Ashton Sautner will be in St. Louis on Saturday, but his heart will be 2,400 kilometres away.
The Vancouver Canucks face the Blues in their regular-season finale and the significance of the date is not lost on anybody with a connection to the sport and the human spirit.
Sautner had close ties to the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus collision on April 6, 2018, that claimed 16 lives, injured 13 and resulted in 29 charges against a tractor-trailer driver, who received an eight-year jail sentence.
The Canucks defenceman knew Broncos assistant coach Mark Cross, who died in the crash. He knows of the Humboldt arena where his father, Blaine, coached in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. And he knows what his uncle, Kevin Garinger, endured as team president in four agonizing months of being the public face of the tragedy before stepping down from the position last summer.
Sautner also knows how small-town pride and compassion can lead to remarkable resolve and leave a lasting impression with inspiring initiatives — including a highly successful organ-donation drive — to improve lives.
Broncos defenceman Logan Boulet, 21, died in hospital a day after the crash. His parents knew a commitment to organ donation was a priority for their son and he offered his organs before doctors could even ask — signing his card five weeks before the tragedy on his birthday. He was inspired by his late mentor and trainer Rick Suggit, who donated his organs.
Boulet’s heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and corneas have improved or saved the lives of six Canadians. And according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 256 Canadians died in 2016 awaiting an organ, and at the end of that year, 4,469 were awaiting a transplant.
“For people to do things like that and make an awareness is unbelievable,” said the 24-year-old Sautner, who resides in tiny Flaxcombe, Sask. — population 111 — and trains in nearby Kindersley. “It shows an awareness and how good people truly are. And when you come together with something like that it’s amazing.
In what’s being heralded as the Logan Boulet Effect, nearly 100,000 Canadians registered to become organ donors after learning that the fallen Bronco had signed his card. According to Canadian Blood Services, there were 99,742 registrations in April of 2018, a total which only included B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and P.E.I., provinces with online registration.
Sunday is also Green Shirt Day to honour Boulet, and it’s aimed at inspiring others to register.
Sautner was in Edmonton a year ago after being recalled from the Utica Comets. The elation of playing five games to measure his progression against NHL competition was erased by gut-wrenching news of the bus crash.
“We were having a team dinner and my mom was actually the first person who told me,” recalled Sautner.
Ashton Sautner’s uncle has stepped down as president of the Humboldt Broncos.
What occurred the following morning at the game-day skates was beyond moving. Canucks coach Travis Green had a hard time keeping his composure and players in both rooms spoke in solemn and stunned tones about the tragedy.
Saskatchewan native Derrick Pouliot was born in Estevan — population 11,258 — and the Canucks blue-liner played Triple-A midget and often journeyed to Tisdale, near the crash site.
Oilers prospect defenceman Ethan Bear was born in the Ochapowace First Nation at Whitewood, Sask., population 860, and was shocked at the tragedy. Like his peers, he always thought the bus was a safe place.
“The bus is one of the best parts of junior hockey,” he said. “You’re together with the guys and hanging out and having fun and playing cards. This is something you don’t wish on anybody and it’s pretty sad. I don’t really now what to say.
Sautner’s uncle didn’t travel on the team bus that fateful day and was determined to complete his one-year commitment as volunteer Broncos president. It wasn’t easy. He didn’t always have answers to endless questions and it took a tremendous toll on him.