The former captain of the Regina Pat Canadians Midget AAA team was one of 15 people killed in a horrific bus crash on Friday night.

Adam Herold, 16, was the youngest player on the bus. He would have turned 17 on Thursday.

The Humboldt Broncos bus was travelling to Nipawin when it was hit by a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Highway 35 and Highway 335. Fifteen people died and 14 were injured in the crash.

“He was our captain, he was our leader, he was our Mr. Everything,” Pat Canadians head coach Darren McKechnie said on Monday.

Herold, who is from Montmarte, was recently called up to play for the Broncos in their playoff run after the Pat Canadians’ season ended.

“I can talk about this kid for hours,” McKechnie said. “Truly a special player. I understand that he’s been a captain on every team that he’s ever played on since being a little guy.”

The 16-year-old had been drafted by the Prince Albert Raiders.

“He was a complete package, he could play,” Curtis Hunt, Raiders general manager, said. “We watched him very closely with the Pat Canadians over the past two years; humble, within the entire process. He came to camp, he wore his own gear even though he had a Raider bag in his trunk, waiting for us to tell him he’d made our team.”

Herold received the Chuck Herriot Award this season. The award is given to a AAA player who demonstrates community involvement, as well as academic success.

Many of the Pat Canadians parents work with the Regina Police Service and arranged for the critical incident stress management team to speak to the team on Sunday.

“They had a counselling session with the players and the parents,” McKechnie said. “It went over very well and we were hoping that maybe we can do even a follow-up one.”

Before every game, members of the Midget AAA team would shout out the name of a hockey player they wanted to emulate. Herold would always yell “Ryan Suter” in the locker room.

The Minnesota Wild defenceman heard about this tradition and tweeted a tribute.

“I wish this wasn’t how I found out,” the post read. “I wish he could’ve told me as he lined up alongside me on the NHL ice in a few years.”

 

 

Herold’s coach doesn’t doubt this dream could have become a reality.

“I think there’s better hockey players out there, but I think he would have passed them because he would work harder for it,” McKechnie said.

Based on a report by CTV Regina's Claire Hanna