Put Your Sticks Out: Tribute For Canadian Hockey Victims Goes Viral
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A social media tribute is spreading in the days following the devastating loss of 15 Canadian hockey players.
Posts are flooding social media of people leaving hockey sticks out on their front porch to honor the players and just in case those lost might need them.
15-people were killed last Friday when the bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game collided with a semi-truck.
Ten of those killed were players for the Humboldt Broncos, five others including the bus driver, two coaches, a volunteer statistician and a broadcaster were also killed.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Canadian officials are reviewing the intersection where the accident happened.
12-survivors are still in the hospital, four of them in critical condition.
Brian Munz, an announcer for the Winnepeg Jets posted a photo that he had received from a fellow Humboldt native on Sunday.
Got this text from a friend who I went to high school with in Humboldt.
— Brian Munz (@BrianMunz9) April 9, 2018
Inviting you to do the same as we remember and send our thoughts to the #HumboldtBroncos.#PrayersForHumboldt #Broncostrong #Humboldtstrong #theSJHL #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/HHwZyUZ5KG
It showed a hockey stick on the front porch with the caption, "leaving it out on the porch tonight. The boys might need it, wherever they are."
The #PutYourSticksOut movement has been gaining traction ever since.
People from around the world, including here in Pittsburgh, are posting photos of hockey sticks outside their front door to help honor the team.
Leaving these out tonight in Dublin Ireland. Even this far away, the Broncos accident saddens people deeply. As someone whose been on such busses many moons ago, I can't fathom the heartbreak of those close to the tragedy. #PutYourSticksOut #HumboldtStrong pic.twitter.com/0NsZ8NFVxj
— Aaron Murphy ???? (@MurphOnIce) April 9, 2018
Love the trend of putting out sticks for the boys from Humboldt. I did my own variation for broadcaster Tyler Bieber. I trust it's acceptable. @BrianMunzTSN @RonMacLeanHTH #SticksOutforHumboldt #putyoursticksout pic.twitter.com/XUXJ11F4U7
— George Scott (@CatsMicGuy) April 9, 2018
It's the only stick this Texas girl owns and the boys will have to be desperate to need it, but it's theirs just in case. Sticks out, y'all. #putyoursticksout pic.twitter.com/U2oQhuVa1h
— Cindy Evans (@cinnytoast) April 9, 2018
#SticksOutForHumboldt #HumboldtStrong pic.twitter.com/hHcf57b9Ka
— Chris Gerardi (@Chris_Gerardi) April 10, 2018
On Tuesday, Canadian officials also apologized for misidentifying two of the victims in the deadly bush crash.
The local coroner's office says one of the players who was reported dead was actually alive, and another boy who was reported dead was alive.