Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos
    Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos
    Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos
    Ebook271 pages3 hours

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

    By Leesa Culp, Gregg Drinnan, Bob Wilkie and Brian Costello

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

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

    Limited time offer.

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDundurn
    Release dateNov 10, 2012
    ISBN9781459705463
    Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos
    Author

    Leesa Culp

    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.

    Related authors

    Related to Sudden Death

    Related ebooks

    Sports & Recreation For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Reefer Rant

      Apr 7, 2020

      Reefer Rant
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Art Of The Moment

      Apr 5, 2021

      WER’E HERE now, so be here now. Though this is our Future Issue, nothing is ever truly promised. The past and the present have absolutely given us enough step-back jumpers and wildly explosive one-handed dunks to fully believe that Jalen Green’s futu

      7 min read

    • Article

      Win Lose or Draw

      Oct 21, 2021

      Win Lose or Draw
      5 min read

    • Article

      Back In The Saddle

      Feb 2, 2022

      Back In The Saddle
      12 min read

    • Article

      At Sea

      Apr 14, 2020

      At Sea
      16 min read

    • Article

      At Sea

      Oct 1, 2019

      At Sea
      16 min read

    • Article

      A Rebuke From A Much Gentler Age

      Mar 7, 2018

      This is a story of road rage gone good. The incident happened long ago and was unremarkable in and of itself. It was even forgettable – but for Captain Crosby’s reaction to it. It was the year after my father retired from the US Navy. In the transiti

      2 min read

    • Article

      Interview DAVE FUSILLI

      Nov 21, 2023

      Interview DAVE FUSILLI
      14 min read

    • Article

      Nicknames

      Jul 31, 2020

      You car people are a bit odd.” “Odd? Why?” “Because you all seem to have nicknames.” “So, that makes us odd? Really? OK then. I always thought that was completely normal” That was, in essence, a conversation I had a while ago with a non-car person I

      5 min read

    • Article

      Box 410

      Feb 20, 2020

      Having written a considerable amount about the 1980 Winter Olympics, and having worked at one of the venues during the Games, I understand the challenge of trying to assess the impact of the event, even from the perspective of 40 years (“Saved by a M

      3 min read

    • Article

      It's A Wonderful Film

      Dec 13, 2023

      It's A Wonderful Film
      5 min read

    • Article

      Mel Brooks On Losing The Loves Of His Life: ‘People Know How Good Carl Reiner Was, But Not How Great’

      Dec 4, 2021

      In February 2020, I joined Mel Brooks at the Beverly Hills home of his best friend, the director and writer Carl Reiner, for their nightly tradition of eating dinner together and watching the gameshow Jeopardy!. It was one of the most emotional night

      12 min read

    • Article

      Two Fathers

      Jun 2, 2022

      Two Fathers
      19 min read

    • Article

      My Friend, John

      Mar 19, 2019

      My Friend, John
      2 min read

    • Article

      On the Oldest Road: U.S. 1, Robert Kramer, the Buick, and Me

      Nov 12, 2020

      The highway is a monument to the American lust for the hideous, the delight in ugliness for its own sake. The post On the Oldest Road: U.S. 1, Robert Kramer, the Buick, and Me appeared first on The Millions.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Sports Year In Review: Bryant's Death Shocked LA, The World

      Dec 23, 2020

      LOS ANGELES — A melancholy sky settled over Los Angeles that morning, the weather cool and gray north of downtown, almost to county line. I had been on the Ventura Freeway only a few minutes when news came over the radio, the first report of a helico

      4 min read

    • Article

      FROM the MAILBOX

      Oct 3, 2023

      FROM the MAILBOX
      2 min read

    • Article

      Cowboy Archaeologist

      Nov 8, 2022

      Cowboy Archaeologist
      3 min read

    • Article

      Say What?

      Aug 21, 2019

      Say What?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Time Flies For A Byrd

      Oct 26, 2020

      Time Flies For A Byrd
      8 min read

    • Article

      Country Club Daze

      Jul 20, 2019

      Country Club Daze
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Last Of My Kind

      May 11, 2018

      The Last Of My Kind
      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Sudden Death

    4.5/5

    3 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      4.5 stars In December 1986, the Western Hockey League's (one step below the NHL) Swift Current Broncos' bus went off an icy highway and four young (between the ages of 16 and 20) players lost their lives. The team and community were in mourning. Only two seasons later, in the 1988-89 hockey season, the Broncos came back to win the Memorial Cup, the Canadian Hockey League's version of the Stanley Cup. Many of the same players who had been on that bus were also on the winning team in '89.I grew up near Swift Current. I would have been 14 at the time of the crash, but honestly, I don't remember it. I certainly heard about it later when I became a huge hockey fan and a Swift Current Broncos fan. The year they won the Memorial Cup is the first year I really got “into” hockey.Because of that “personal” connection, there was no question I was going to like the book, and I'm sure that's why I liked it as much as I did. I liked learning more about the players, some of whom I later watched and cheered for. It was very interesting to learn about the crash from so many different viewpoints. Most of the book did focus on the crash, and some of the history of the players and other people on the bus before the crash. It seemed to originally have been written in an essay-style, as some things were repeated later. Many of the people who had been on the bus were interviewed for the book.Joe Sakic, later an NHL superstar, was on that bus as a Bronco. Sheldon Kennedy, another player, told his story about 10 years later – of being sexually assaulted over and over again by the Broncos' coach, Graham James. Graham James, who had been so well-liked by the community had a side no one knew about, except some of the players. There were a few chapters near the end of the book that addressed this, as well.

    Book preview

    Sudden Death - Leesa Culp

    1^book_preview_excerpt.html\ےƑ昔öh1iqd^N86n@5qVI}d*="꒕y׏|]<ϯ^_|_?}7wpڍ?CQcn_BWMo|u}60U ~~}{?x wy;<ۢu'r|Unwe]DeMq}CqC㋲؆n(c~Cϋ* M?Ş )\;ǧnNUO|#~lc"Nche\Fمs{Y / ƅTRU? w.wqS_BEUɳuGn/〡<1Dqr#G#2NMU<|cb1d(t0yg\sW-b;k(QIsjo5Q(mUx(>O0|jj(gh[_a ܺJoU~MbSV8y#PL:hqQO{Y@lܴ:6)K[zQr6euTR9Q'nS&FD{AB/o`0RapS#N.cNTlи>[SwmoIKhHŰn C+>~nt^Iϧcg< `ldv!ڂ/Μ؅.˰l66A _pLEUΌp|顗"4taT .'`ʕ3@۞ <cCy> 22V*+R҄Z:9l2$.tiqN4^rurF}F2 gPɅ1Z wȯV &SV#'>MܘSCt"ēfE@:(Sw2OBt /c.b1$Za\1lc R]p4z=9"ֆ!L.,/o k+z&\0>ukGŪ!fIK: =٬$1'Pa_k,,ABJDD/P-5 uSqŧ0l\m X.q;H@C"0Fgv)5hd {ra $r+[Po"`P'bu}nb04Y.%ʈO[490VE:b] ^Ȩߓ9PċpOzXi{nsRNKB=ctu+w7Œ3SlWX-!o)uFTp$ٯc~k*a!b a^(.c_1\x~F#LBjVFe ڥ6%.zVKŨ'\m#|\o1漟9TZfXxJv>n.Ml%7*2VNX6KV.}J!p|_R#ҵ/Amq;%47MAӾf-+פJ}l${&3ӹ{j{#1_82b={ԼݶI-8a4M RXP ?*``2Ih%N)U{| IciE ,`)5?gzG՟KBC]'nцx =W<|jNhS"; -6$- q8oI9]'Nj狉uYׯ k}h*U&҂o_0-KbWRA㭷:jxRӺNg9kvͣRiI } ؊3'M1pA63!F**ѧnj{@!5IE^ʱCOu`'}+D_}}x(6^bt\06^ T/L^MDb;߈_6G"\5X%2x%lA)JTW4X\!3%҆dA) ?Hj $/OKl'JH5~&er?r;eI>#{eML|gŞgiD*{>At)rm6JZ}B* s-,) ư% 14^T?wf}Cq6ƊL ,;@bNPMSSerA qd{Dc$Ze dHhq>Mll6<]s".! !MS$oW.2n3aԕƱ>""tw}!"/tDinfkđ1b j7ܼu-גo 6ZժvA *3sX szfEB]g}HƯzSk!%ӹJ?a9,P?eKhRIVD!.4(񋳤w{JH8(Xݳ<4 !z N+L A0L1KV@<(AKbNh[쫖-b+3gyO`. ÔqhJL uf}u?h)'Y"ԑ=7Jץ% #Uh $m@*va h&0ݩh3@[Eũqr')Up?,]/1oKhnqG0[R=2S5h5:r&'ΎtO` .~螆;ql6Q(J#7sC ߴc 1X]4iBlgn_MҞ7EZ݃Xgx%b!Gki깙  viz1>:4`KJd8R7S'Mr#j-9A{elxھRN#]3"ulfY/lzȘ9nHq_" 7W$ri'AEH^ˬ#kh7Gq%2|,tQ&t1$ͳ2q^SH T6/wqyK85)Kp?otwǷx ;rnVOs15+Bp^RWr\nrOy߮uU8Wc% $F꽢KxߐHҐL%D&6Juί?RCx[0,v*0Y}vqS4=XeW"JN02椿JC a4lYx46یc.̔N 8٘˂am旚n!Km░>,B He)aiݧfqrqI9 N8&|Lj}0rhYad󪳰VݖAtJ>iksPnIS'p,;3 e"KDa^ |$L@|CxˆS/}LC#\NL!'t>ݗk[υdeY yjH"<(n+3j?*Wb37k#+i}`nMSa?i,מR~HB2Y,Xs Ҿ'JZIg%`ܛzR4Z`#]\OY$ڿØnəakQ {c]`2,J%Cn2^ C4WR{:g/Y_"!{lVo\;#fdws ʹteX7Vu:QyvyfyE8ԡa0Lr|u'{,u[j0(]-E󴖘.*F#=.Z;$Q-w,M*6uB%JBxDŽm5*UTRgxjO[ܙ=k^hŸ _.#Var:EV^zN_B(&8@{71^`a׎ElGsf 4@~$sؑXJ>QVstao( AXhdlکbu>jpUǹ(b _ *abl=#rHt_E^*i[0_جQys6HfZ kU&C,E%$nͽp4řSj&S&_TO> 2-ܒ|y+ΌMOWC&D]%kzK 9ذҀWz/G?,YGq ^,=TӃ5KQ|.IUS C4a3hcV.~פv,eK9atgrmjP4hl w^Ul5n9u|ޡf.snX[jU#>gjC{&݊DC1r%)SH4'.bkID
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1