Humboldt, Parkland teams 'true inspiration' at NHL Awards

LAS VEGAS -- The 2018 NHL Awards Presented by Hulu was supposed to be about the game's biggest stars. But the award winners willingly took a back seat to the surviving members of the Humboldt Broncos from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League on Wednesday.

There were 10 Broncos players at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to see coach Darcy Haugan honored with the inaugural Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award. Haugan, whose wife, Christina, accepted the award on his behalf, was one of 16 people killed when the Broncos' bus crashed April 6.
RELATED: [Humboldt coach killed in bus crash remembered at NHL Awards | Complete NHL Awards coverage]
Moments later, New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, but his first thoughts were of the Broncos; he said he had been "super nervous" until he saw the tribute to Haugan and Humboldt.
"When you're in front of a stage and the whole night is culminating at that very moment, it's easy to get wrapped up in it," Hall said. "But when you see that video, that tribute, talking to some of the kids yesterday and the parents, it just puts everything into perspective. It's not all about you. It's not all about winning awards. It's about enjoying life and doing what you love.

"To see those kids, their dreams ripped apart and their families have to heal from that, it just puts everything into perspective."
Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, who finished third in the Hart voting after winning the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward, also was inspired by the Broncos.
"I actually think Taylor said it really well after he got his award," Kopitar said. "I was sitting in the stands and I was nervous if I was going to get it, what was I going to say? You see those guys up there, and no disrespect to the Hart Trophy or anything, but I'm sure everybody would give up that trophy just to have a normal life.
"I was choked up, I was close to crying. And it just magnifies now, just being a dad myself. That's the first thought that really goes through your mind is, 'What would happen if I was in that situation?'"
Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Norris Trophy as the League's best defenseman, spoke about the Broncos and members of the hockey team from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from Parkland, Florida, who were in attendance. Stoneman Douglas won the Florida state championship after 17 people were killed and another 17 injured in a mass shooting at their school Feb. 14.

"It goes to show that hockey is more than a sport. It's a family," Hedman said in his speech. "You guys are a true inspiration."
Hedman also mentioned survivors and first responders from the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 when spoke to the media later.
"I got the opportunity to meet the Broncos yesterday and just their spirit, their fighting spirit rubs off on you," Hedman said. "After those tragedies, I think the hockey community shows that everyone is together and that's something I wanted to try to hit home in my speech, too. This is more than just a game. We are a family. … Off the ice, everyone is very close and it's a such a special place too in Vegas, what it went through in October and the way this community rallied together with the hockey team and the way they performed, I think, it was important for me to acknowledge that."
The tributes to the victims and survivors from the Broncos, Stoneman Douglas and Las Vegas tragedies brought a somber but valued tone to the awards ceremony.
"Three terrible tragedies, three things that should never happen," Hall said. "We should never have to go through that as a society. But as a community, as a hockey community, you try to help everyone around you. You try to rally and just be a kind person to one another and hopefully that makes someone feel better. … At the end of the day we're hockey players but we're people first and foremost and my heart goes out to everything that was tributed tonight."