Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, along with Winnipeg Jets broadcaster Brian Munz and childhood friend Laurie Warford, is helping organize a Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament to be held Aug. 18 at the Humboldt Golf Club.
Here’s the official tournament Twitter page: @BroncosMemGolf
Bednar was born in Yorktown, Saskatchewan, but he grew up in Humboldt and played for the Broncos before moving on to the Western Hockey League.
Bednar and Munz talked about the April 6 bus crash tragedy and the upcoming tournament in a radio interview with Jonathan Charlton of 107.5 Bolt FM in Saskatoon.
“It just hit really close to home for myself, for my family, for a lot of people that are still in the game, and for the Humboldt community,… Bednar told Charlton. “So we wanted to try and get something going that might be able to help the team, the families, both now and in the future.
"It was the team that I idolized growing up. To me they were the upper echelon of hockey; there wasn’t an NHL team really close. We were privileged enough to watch the Oilers from afar, that was my team.
"But growing up I always dreamed of playing for the Humboldt Broncos, my idols in the game. As I got a little bit older, I was able and fortunate enough to play for the Broncos for a couple years and it was a dream come true.…
Bednar said the idea of starting a golf tournament was born during a charity concert that was held to benefit the families of victims.
“It’s something they haven’t had for a number of years, a Humboldt Bronco golf tournament, and we wanted to make ours a Humboldt Bronco Memorial Golf Tournament,… he said. “We want everyone to be able to come out and have a good time and make some new friends and visit with old friends and get together. We’re going to have some auction items and whatnot, and put this together and try to keep it going as an annual event.
“The outpouring of support from the nation -- from the world -- has been fantastic, and I’m sure it’s overwhelming at times, but it’s great to see the hockey world and the community come together like this.…
Bednar is hopeful the tournament will become an annual affair.
“No. 1, it’s to remember those that we lost in this accident and get a chance to get together as a community, and friends and families, and have a really good time,… he said. “No. 2, the hockey team is hurting and we wanted to be able to raise some funds for them, year after year, to help them make any sort of improvements or use as they wish to help run the team, and that’s really important because the hockey team is what brought all these people together.…
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The Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche’s ECHL affiliate, took a 2-1 lead against the Florida Everblades in the best-of-seven Kelly Cup championship series with a 5-4 overtime win Wednesday.
Game 4 will be played Friday at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla.