Prince Albert Mintos forward puts on No. 11 to honour Bronco's Leicht
Gavin Ingram was in Leduc, Alta., visiting family when he heard about the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
"My heart just dropped," says the 17-year-old Ingram, who is from Quill Lake and played pee wee and midget hockey in Humboldt.
He knew some of the Broncos, including Jacob Leicht, one of the 16 people who died when the bus collided with a semi-trailer on Highway 35.
Ingram, who has just started his first full season with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, played with Leicht.
"We skated together in Humboldt," says Ingram. "And I played a few games with him when he was in P.A. [with the Mintos in the 2016-17 season]."
Ingram has decided to honour Leicht by wearing his jersey number, 11. He called Leicht's mom Celeste to see what she thought of the idea.
"She told me she`d be honoured if I wore it and I was taken off guard," Ingram says. "It just shows how humble they are."
He was one of the last players we took. He started low on the depth chart and worked his way up in the lineup. - Mintos head coach Ken Morrison
Mintos head coach Ken Morrison said a several midget AAA teams talked about retiring the number but Leicht's family asked them to keep it.
Same type of player
Morrison said Ingram plays the same type of game as Leicht, who spent one year with the Mintos before moving up to the Broncos.
"He was a very good skater," Morrison said of Leicht, who the Mintos honoured before their first game of the season.
"He was one of the last players we took," Morrison said. "He started low on the depth chart and worked his way up in the lineup.
"He was a role guy that did the dirty work. He worked really hard, blocked a lot of shots, killed a lot of penalties and chipped in offensively."
Morrison says Ingram has the same characteristics.
"A very good skater, quiet kid who comes from a really nice family."
Ingram is not the only player wearing number 11 in honour of Leicht.
Former Mintos and Humboldt native Erik Gardiner is wearing 11 for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this year, as is Cael Zimmerman with Calgary Hitmen.
Kade McMillen, who played with Leicht on the Mintos, is wearing number 11 for the SJHL`s Estevan Bruins.
For Ingram, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound forward, wearing the jersey gives him extra motivation.
"It is a constant reminder of Jacob and hopefully I can work as hard as he did," he says. "It is pretty big shoes to fill."
The Mintos will play a couple of games in Warman on the weekend as part of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League Warman Showcase weekend.
