‘Disappointing’: New Netflix series sounds a lot like the Humboldt Broncos tragedy

Eight years ago, the entire country mourned alongside the tight-knit community of Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

A bus carrying the local junior hockey team — the Humboldt Broncos — collided with a transport truck on April 6, 2018, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others.

Last week, Netflix released a teaser about a new fictional series that sounds eerily familiar: a team in a working-class town where hockey is everything — until a bus crash kills a group of young players and their coach.

The show’s concept doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, including some who lost loved ones in the Humboldt crash. One of the family members speaking out is Scott Thomas, whose 18-year-old son, Evan, was among the players who died.

Thomas is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is closerlook@villagemedia.ca.