Sad day in Canadian sports … We don’t veer off the beaten track very often, especially with the draft less than three weeks away, but every so often we are reminded that sports are just that. Yesterday afternoon, a bus carrying a Junior A hockey team in Saskatchewan to a playoff game collided with a tracker trailer. So far, there have been 14 fatalities, essentially half the team. It hits home because I am originally from Saskatchewan. It also hits home because my grandson is a hockey player and the one thing that keeps one awake at night is all the travel as they put in thousands of miles every year, much of it on back roads in less than ideal weather conditions. Meanwhile, it was announced in Ottawa yesterday that Jonathan Pitre had passed away. He was a 17-year-old kid who had lived his entire with a rare skin condition. However, while every moment of Jonathan’s life was spent in pain he had an indomitable spirit and a love of life, especially sports. In the past few years he had become very close to the Ottawa Senators and wanted to be a scout. Our prayers go out to all the families involved.
