Today, I'm reviewing Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos by Leesa Culp, Bob Wilkie and Gregg Drinnan.

Junior teams across Canada regularly drive thousands of miles by bus every season to get to games, and the Broncos were no different on December 30th, 1986. What happened that day changed the team, the city of Swift Current, and all of junior hockey. The bus would end up going off the side of the road partway on the journey to Regina, after hitting a patch of ice and skidding one way then the  other, and when it finally came to rest on the right side, two players were underneath, and two more had been thrown out of windows.

Leesa Culp was getting a ride home for the holidays, and happened to be one of the first people to the wrecked bus. In fact, she held the hand of one of the players while the life drained from his face and body. Bob Wilkie was a defenceman for the Broncos, and was on the bus during the accident. Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News.

With that in mind, the book unfolds with the tragedy, going into some detail with former players thoughts on what had happened to them all. The time at the hospital as everyone was treated, and finally realized the scope of the tragedy before the. The book slowly moves on to the memorial and the decision by the Broncos coach, Graham James, and the organization to continue the season.  Ultimately, the Broncos would go on and win the 1989 Memorial Cup, an amazing turnaround from just two and a half years prior.

There is also a 3-chapter section on Graham James, the coach and general manager of that team. Much has been written by other people about what he did to people like Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy, and I won't go into that here. However, Sheldon was a member of the Broncos at that time, and what happened to him would eventually be told in greater detail in Sheldon's book, Why I Didn't Say Anything.

Since this was published in 2012, there is updated information on James as well. In addition, there is a brief "Where are they now?" for each of the players that survived the bus crash.

All in all, this book is a wonderfuly written piece about a tragedy that brought a team closer together. I would highly recommend it as a memorial to the players that were lost, as well as to the team that persevered.

Amazon link:   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1459705440/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0C3PWFY49KCX9HNSAGHP&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846

Barnes & Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sudden-death-leesa-culp/1110840125?ean=9781459705449  

Powell's City of Books:   http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781459705449-0