Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is honouring the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team in the wake of the horrific bus tragedy by sending a customized Penguins jersey to the small city in Saskatchewan.
According to Hockey Night in Canada’s Christine Simpson, Crosby had his team’s equipment manager customize a special team jersey with the Broncos’ name on the back, and a customized tag stitched inside the sweater.
“The Pittsburgh Penguins support HUMBOLDT STRONG,” reads the tag.
The horrific crash that took the lives of 16 people on Friday happened as the junior hockey team was travelling to a semifinal game against the Nipawin Hawks. The team bus collided with a semi-truck.
READ MORE: Canadians are leaving their hockey sticks on front porches to pay tribute to Humboldt Broncos
“Just a terrible tragedy,” Crosby told reporters Monday. “It’s hard to imagine what those kids and the families, and the entire community, are going through. We’re certainly thinking about them.”
The Penguins said on social media that Crosby had signed personalized photos for all the survivors.
“Stay strong. We’re thinking of you.”
The Humboldt tragedy crushed the hockey world and touched thousands across Canada and around the world.
To honour the junior hockey team and those affected by the tragedy, people shared photos of hockey sticks being left outside of homes as a tribute to the Broncos team.
Several NHL teams took part in the #SticksOutForHumboldt and #putyoursticksout social media tribute, like so many others from around the world.
“Everything that went through my mind was all those bus rides that we took,” the Penguins’ Kris Letang said. “Life can be short. All of our thoughts are with the families that lost their relatives. So it’s just hard.”