Former NHLer Joseph fighting for his son’s legacy after Humboldt Broncos tragedy

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house this past weekend at the NHL Alumni Awards Gala Celebration when former NHLer Chris Joseph took to the stage to talk about the story of his son Jaxon. Jaxon, of course, was one of the 16 people who tragically died in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash in rural Saskatchewan.

Joseph, a defenseman who played 510 games and made several pit stops during his NHL career, playing for the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and Atlanta Thrashers. He admitted that he ad-libbed his speech this past weekend after NHL insider Elliotte Friedman asked him for a copy of to share on his 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet. 

So, while we don’t have Joseph’s speech, we do have Friedman’s second hand account of it. 

Check it out:

At the microphone, Joseph apologized to Ray Bourque for cheering for the Blues to win the Stanley Cup. His family is very tight with the Paraykos as Colton’s oldest sister, Kendra, babysat the Joseph children.

“You ever see those families, they raise their kids and you say, ‘That’s just how it should be done?’ They’re the model. All their kids are fantastic, the parents are fantastic.” Then he adds, “Actually, I felt bad for Louie DeBrusk, too. He and I are close.”

Joseph said he and the other parents “chat with each other all the time, although we’re obviously closer to the St. Albert families. We’re a strong group, and we kind of do group counselling…pick up the phone, bitch to each other and we vent. If you are having one of those days, we will unconditionally support you. We just listen, we’re here for you.”

He is coaching a midget double-A team and loves it. Asked if he reminds himself of any of his coaches, he thinks for a few minutes, then names Terry Crisp and Wayne Cashman. “Passionate, fun and loud, although Wayne wasn’t as loud as Terry. Hockey is one big family, it does feel that way for me. Since (the crash), we have received so much love and support. Hall of Famers, players I never played with texting and calling. Kelly Chase organized the ‘Country Thunder’ benefit concert. Forty alumni showed up. Shea Weber, Paul Coffey, Joe Sakic. Sakic sat with eight or nine Broncos boys, telling them about the 1986 Swift Current bus crash. A guy I grew up with, a pure and classy guy, spending that moment with the boys, little things like that.”

Joseph continues to push for mandatory entry-level training for Class 1 truck drivers. Some provinces (Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan) are very good, but others aren’t. Joseph recently met with Alberta’s Minister of Transportation after there were discussions of a rollback on the requirements due to a backlog. But what he really wants is this to become a federally mandated issue.

“You have to police 10 provinces and three territories, there should be a national standard for Class 1. Even if you’re based in Alberta, you have to go to Saskatchewan. There’s a big difference between driving through flat areas in the summer and the Rockies in the winter. Air, rail, marine travel in Canada is national, this should be too. What we are asking for isn’t extreme, isn’t contentious, the only people who don’t want this care about money first. This is also about abusing new Canadian workers, and we don’t want that. It is a big immigrant workforce, they should be trained well, not pressured to be driving a truck they don’t want to drive.”

I hope people are listening.