Penguins have connections to horrible Humboldt Broncos crash

Heart wrenching situation up in Saskatchewan on Friday night where the junior team Humboldt Broncos team bus was involved in a terrible accident en route to a game. 15 are reported dead on the bus, including the coach and team captain. Another among the lost was 20 year old Jaxon Joseph, son of former Pittsburgh Penguin defenseman Chris Joseph.

From that article came just a totally gutting quote from Mike Joseph, brother of Chris and uncle to Jaxon.

“It’s every parent’s nightmare. My brother’s and his wife’s whole world revolved around their kids,” said Mike. “It’s just so hard to fathom as his son was the star of the team and was having the best season ever as a 20-year-old and was loving it and was so happy. Now he’s gone and we’re just waiting for any updates from family and what to do next.”

Another in the Penguins organization with perspective on this is Reid Gardiner, a minor league forward for Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre this season. At only 22 Gardiner isn’t much older than the young men who were on the bus and this note really illustrates what a team like this means in a small but hockey-loving community.

Former Penguin player and current broadcaster Colby Armstrong also spent time in Humboldt as a youth and got emotional describing hockey and Saskatchewan.

It’s just an awful situation and one where so many families have had their lives turned into a nightmare in an instant. Obviously we at Pensburgh join the rest of the hockey world in offering our most sincere condolences to the Joseph family and all those affected by this accident.

There is a Go Fund Me page below setup below to take donations, as well as one company I really like, Violent Gentlemen, selling t-shirts with all profits being directed to benefit the families. Pitch in if you can to help support a corner of the hockey world that needs it.