![]() He thinks their empathy stems from Barney. Players new to Humboldt since the crash receive with grace the sorrow expressed to them, said Broncos season ticket holder Al Gaetz, a team builder who was the franchise's GM in the 1970s. They lug boxes when a business moves locations. They shovel driveways after blizzards hit. SJHL rosters change yearly, but the young men who comprise them help power the community. An adept listener, goofy or serious depending on the moment, he aims to stock his team with good citizens. "He's done a really good job of keeping the community (engaged) and trying to build that program, really, from the ground up."īroncos players and colleagues describe Barney, a father of two, as charismatic and graceful under pressure. "The spotlight is on that club day-to-day," Klimosko said. He attests that Barney's job is uniquely demanding. The head coach and GM of Battlefords, Brayden Klimosko, hails from Humboldt and won the 2008 Junior A national title as a Broncos left winger. The North Stars won 48 of 56 games this season, but Humboldt beat them in four of six matchups. If the seedings hold, they’ll meet the juggernaut Battlefords North Stars in the championship series. Being a family off the ice, and that would translate to performance."īarney's Broncos are seeded second in the eight-team Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League postseason, which began last week. "There was a big emphasis on having a brotherhood and playing for each other. "He's been a huge piece of that rebuild ever since the accident," said goaltender Rayce Ramsay, who played for Barney in Humboldt in 2018-19 and again last season. His death created a leadership void in the city of 6,000 that Barney helped fill. Haugan urged his players to act with respect and integrity and to strive for greatness in life. Amanda Brochu / Handout via Reuters Brett Holmes / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images Ethan Miller / Getty Imagesĭoubling as general manager, Barney inherited the platform from which Darcy Haugan, the late Broncos coach and GM, promoted a core set of values. Rebuilt through a dispersal draft and trades, his team returned to help Humboldt process its pain, memorialize the deceased, and move forward. Barney's presence stabilized the organization. The tragedy's fifth anniversary is next month.ĭuring the Broncos' first season back on the ice, the franchise tapped as its new head coach a retired journeyman forward who played the game in 10 countries. Sixteen members of the Junior A Broncos - players, coaches, and team personnel - died in a bus crash that spurred Canadians to leave a stick on the porch out of grief and solidarity. "It made me, overall, a better character and probably a better coach to this day."īarney chased hockey around the world before he settled in Humboldt, the Saskatchewan farming town the sport rallied to support in 2018. "Missing those three years made me realize how important the game was to me," Barney told theScore recently. A debilitating back injury sidelined Barney for three seasons coming out of junior, but when a solution took, he recovered to skate in 27 NHL games on either side of the 2004-05 lockout, most of them with the Los Angeles Kings. He learned how to adapt to the unforeseen. The next two decades of his playing career provided more tests and twists in the road. Water pooled inside the muggy rink on that stifling May day, causing a dozen stoppages, but he focused on tracking the puck as closely as possible and kept skating.īarney was 17 years old and an Ontario Hockey League rookie at the time. Fog enveloped the ice when his Peterborough Petes hosted the Granby Predateurs in the 1996 Memorial Cup final. The biggest junior hockey game Scott Barney played in happened out of sight.
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