![]() ![]() It made her very happy and we hung out with (Garett).” “That made us super-nervous and super-upset. “We drove past the road where it happened,” Sdrakas said. We told them, ‘As soon as you get there, you will feel like a million bucks. “They were a little scared to go, scared to see his mom. “At one point, they wanted to go out and give (Darcie Colgrave) a gift,” Zubersky said. “The only people we wanted to be with were each other,” Sdrakas said. “He’s a 21-year-old kid, he doesn’t want to be with a group of adults. “It was very helpful for Garett,” Colgrave said of her son, who took leave from the BCJHL’s Okanagan Lakers, although he plans to rejoin next season. Garett Gilbertson was invited to be part of the group. (The players joked Braun and brother Payton, who also plays for the Panthers, took advantage of a table slant to win at billiards.) The parents ordered pizza. They’d hang out, play video games, table tennis and pool. The house they gravitated to was captain Riley Braun’s. “Being alone felt like the world was coming down on you. “Having the group, being able to talk to them every day, was so important,” said defenceman Griffin Gilmour, who turned 19 five weeks after the accident. Always, four or five guys were together.” Then there was counselling (the next two days). Instead, we went out to the parking lot and talked for two hours. “We were supposed to practice Tuesday, but didn’t have it in us. “The accident happened on a Monday night,” Sdrakas said. As the next few days went by, the players gravitated to one another. The organization provided counselling, both individual and group sessions. I had my mother pick me up, because I didn’t feel safe driving." “I started skating away, bawling my eyes out. “I still remember it happening,” said 18-year-old defenceman Evan Crawford. We wouldn’t be where we are without him and everything he’s done.” He’s done so much for the boys, from providing counselling to just being there. I hope he doesn’t ever feel bad about that. You don’t know how you are going to react. “It was happening so fast, there’s no right or wrong way to do anything. “I feel bad that he feels bad,” Colgrave said. I should have stayed there with them, helped the coaches.” “I called everybody over, and told them, ‘We’re going to play the rest of the season for Grant Gilbertson, he died in an accident.’ I like to think I’m a tough guy, I was a cop for 30 years. The team was practising when they found out. Zubersky criticized himself for one thing: how he delivered the news. Everyone interviewed for this piece mentioned something as simple as a backdoor tap-in produced a massive yell. What does everyone remember about Grant Gilbertson? The celebrations. “We were in trouble in that series,” Zubersky said. “How we got cell reception there, we were meant to see it.” “One of those moments I’ll never gorget,” Darcie continued. Everyone started cheering, players banging their sticks. “I had to go get Grant’s jersey, because he should be there with us,” Sdrakas said. Four thousand kilometres away, they were driving along the remote road to Hana, trying to watch on Garett's cellphone as the signal faded in and out. Grant’s mother, Darcie Colgrave, and brother, Garett, were vacationing in Maui. In the celebration, Sdrakas skated off the ice. Three months later, on April 1, the Panthers defeated the Oceanside Generals 4-3 in overtime to win the VIJHL championship. It was an icy day, conditions the RCMP said contributed to the one-car crash that claimed his life. ![]() Gilbertson, 18, lived in Sooke, B.C., about an hour’s drive from North Saanich, where the Panthers are based. Owner and general manager Pete Zubersky phoned. 3, Sdrakas was recovering from a dislocated shoulder and not practising. The two sat next to each other in the Panthers’ dressing room. ![]()
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