Economies of Mourning, Canadian Nationalism, and the Broncos: An Affective Reading of TSN’s 29 Forever

in Sociology of Sport Journal

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Adam Ehsan AliFaculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2021-0043
Keywords:
hockey; affective economies; Humboldt; grief
First Published Online:
13 Apr 2022
In Print:
Volume 39: Issue 4
Page Range:
333–341
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On April 6, 2018, the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team was traveling to a playoff game on a rural highway when their bus collided with a semitrailer truck, killing 16 people. The crash led to an unparalleled, nation-wide outpouring of mourning. The legacy of the crash has been sustained by media outlets such as The Sports Network, who released a documentary on the crash, 29 Forever. Through an affective reading of 29 Forever, this paper explores the processes by which the Humboldt bus crash came to be known and felt as a national tragedy, how the crash fits within larger practices of Canadian nation-making, and the role that hockey, emotion, and feelings play in these processes.

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