Jerseys bring smiles and hope to St. Albert high school touched by Humboldt tragedy

In the halls of St. Albert Catholic high school on Thursday, hockey jerseys were worn like unofficial uniforms.

Like other Canadians on Jersey Day, St. Albert students showed their support for the Humboldt Broncos by wearing jerseys, six days after a Saskatchewan bus crash that killed 16 people.

• St. Albert school community rallies after former students killed in Humboldt Broncos bus crash
• Families of 4 Humboldt Broncos players to host public ceremony at Edmonton's Rogers Place

Two Broncos players who died, 18-year-old Logan Hunter and 21-year-old Stephen Wack, were from St. Albert and had graduated from the Catholic high school Wack in 2015, Hunter in 2017.

Kacey Jost was overwhelmed and excited by the number of people she saw wearing jerseys at school.

"Upon walking through the doors and going through the Tim Hortons lineup and such, I was just like, 'Holy, there's a lot of people invested in this movement,' " Jostsaid.

She's the sister of Colorado Avalanche rookie Tyson Jost, which keeps her connected with hockey players and families in the St. Albert area. She was friends with Logan Hunter.

In the school's chapel there was a condolence book, lit candles, and a picture of Hunter, Wackand fellow Bronco Jaxon Joseph, who also died in the crash.

Wearing a jersey as a tribute to the victims made her smile. It was a distraction from the grief she's dealt with this week.

"You feel very helpless in a situation like this," she said. "To be in control of something that might just show some sort of hope is something I was extremely excited to do because you don't really know what to do. To find something to occupy yourself with is really important."

Family and friends of Joseph, Hunter, Wack and Parker Tobin will gather to share their memories at a ceremony at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

@Travismcewancbc

travis.mcewan@cbc.ca