It was a moment in time that changed the small city of Swift Current forever.

34 years later, the Swift Current Broncos bus crash that claimed the lives of Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff etched itself onto the hockey world in ways that are still reverberating today.

Dean Brockman is the current Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the Swift Current Broncos. He still remembers where he was when he heard the news, and like many, he was on his way to a hockey game.

"Of course we're dealing in 1986. So cell phones, internet and all the social media weren't there. But I do remember hearing it on the radio and (being) just kind of awestruck...That's kind of an eerie feeling about it."

Brockman said that going through those moments of hearing about the accident, the hockey world is pretty small in the grand scheme of things, and so when word came down that there were fatalities, many would start to think of the players that they knew personally on the team.

Brockman shares a particular sad piece of trivia, having spent much of his professional management and coaching career with the Humboldt Broncos of the SJHL; a team whose own tragedy in 2018 eerily echoed their Swift Current namesake when their team bus collided with a semi-trailer.

While Brockman was not with either team when their tragedies occurred, his perspective on both teams' meaning to their community was nevertheless enlightening.

"I personally believe if you're not directly involved, you don't understand the tragedy completely." He admitted. "But maybe I'm a little bit closer to it just because of the great deal of importance that the team means to both communities."

And it is an importance that is commemorated to this day; from the patch on the Broncos' jerseys to the memorial that forever stands vigil along the road to Regina, each anniversary is another moment to reflect on how that moment in 1986 defined both the team and the city.

For Brockman, that definition is one of resilience.

"It signifies in my mind where the team went after that. With all of its tragedy and all of the things that came with that, to win the memorial cup only years after that really signifies what the Broncos organization and the city of Swift Current represent. A resiliency. And for myself, that's a reminder of how great this franchise really is."

To Brockman, the memorial erected in 2016 stands not only for the four players who lost their lives but for everyone affected; from parents and billets to friends and fans.

While normally, the Broncos would mark this date with a moment of reflection during a game. But with hockey currently on the bench, and with the players subsequently released to their families, the team will be taking to social media to mark the occasion.