The NHL Foundation donated $10,000 to the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association in honour of Haugan’s memory.
Wearing their signature gold Broncos uniforms, members of the team were called up one by one before Kaleb Dahlgren gave a moving speech. It was the first time that this group of survivors were present together in a public setting. Three other members of the team were unable to attend because of injuries sustained in the crash.
"The hockey family across the whole world, I'm very thankful for it. It's something you don't really expect," said Dahlgren. "You grow up with these people in your life and you consider them family. You're with them every day and so hockey is a family community. The support we've received from everybody has been very, very, very generous and we're all thankful for that. It makes the healing process easier."
"We can cry together, we can laugh together, we can do everything together and just kind of heal in our own way," said Tyler Smith, who suffered nerve damage, a broken collarbone and shoulder blade. "It's a blessing to be able to be here together. We're all going to be Broncos forever, and no matter what day it is, it's a great day to be a Bronco."
First responders and survivors from the Las Vegas shooting and members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hockey team from Parkland, Florida were also honoured.
