Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos

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Dundurn, Nov 10, 2012 - Sports & Recreation - 216 pages

A true story of hockey heartbreak, tragedy, and triumph.

Sudden Death brings to life the incredible ongoing saga of the Swift Current Broncos hockey team. After a tragic game-day bus accident on December 30, 1986, left four of its star players dead, the first-year Western Hockey League team was faced with nearly insurmountable odds against not only its future success but its very survival. The heartbreaking story made headlines across North America, and the club garnered acclaim when it triumphantly rebounded and won the Canadian Hockey League’s prestigious Memorial Cup in 1989.

Many of the surviving Broncos continued their successful hockey careers in the NHL, among them 2012 Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Sakic, Sheldon Kennedy, and Sudden Death co-author Bob Wilkie. Years later the Broncos’ tragedy-to-triumph tale was overshadowed when the team’s former coach, Graham James, was convicted of sexual assault against Sheldon Kennedy, Theoren Fleury, and Todd Holt, all of whom played for him.

 

Contents

Foreword
9
CHAPTER 1
13
CHAPTER 2
24
CHAPTER 3
33
CHAPTER 4
40
CHAPTER 5
46
CHAPTER 6
53
CHAPTER 7
62
CHAPTER 14
116
CHAPTER 15
119
CHAPTER 16
129
CHAPTER 17
146
CHAPTER 18
153
CHAPTER 19
161
CHAPTER 20
169
Where Are They Now?
179

CHAPTER 8
72
CHAPTER 9
83
CHAPTER 10
93
CHAPTER 11
100
CHAPTER 12
106
CHAPTER 13
112
STATISTICS
195
Acknowledgements
203
Resources
209
Of Related Interest
215
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

Leesa Culp was one of the few witnesses to the crash of the Swift Current Broncos. She has been published by The Hockey News, the Penticton Herald, and the Sudbury Star.

Gregg Drinnan has been a sports journalist for 40 years and has been sports editor at the Kamloops Daily News since 2000.

Bob Wilkie played three seasons with the Swift Current Broncos and was on the team bus when it crashed in 1986.

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