Ryan Straschnitzki, one of the Humboldt Bronco hockey players injured in the Humboldt bus crash, shoots hoops during a media event in Calgary, Alta., on July 27, 2023.Todd Korol/The Canadian Press
Former Humboldt Bronco hockey player Ryan Straschnitzki has an entourage these days – complete with cameras and microphones – now that he’s changed his path to the Paralympics from the ice to the hardwood.
“Prairie Cat Productions reached out and mentioned this idea of kind of filming me in my wheelchair basketball career and possibly presenting it to a TV network,” Straschnitzki said in an interview.
“I thought it was a pretty cool idea and I like doing cool things.”
The 25-year-old from Airdrie, Alta., was paralyzed from the chest down in 2018 when a semi-trailer ran a stop sign and barrelled into the path of the Humboldt Broncos’ bus in rural Saskatchewan.
Sixteen people died and 13 were seriously injured.
Straschnitzki played on Alberta’s para hockey team and had been training with the Paralympic development team, but his journey ended at the Team Canada Olympic tryouts.
In July 2023, he decided to try to make the 2028 Paralympic basketball squad.
The decision caught the attention of Lucas Frison, the founder of Regina-based Prairie Cat Productions, who had completed a documentary for CBC on the Bronco team in the season after the crash.
Straschnitzki was recently filmed at Calgary’s Winsport arena where he geared up and played some sledge hockey with friends and former teammates, all the while being followed by the cameras.
Each episode of the six-part series titled “We Were Broncos” runs 30 minutes and will air on AMI. It will follow him as he pursues wheelchair basketball, with sledge hockey being part of his early story.
Other episodes will focus on Straschnitzki’s progress over the next several months, an explanation of wheelchair basketball, attending tournaments and the crash itself.
Frison, the producer and director, said the series has a personal tie.
“My best friend was Mark Cross, the assistant coach of the Broncos, who died in the crash so I've always been connected to Humboldt and the community and the story,” Frison said.
“Ryan wasn’t featured in my previous documentary because it was following some the players that were on that team the next season … but I’ve always followed along with what Ryan is doing.”
Straschnitzki said he’s been working hard to learn the skills he needs to play basketball, a sport he hadn’t pursued before hockey, but realizes he is learning from his mistakes.
Straschnitzki said it’s been a bit intimidating having this much attention.
“I just want to showcase to people what I’m doing and how I’m getting there,” he said.
“I can talk the talk all day, but I have to earn it and show people what I’m actually doing.”
Frison said if all goes well he hopes there will be a second season.
“It’s got to be someone that people can grab onto and want to see succeed,” he said.
“Will be make the Paralympic team? I don’t know. But even the up and downhill stuff, they want to follow him on the journey.
“If he fails at some things, people can relate.”