playoff MVP.”Ovi has been a staple since he’s come into the league. Kuzy is a little newer,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”People don’t really know him as well as Ovi. You’re seeing the talent of Kuzy. You’ve seen the greatness of Ovi over the course of his career to this point. I think Kuzy is just gettin

NIPAWIN Authentic Stephen Johns Jersey , Saskatchewan (AP) A semi-trailer slammed into a bus carrying a youth hockey team in western Canada, killing 15 people and injuring 14 in a catastrophic collision that a doctor compared to an airstrike and left the vehicles obliterated in the snow. The crash sent shockwaves through the team’s small hometown and a country united by the national sport.Canadians were moved to tears on Saturday as they learned of the identities of the deceased on the bus that was driving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team to a crucial playoff game Friday against the Nipawin Hawks.”An entire country is in shock and mourning,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. ”This is every parent’s worst nightmare. No one should ever have to see their child leave to play the sport they love and never come back.”The bus had 29 passengers, including the driver, when it crashed at about 5 p.m. on Highway 35, police said. Among the dead are Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan, team captain Logan Schatz and radio announcer Tyler Bieber. Authorities earlier said three were in critical condition but later provided an update to say that 15 have now died.Canadian police said the truck driver was initially detained but has since been released and provided with mental health assistance. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said it’s too early to state a cause for the crash.In a tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump said he called Trudeau to offer his condolences to the families of victims.Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks, said a semi T-boned the players’ bus – an account police confirmed.”It’s a horrible accident, my God,” Opp said.Hassan Masri, an emergency room doctor at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital who has done work in war-torn Syria Youth Tyler Pitlick Jersey , said the crash reminded him of an airstrike.Photographs of the wreckage showed the twisted trailer with most of its wheels in the air and the bus on its side and its back portion destroyed. The force of the crash sent both vehicles into the ditch at the northwest corner of the intersection.Aerial footage showed the bus on its side, its roof peeled back and its front end destroyed. The trailer of the truck lay nearby in a shattered mess, with bags of its peat moss cargo scattered all around. The tractor part of the truck was intact, lying on its passenger side.The tractor-trailer would have had to yield to a stop sign before crossing over the highway that the hockey bus was travelling on. There is a stand of trees on the southeast corner of the intersection, limiting visibility of the approach on both roads.Police said a lot of issues have to be investigated, including weather conditions at the time and any mechanical issues with the vehicles.The tragedy brought to mind an accident in 1986, when the Swift Current Broncos team bus slid off an icy highway and crashed in late December, killing four players.The Humboldt Broncos are a close-knit team from the small city of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, which has a population of about 6,000. Many gathered at the community center at the hockey arena there after word of the horrific crash began to circulate.Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench, wearing a green and yellow Broncos team jersey, hugged people Saturday morning as they came to the Elger Petersen Arena in the Saskatchewan town to comfort each other and learn more.”It’s overwhelming. It’s been tough on everybody Tyler Seguin Jersey ,” Muench said in a phone interview. ”We’re a small community; some of those kids have been on the team for a number of years. A lot grew up in the community and everybody knows each other.”The team was on its way to play in Game 5 of a semi-final against the Nipawin Hawks.”Hockey was what brought us all together and we had two communities that were rivals in the rink. To find out that it was their first responders that aided our boys just warms your heart,” the mayor said as his voice cracked.Multiple crisis workers were assisting relatives and friends.”Everybody is just so devastated. These poor young boys,” said Penny Lee, the communications manager for the town of Humboldt.The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a junior `A’ hockey league under Hockey Canada, which is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It’s open to North American-born players between the ages of 16 and 20.Team President Kevin Garinger said parents from across western Canada were struggling to cope with the tragedy and were rushing to the scene.”We are heartbroken and completely devastated,” Garinger said. ”We will never forget the members of our Broncos family who were taken from us and who were injured.”Michelle Straschnitzki, who lives in Airdrie, Alberta, said her 18-year old son Ryan was transported to a hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.”We talked to him, but he said he couldn’t feel his lower extremities so I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. ”I am freaking out. I am so sad for all of the teammates and I am losing my mind.”Kevin Henry, a coach who runs a hockey school in Prince Albert http://www.avalancheshoponline.com/authentic-alexander-kerfoot-jersey , Saskatchewan, said he knows players on the team.”This is I would think one of the darkest days in the history of Saskatchewan, especially because hockey is so ingrained in how we grow up here,” he said.The hockey world issued messages of condolences, including Saskatchewan native Mike Babcock, who is the Toronto Maple Leafs coach.Babcock, fighting back tears, said that ”it’s got to rip the heart out of your chest.”The Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets wore the name ”BRONCOS” instead of their nameplates on Saturday night.—Rob Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto and Ivan Moreno contributed from Milwaukee. WASHINGTON (AP) Alex Ovechkin knows the Washington Capitals have plenty of fans back in Russia.”Over there lots of friends, lots of people watch the games,” Ovechkin said of his countrymen. ”It’s been huge.”He is also huge in Barrie, Ontario, where projected top-five draft pick Andrei Svechnikov has been watching Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov serve as inspirations for young Russian players and fans on this run to the Stanley Cup Final. The native of Siberian city Barnaul got to meet his fellow Russians on Monday morning and got an up-close view of their dominance in Game 4 that night.”(Ovechkin) and Kuzy and Orlov Womens Carl Soderberg Jersey , these guys just famous in hockey world,” Svechnikov said. ”I am very happy.”Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Orlov are making plenty of young Russian players and fans happy. They are just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. Svechnikov admired smooth-skating, high-scoring Hall of Fame winger Pavel Bure growing up, and now watches in amazement at what Kuznetsov does on the ice with his skill – not to mention his bird-flapping celebrations.”Great skater. Every time wants to be involved, hungry every time. Very smart player. A lot of skill,” Svechnikov said of Kuznetsov, who leads the playoffs in scoring and added four assists in a 6-2 win over Vegas. ”He just like star, you know? He can do whatever he want.”The joy of Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Orlov is being watched closely not only in Washington but back home where they’re big fan favorites.”A lot of people watching it because three Russian players in Washington and obviously Ovi big superstar in the world and everybody follow,” Orlov said. ”A lot of fans, a lot of kids enjoy his game.”The Capitals could have the most Russians on a Cup champion in the salary-cap era. The 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning were backstopped to their first franchise title by Nikolai Khabibulin, and the Detroit Red Wings’ Russian Five in the 1990s shined a spotlight on all the talent coming out of the old Soviet system.After Evgeni Malkin was the only Russian player on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ back-to-back Cup champions the past two seasons Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids , this is another showcase of this generation of talent. Playoff leading scorer Kuznetsov and leading goal-scorer Ovechkin are also the top candidates to follow Malkin as just the second Russian to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.”Ovi has been a staple since he’s come into the league. Kuzy is a little newer,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”People don’t really know him as well as Ovi. You’re seeing the talent of Kuzy. You’ve seen the greatness of Ovi over the course of his career to this point. I think Kuzy is just getting better and better.”The 26-year-old Kuznetsov is reluctant to talk about himself or any other individual player, but he knows this is special for Ovechkin, who is 32 and has been waiting 13 seasons for this with nine previous early playoff exits to his name.”Every Russian guy back home pretty happy for him because that’s huge,” Kuznetsov said. ”That’s a long time.”Ovechkin wished Svechnikov good luck later this month at the NHL draft, where he was the No. 1 pick back in 2004. A short conversation at a morning skate was enough to leave Svechnikov beaming.”Just famous guy – everybody knows him and everybody watch him,” Svechnikov said. ”It’s just an honor to have met with him.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals—