There is a little voice in the back of Jason Tatarnic鈥檚 head that yells at him every time he gets on a bus, reminding him about the time he almost lost his life on a junior A hockey road-trip.
It鈥檚 a voice that鈥檚 gotten a lot louder this week, in the wake of a horrible bus accident in Saskatchewan that claimed the lives of 16 people connected with the Humboldt Broncos.
Tatarnic has watched the news coverage and seen the photos, and heard from members of the Woodstock Slammers who were on a bus with him in 2007, a bus that flipped in the snow on the way to a game in Prince Edward Island.
鈥淚t was a neutral-site game and it was windy with whiteout conditions,鈥� Tatarnic recalled. 鈥淥ur tire went off the road, kind of got caught and away we went.
鈥淲e were fortunate there was a lot of fresh snow on the ground, so when the bus flipped we weren鈥檛 getting dragged over hard ground. The windows popped open and we got a ton of snow in the bus, but it was soft snow and we didn鈥檛 get any injuries that way. And we slid perfectly through two concrete barriers. What are the odds of a bus sliding perfectly between two concrete barriers?鈥�
According to a news report from that day, 22 players, five team officials and the driver were on the bus when it flipped near Days Corner, PEI.
鈥淲hen I looked to the back of the bus when we came to a stop, I wasn鈥檛 expecting to see鈥� a good sight,鈥� Tatarnic admitted. 鈥淏ut things worked out.鈥�
The report mentions Tatarnic sustaining minor cuts. Assistant coach Bob Vail had to be freed from the bus by the Jaws of Life and airlifted to hospital in critical condition. But he eventually pulled through, leaving the Tatarnic to consider the what ifs of life.
What if the bus hit one of those concrete barriers flush. What if Woodstock鈥檚 opponent that night hadn鈥檛 been following just a few minutes behind, arriving on the scene quickly to aid the Slammers and summon help.
What if, what if, what if.
鈥淧layers love to play and coaches love to coach and travel is part of being in junior hockey,鈥� Tatarnic said. 鈥淚t took a while, but the first time I had to jump back on the bus in Woodstock, it was nerve-wracking. It wasn鈥檛 easy, but we got over it. It鈥檚 not even close to what happened in Humboldt in terms of the outcome, but it鈥檚 always in the back of your mind. Even to this day, I have thoughts whenever I jump on a bus.
鈥淚t was tough for me to get back on the bus and tough for my players, and I鈥檝e had some of them reach out to me this week expressing how lucky we were.鈥�
Tatarnic hopes some good can come out of a very bad situation, starting with the design of the buses that ferry hockey teams from place to place.
鈥淢aybe one thing is how they鈥檙e built, and why do we need all those windows and why can鈥檛 air bags can鈥檛 be part of a bus?鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the reason for seat-belts not being on coaches? Why can鈥檛 we make buses safer? Maybe that could have saved one or two live in Humboldt, and maybe it鈥檚 time we started asking those questions.鈥�
Honestly, it鈥檚 a wonder these accidents don鈥檛 happen more often. Not to the degree of the Humboldt crash, but given the miles hockey teams cover every year in inclement weather as they criss-cross the provinces, the risk is constant.
Tatarnic鈥檚 Chilliwack Chiefs make winter road trips to Prince George, Vernon, Penticton, Salmon Arm, West Kelowna, Wenatchee, Trail, Merritt and the Coquihalla Highway is so bad its the subject of a TV show called Highway Thru Hell.
鈥淥ur accident changed how we traveled in Woodstock, where we didn鈥檛 hesitate to cancel games because of weather,鈥� Tatarnic said. 鈥淚 look at the travel schedule we have now, and I鈥檇 like to see changes. I know you can鈥檛 accommodate everything, but we have teams going to the Interior and I think those games should be played as early in the season as possible to avoid the winter months.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to see how anything good can come of this, but maybe there are things we should be looking at.鈥�
