Hockey's heart travels for Humboldt.  

The Lethbridge Police Service along with Lethbridge Firefighters and EMS held a charity hockey game for the Humboldt Broncos on April 22nd at ENMAX center, the home of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. 

Following the bus crash of April 6th, a group of emergency service members from Lethbridge came together to organize a charity hockey game. The game soon gained unbelievable traction and raised an incredible $42,000 for the Humboldt Broncos. "A friend of mine who is a firefighter in Lethbridge, he and I were watching one of the memorial services and started texting back and forth about how we would like to do something to show our support for the Humboldt community," said Spencer Hodgson of the Lethbridge Police Service, and one of the organizers of the game. 

With that small but generous idea, the real work lay ahead. 

From there they got in touch with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the WHL team from the area. They, in turn, offered the ENMAX center as the venue free of charge. Donations such as jerseys, west jet packages, and all sorts of ideas flowed in. "We had charitable donations that were silent actioned off, all the proceeds from the ticket fee's went straight into the fund. We had a 50/50 that reached up over 12,000 to the winner. As soon as people started to hear what we were doing and who we were doing it for, it was an overwhelming amount of support," said Hodgson. Special jerseys were made up that had the Broncos logo on the front, all with the number 29 on the back to recognize the 29 members on the bus. Over 40 skaters participated in the game, including NHL alumni Kris Versteeg and Brandon Davidson.

"We were told the charity game ended up having a higher attendance that the average Lethbridge Hurrcanes game," he added.

Logan Boulet, a member of the Humboldt Broncos who passed away in the bus crash, was from Lethbridge. "We touched base with the Boulet family. They requested that in the end, we make the donation to the Humboldt Broncos, the team specifically, so that way the boys that were coming in, saw the proceeds come to them."

Hodgson made the trip to Humboldt in early August to present the cheque to the Broncos. He said. "Coming through Humboldt, the people were incredible, everybody I came across was incredible, such a kind community."

What's incredible is the heart and power that the sport of hockey has, and the generosity shown by everyone that was involved in this game of hockey for the Broncos.