Hockey team’s brokerage focuses on supporting staff affected by Humboldt bus crash

One Saskatchewan brokerage is still trying to determine how best to support staff whose children knew some of the players fatally injured in the Humboldt bus crash earlier this month.

Tracy Rogoza, chief operating officer of Knight Archer Insurance, the broker for the Humboldt Broncos, told Canadian Underwriter Tuesday that, thankfully, none of the brokerage’s staff had any familial connections to the team. But three staff members have teenagers who went to school with players from the Humboldt Broncos hockey team and were friends.

The first-ever Saskatchewan Summit of Young Insurance Professionals raised $1,240 for victims and families of the Humboldt bus crash. Photo courtesy of the Insurance Brokers’ Association of Saskatchewan.

“Finding ways to support our staff and their families with the loss they have experienced, the ongoing funerals and assisting with any community activities, has been a real focus,” Rogoza said.

Rogoza says Knight Archer Insurance has been supporting people through the claims process involving various entities such as Saskatchewan Government Insurance’s (SGI) Autofund, the provincial workers compensation board, Hockey Canada, and SGI Canada.

The crash occurred on April 6, when the junior hockey team was on the way to a playoff game in northeastern Saskatchewan. The team bus collided with a semi-truck that was hauling peat moss, killing 16 people. Ten of those killed were players and another 13 were injured. The Canadian Press reported Monday that two Humboldt Broncos players are no longer listed in critical condition in a Saskatoon hospital.

Derek Lothian, CEO of the Insurance Brokers’ Association of Saskatchewan (IBAS), told Canadian Underwriter that attendees at the inaugural Saskatchewan Summit of Young Insurance Professionals raised $1,240 for the victims and their families through a 50/50 draw. The event was held on April 12 in Saskatoon by IBAS, in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Young Brokers Network and Blue Goose Saskatchewan.